USA > California > Yolo County > The Western shore gazetteer and commercial directory for the state of California Yolo County : one volume being devoted to each county of the state, giving a brief history of each county. > Part 4
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1857.
In the year 1857 Yolo was represented in the Assembly by Dr. J. S. Curtis, and by S. Bynum in the Senate.
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HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
Some years previous to this, James A. Hutton, a worthy and enterprising citizen, had settled on the north side of Cache Creek and there made himself a comfortable home; had erected a dwelling-house large enough to accommodate guests, and it soon became not only the home of Mr. Hutton and his family, but the " traveler's home," and was designated through the county as "Hutton's Ranch." A post-office was established by the name of Yolo Post-office.
The Legislature passed an Act, on the twenty-fifth of March, providing that from and after the first day of June 1857, the county seat of the County of Yolo should be and thereby was changed from the Town of Washington to a place on Cache Creek before that time known as Hutton's, but which should be thereafter known as Cacheville. In May the books, papers, maps, records, etc., belonging to the county were transferred to the new county seat. It was in the midst of the richest agricultural lands in the State, pleasantly situated on Cache Creek, interspersed with oaks of the largest growth, and was really one of the most attractive places in the county. A town was laid off, surveyed into lots and blocks which were rapidly disposed of, and the town exhibited signs of permanent prosperity. This ever should have remained the county seat; but we shall see that such was not its destiny.
The first birth that occurred at Cacheville was the Yolo Democrat, a small, weakly-weekly-journal, that was born almost to blush unseen; for a newspaper could not yet be supported in so sparsely settled a county as was Yolo County. Of the merits of the paper we know nothing, but only know that it shared the fate of most journals established under like circumstances. It lived to see its second birth- day, just began to speak understandingly, then died and was buried.
The terms of the county officers elected two years before, of course, were now about to expire; and H. Gwinn's four- year term as County Judge was also about to close.
At the general election in September, Isaac Davis was elected as County Judge; the Rev. J. N. Pendegast, County Clerk; James L. Cox, Sheriff; William H. McGrew, Dis-
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THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
trict Attorney, and W. N. Brooks was re-elected County Treasurer.
1858.
In 1858 the Senatorial District, composed of Yolo, Napa and Solano, was represented in the Senate by Humphrey Griffith, and Yolo County was represented in the Assembly by William Minis, the present State Senator for this dis- trict. The county officers elected in 1857 entered upon their duties at the time appointed by law. The term of John M. Howell, the second District Judge for the Eleventh Judi- cial District, composed of the counties of Yolo, Placer and El Dorado, was now about to expire, and at the general election, held in September, B. F. Myers was elected Judge of that district, and at the close of the year commenced his official duties.
1859.
In 1859 Yolo County was represented in the Assembly by Harrison Gwinn, who had the year previously left the County Judge's bench, and the Tenth Senatorial District continued to be represented by H. Griffith. At the general election of this year, J. T. Daly was elected County Clerk; James A. Douglas, Sheriff; J. W. Jacobs, District Attorney, and W. N. Brooks was reelected County Treasurer. In November or December of this year, some parties discov- ered gold in considerable quantities in several gulches emptying into Putah Creek, in the southwest. part of the county. A sufficient supply of water could not be obtained to work the mines to advantage, and not sufficient to work them at all, except whilst it was raining. There is no stream that can be conducted to the head of these gulches and made available for washing gold there found. After the discovery, miners from different parts came to the newly- discovered gold-field, and found the gold in such quantities as to afford them very fair wages-sometimes making as high as eight dollars per day with the old-fashioned rocker. Several hundred miners congregated there with their equip- age, and remained until the rains of that season had ceased. No attention lias been paid to the workings of the mines
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HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
there since, yet, it is almost certain that, if means could be devised by which water could be obtained without great expense, in sufficient quantities to wash the earth by means of sluices or hydraulic power, as it is called, large fortunes might be taken from these ravines.
During that year Mr. James Lowe, a resident of Yolo County, crossed the Sacramento River into Sutter County, and "jumped" a farm belonging to a German, whose name we have now forgotten. The German secreted himself in ambush and shot Lowe, killing him instantly. An arrest was made; the German was tried and acquitted, and subse- quently was drowned in the Sacramento River while in a state of intoxication.
1860.
In 1860, Harrison Gwinn, having been reelected, contin- ned to represent Yolo County in the Assembly, and Henry Edgerton, then of Napa, now of Sacramento City, repre- sented the district in the Senate. The county offices were filled by the officials who were elected at the last general election.
1861.
In 1861, Yolo was represented in the Assembly by W. S. Wood, and the district in the Senate by Henry Edgerton. At this session of the Legislature, an Act was passed and approved March 15th, again establishing the county seat at Washington. Accordingly, in July of that year, the records and papers belonging to the county were again transferred to that place. An Act was also passed re-di- viding the State into Senatorial Districts, in which it was provided that the counties of Yolo and Solano should con- stitute the Seventeenth Senatorial District.
W. S. Ravely gathered together the dry remains of the Yolo Democrat, that had been published at Cacheville, trans- ferred them to Knight's Landing, and with the material es- tablished a small paper, entitled the Knight's Landing News. At the general election, held in September, John B. Smith was elected County Judge; E. Giddings, County Clerk; Charles H. Gray, Sheriff; Charles W. Reed, Treasurer, and H. P. Hamblin, District Attorney.
3
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THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
In the summer of this year a homicide was committed in this county by a man named George Doane. One Samuel Fellows, it appears, had been guilty of making criminal advances to Doane's wife. When the fact came to the knowledge of Doane, he immediately sought Fellows and killed him with a single stroke from the butt of a horse- whip. Doane was arrested and held to bail, but the Grand Jury never found a bill against him.
1862.
Yolo was represented in the Assembly, in 1862, by I. N. Hoag, and the Senatorial District by O. B. Powers, now County Judge of Solano County. John B. Smith, the County Judge elect, failed to qualify, and I. N. Hoag was appointed by the Governor to fill that office until the gen- eral election of 1862. The remainder of the county officers entered upon their duties at the time appointed by law.
An Act was passed on the nineteenth of April, attaching Yolo County to the Sixth Judicial District, whereupon J. H. McKune, Judge of that district, entered upon the duties of District Judge for Yolo County.
In 1855, one James McClure and James McClure, Junior, built a small blacksmith shop about four and a half miles southeast from where Cacheville was subsequently built, and commenced the business of blacksmithing. During the same year one Henry Wyckoff put up a small building near this shop, and commenced merchandising on a small scale. In October, of the next year, E. R. Moses, now a resident of Woodland, was permitted by the proprietors of said black- smith shop to occupy a portion of it for wood work. In 1857, he and his brother, A. C. Moses, purchased the shop, and therein built a number of threshing machines, which were sold in the community. This purchase, however, was not made until after the elder McClure had sold his interest in the shop to Joseph Wolgamot, and business had been carried on for a time in the name of Wolgamot & McClure. During the summer a gambling and whisky shop, made of canvas, was started by a man known by the not very euphonious name of "By Hell." He was indicted by the
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HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
Grand Jury, and left for parts unknown. The same year, 1857, a division of the " Sons of Temperance " was organ- ized by the community around, and a school-house was built near the shop, to which a second story was added and occupied as a hall by the " Sons of Temperance " and as a Masonic Lodge. In the fall our enterprising citizen, F. S. Freeman, purchased the little store built by Mr. Wyckoff, and stocked it with goods, and this little neighborhood took the name of Yolo City. In 1858 a post-office was estab- lished here by that name, and F. S. Freeman was appointed post-master, who purchased of the Government the land upon which the few buildings, except the school-house, were located, near the southwest corner of which a whisky-shop was established, where laboring men from the neighboring farms occasionally congregated and played cards for liquor. On one of these occasions, one William Harbin and one Frank Wright had been engaged at playing when a dispute arose between them as to the number of games that had been lost, whereupon the former drew a knife and stabbed the latter, killing him almost instantly. Harbin made his escape and was never arrested.
In the autumn of 1860, there resided, about one mile southwest from Freeman's store and Moses' shop, the Rev- erend J. N. Pendegast, and about three miles southwest from his place the Reverend J. Lawson-both quite noted pastors of the Christian Church-who, by their energy and influence, succeeded in enlisting the interests of that organ- ization to an extent to induce the building of an institution known as the Hesperian College-a more perfect history of which will be found under another head in this volume. The few buildings we have mentioned comprised the whole or nearly the whole of Yolo City until 1862.
On the thirteenth of March, 1862, an Act was passed, providing that, on the twenty-first day of April, 1862, an election should be held in the County of Yolo to locate and establish the county seat of said county, and to determine, by a majority of all the votes cast at said election; whether the said county seat should be and remain at the town of Washington, or be removed to the town of Woodland, com- monly called Yolo City.
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THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
Seldom have elections been more vigorously contested than was this; sectional prejudices arose in different parts of the county which have not now, after a lapse of eight years, been wholly healed. The result of the election was to establish the county seat at Woodland. This place is situated near the geographical center of the county, in the midst of a rich agricultural community. Of its advantages, social relations, growth, prosperity and present flourishing condition, the reader is referred to other parts of this vol- ume. At the general election in 1862, H. Griffith and L. R. Hopkins were the opposing candidates for County Judge, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the failure of Smith to qualify. L. R. Hopkins was the successful candidate, and entered upon the duties of his office in December. The election was conducted with vigor, but in a friendly spirit. Both candidates had warm, personal friends; both were amply qualified for the position. H. Griffith died the May following, and L. R. Hopkins, as Probate Judge, issued letters testamentary upon his estate, and in two months afterwards Judge Hopkins also died.
Early in 1862, a man was killed, by the name of Jacob Byhard, whilst attempting to get unlawful possession of a farm, the particulars of which we have not learned, but only know that there was no conviction for the offense.
1863.
In the Legislature of 1863, Yolo was represented in the Assembly by Edward Patten, and the Seventeenth Sena- torial District was represented by O. B. Powers. At this time certain amendments to the State Constitution went into effect, whereby State Senators were to hold their offices for the term of four years, and Assemblymen two years. The sessions of the Legislature were to be biennial, and were to meet on the first Monday of December, instead of January.
At the general election held in September, L. C. Brownell was elected County Clerk; C. H. Gray was reelected Sheriff; G. A. Fabricious, County Treasurer, and H. G. Burnett District Attorney; and at the Judicial election held in Oc-
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HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
tober, J. H. McKune was reelected Judge of the Sixth Judicial District and James A. Hutton, County Judge.
In June of this year, a brutal murder was committed near Buckeye, in this county. An old gentleman, by the name of Palmer, was found dead in a barnyard, with a rope tied around his neck, with one end attached to a saddle. There was a horse in the yard, from which the saddle had evidently been taken after having dragged the corpse sev- eral times around the yard. The skull of the deceased had been broken with some implement having square edges and being about one inch thick; a board of that thickness was found, secreted under some straw, upon which there was an abundance of human hair and blood. J. W. Markley was accused of the crime, indicted and tried, but finally ac- quitted.
1864.
The Legislature met in December, 1863, for the session of 1863-4. Yolo was represented in the House by J. B. Hartsough, and the District of Yolo and Solano by J. T. Hall. By the Constitutional Amendment, the Senate of that session was to be divided into two classes: one class to hold office for two years and the other for four. Mr. Hall drew the short term. The county officers elected at the last election entered upon their duties as provided by law- the judicial on the first of January and the ministerial on the first of March. During this session of the Legislature a law was passed to prevent the trespassing of animals, providing for a recovery of damages in case of such tres- pass, whether the lands were or were not fenced. This gave a new impetus to the grain-growing interests of Yolo County. Farmers could cultivate their lands in safety without the expense of inclosures; it led to a development of the agricultural interests which it could not otherwise have obtained for many years.
About the month of May of this year, the Knight's Land- ing News was transferred to Woodland, changed its name, and was afterwards published under the name of The Woodland News.
The only death penalty ever executed in this county was
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THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
in the spring of 1864. William Williams had been con- victed of murder in Sacramento County some years pre- viously; his case was taken to the Supreme Court, the judgment reversed and sent back for a new trial; it was then transferred to Yolo County, and he was again con- victed; another appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, and the judgment was affirmed. He was accordingly exe- cuted by the Sheriff of Yolo in the spring of 1864.
The year 1864 was a hard one for Yolo County. The dry season was felt in all parts of the State, but probably in none more than in Yolo. Two years before, the crops had been almost unprecedented in the county. An average of forty-five bushels of wheat or sixty bushels of barley to the acre was not an unusual yield. Such prosperity tempted farmers, in hopes of a continuance of like yields, to make investments to an extent unwarranted. In 1863 the crops were light, and in 1864 they were a perfect failure. Land depreciated in value more than a hundred per cent .; those who were in debt were almost compelled to sell their pos- sessions. There was, perhaps, not grain enough raised in the county to feed the fowls of the common, much less to supply the wants of the people.
1865-6.
Early in April, 1865, L. C. Brownell died, leaving the office of County Clerk vacant, and immediately thereafter E. Giddings was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to fill the vacancy.
At the general election, in September following, E. Gid- dings was elected County Clerk; William Minis, Sheriff; Giles E. Sill, Treasurer, and H. G. Burnett was re-elected District Attorney. L. B. Mizner was elected to the Senate to represent Yolo and Solano counties, and Charles F. Reed to represent Yolo County in the Assembly and serve during the session of 1865 and 1866.
In the fall of 1866, a homicide was committed near Fre- mont, in this county. Some of the circumstances disclosed by the evidence were as follows: T. A. Russell and W. A. Currie were brothers-in-law, stopping at the house of Mrs.
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HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
Dawson, their sister-in-law. The fact came to the knowl- . edge of Russell that Currie was criminally intimate with his wife, and as Currie entered a room where Russell was sitting, immediately after the facts had been learned by him, he drew a pistol and shot Currie, killing him instantly. Russell was arrested, tried and acquitted.
1867-8.
In 1867, M. A. Woods was elected County Judge; E. Bynum, County Clerk; William Minis was reelected Sheriff; Giles E. Sill was reelected County Treasurer, and J. C. Ball was elected District Attorney; John M. Kelly was elected Assemblyman from this county and rep- resented it in the Legislature of 1867 and 1868-L. B. Mizner continuing in the Senate.
Early in the winter of 1867, a homicide was committed at Knight's Landing. Two men who were perfect stran- gers met in a bar-room-James Stewart and C. A. Brown. Brown was intoxicated and crazed with alcohol-no per- sonal prejudices to avenge-no previous hatred to be aroused. A few words of altercation were heard, a clinch ensued, a knife was drawn, and Stewart fell, bleeding and dying, to the floor. The demon of intemperance impelled the mortal stroke; a good man was a corpse-an awful warning to those who indulge in the intoxicating bowl! Brown was tried in 1867, and by a jury of his countrymen found guilty of manslaughter.
We have said that the Yolo Democrat, published in Cache- ville, in 1857, died in its infancy and was buried. But: " After death is the resurrection." We have said, also, that the remains of the institution were removed to Knight's Landing and converted into the Knight's Landing News ; that in 1864 it was removed to Woodland, and there appeared as the Woodland News. This paper continued to be published until the autumn of 1867, and died on the sixteenth of November of that year. On Saturday, the twenty-third of November, there appeared in the streets of Woodland the Yolo Democrat, the resurrected remains of the paper that died in Cacheville ten years before. It had
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THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
materially improved in appearance by its long slumber; for it had not been dead but sleeping!
On the first of October, 1868, the Yolo Mail, a Republican journal, was established at Woodland. Both papers are now flourishing institutions at that place.
1869-70.
In 1869, E. Bynum was elected County Clerk; J. P. Bul- lock, Sheriff; A. C. Kean, Treasurer, and J. C. Ball was reelected District Attorney; John M. Kelly was reelected to the Assembly, and William Minis was elected State Senator from this district; Lewis Ramage was elected Judge of the Sixth Judicial District-each of whom yet holds the office to which he was then elected. ยท
In the fall of 1869, Isaac Wyckam killed a man by the name of Ferris, in this county. The cause of the homicide was a difficulty about a land claim. Wyckam is yet in jail awaiting his trial. The facts have not yet been given in evidence, and we shall not attempt to give them in advance.
M. A. Woods, County Judge, died January 30th, 1870, and James Johnson was appointed by Governor Haight to fill the vacancy.
We have now completed our little history of Yolo County, from its earliest settlement until the year 1870. We do not flatter ourselves that it contains a large amount of matter interesting to those who have not been to some extent identified with its interests.
But if it shall awaken in the minds of the early settlers pleasant and romantic reminiscences of the past, become a source of gratification to those who in the future may be- come citizens of the county, or be found convenient as a statistical reference, our whole object will have been ob- tained.
YOLO COUNTY.
Yolo County lies on the west side of the Sacramento River, between the parallels of thirty-eight and thirty-nine degrees, north latitude. Woodland, the county seat, is situated near the forty-fifth degree of longitude, west from Washington, or one hundred and two degrees west from Greenwich. The county contains a population of nearly ten thousand, probably falling short three hundred of that number, according to the census just taken.
The main portion of the county presents the appearance of an unbroken plain, interspersed with strips or belts of timber-land. It forms one of the most productive portions of the Sacramento Valley, and is already justly celebrated for the richness of its fields, the rapid growth of its lead- ing towns, and the general advancement of trade and com- mercial interests. As surveyed, the county contains nine hundred and forty square miles, or six hundred and one thousand six hundred acres. Supposing the western line to run its direct course through the unsurveyed portion, there would be about eighty thousand acres additional, making a total of six hundred and eighty-one thousand six hundred. For convenience, we will call it seven hundred thousand acres, divided as follows: Swamp and overflowed land, one hundred and sixty thousand acres; mountain land, two hundred thousand acres; leaving three hun-
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THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
dred and forty thousand acres suitable for cultivation. We have accounts of one hundred and fifty-six thou- sand three hundred and fifty-eight acres cultivated this season, divided as follows: One hundred and twenty- nine thousand seven hundred and eight acres of wheat, twenty-four thousand and eighty acres of barley, two thousand five hundred and seventy acres of garden. Our estimate of the average crop is: Fifty-eight thousand tons of wheat; twelve thousand tons of barley; value of garden products, one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The value of the annual export trade of eggs and poultry is fifty-eight thousand three hundred dollars. Taking the average price of the season, one and one-half cents per pound, we have as the value of the wheat crop, one million seven hundred and forty thousand dollars; value of the barley, at twenty dollars per ton, two hundred and forty thousand dollars. About thirty thousand acres were cut for hay this season, yielding about that number of tons, valued at two hundred and forty thousand dollars. The value of the agricultural products foots up to two million four hundred and eight thousand three hundred.
The grain crop is mostly purchased at three points: Woodland, Knight's Landing and Davisville, though small quantities are stored and sold at other points along the river and railroad. Messrs. Laugenour & Brownell and C. F. Reed buy at Knight's Landing, Messrs. Thomas & Hunt and F. S. Freeman at Woodland, Dresbach & Co. at Davisville.
The past season has not been favorable to grain growers, and the yield through the county, with but few exceptions, has been light.
There are in the county many sources of wealth aside from those mentioned, which will be treated of in their proper order-a brief paragraph being devoted to each. Manufactures are in a flourishing condition, as will be seen by a glance at the tables of statistics. This county is a heavy importer of many articles that could be well manu- factured here at less cost than they now command, and this fact is turning the attention of capitalists in that
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YOLO COUNTY.
direction, and we hope ere long to see factories for various branches of manufactures erected in our midst.
Yolo County possesses great natural advantages as an agricultural and commercial county. With the sinuosities of the river the county possesses a water front of sixty to seventy miles, on which are several landings where grain and produce can be readily shipped.
The California Pacific Railroad traverses the central part of the county, affording rapid transit for exports or imports at any time of the year. The river carriage is extensive and rates of transportation reasonable, and the route is rarely interrupted by changes of seasons.
Projected Railroads.
The projected railroads, when completed, will bring a great addition of wealth to the county-bringing the land carriage and travel of several counties directly through Yolo. With a road to Colusa and Red Bluffs, connecting with the present road at Woodland, the business of that section would pass over this route on its way to the bay, adding materially to the extensive travel now passing through the county.
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