USA > California > Alameda County > The centennial year book of Alameda County, California : containing a summary of the discovery and settlement of California, a description of the Contra Costa under Spanish, Mexican, and American rule, biographical sketches of prominent pioneers and public men > Part 27
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Fox, Verhave, Cushing, Holmes, Baldwin, Coxhead, Selfridge and Porter, of this county, together with Drs. Letterman and McNulty, of San Francisco.
The excitement in Oakland was intense, and extended throughout the country.
The inquest was commenced on Monday evening, at the Alameda station, and lasted several days. The following verdict was ren- dered :
We, the jury empannelled on an inquisition held at the town of Alameda, before W. B. Clement, Esq., Justice of the Peace and Acting Coroner for the County of Alameda, State of California, to enquire into the cause of the death of Alexander White Baldwin, A. Boullet, Edward Anderson, George Thompson, Chas. Martin, Frank B. Miliken, J. D. McDonald, David Wand, Max Ehrman, Thomas F. Sandoz, James Conly, Brunson H. Fox and Henry L. Peterson, do find, from the evidence before us, that the said persons, and each and all of them, came to their death from the effect of a collision which took place between the westward-bound train of the Alameda Railroad and the eastward-bound train of the Western Pacific Railroad, near Damon's Station, in the said County of Alameda, on Sunday, the 14th day of November, A. D. 1869, at or about the hour of 9 A. M. of said day, and that the said collision was the result of and was caused by the ignorance and incompetency of the switchman, Bernard Kane, employed at Simpson's Station, in giving a signal to the officers of the Western Pacific train, indicating that it was " all right, go ahead," and in saying to the locomotive engineer of said Western Pacific Railroad, " all right."
The jury further find, from the evidence of said Bernard Kane, that he cannot read, and that the officer of the Railroad Company, whose duty it was to instruct said Kane in his duties, was deceived by said Kane as to his inability to read.
Dated at Alameda, the 17th day of November, 1869.
(Signed.) H. D. Bacon, Foreman ; F. K. Shattuck, F. M. Camp- bell, C. F. Woods, Robinson Gibbons, Charles Wood.
On Tuesday, the 16th, took place the funeral obsequies of some of the dead, at Oakland.
The funeral of Judge Baldwin took place from the residence of Hon. John B. Felton, his brother-in-law, in Oakland. It was attend- ed by the Masonic Lodges and the members of the bar, and many other distinguished citizens.
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Monsieur Boulet's remains was placed in a temporary resting place, in the old cemetery on Webster Street, as it was the intention of his family to send them to Paris for permanent interment.
Bronson H. Fox, of Illinois, was buried by the Masonic Fraternity, in Mountain View Cemetery.
The Board of Supervisors, assembled as a Board of Equalization, on the Ist of November, passed the following resolutions, by which over $8,000 of assessments were struck from the assessment roll:
1st. That all money secured by mortgage which had been paid after the 1st Monday of August and before the Ist Monday of No- vember, should be stricken from the roll on application and a showing.
2d. That all sums due as purchase money and secured by mort- gage, should be stricken from the roll on application and a showing.
The mortgage tax question was one that for several years agitated the State, and finally, in 1875, the Supreme Court decided it to be illegal.
The new County Infirmary in Eden Township does not appear to have been a very creditably conducted institution. The editor of the Gazette paid it a visit in the latter part of December, and drew a very repulsive picture of it. The edifice he described as nothing bet- ter than a rough wooden shell, 15x30, through which the cold wind whistled; the wards small and over-crowded. The number of patients was twenty-five males, three females and two children. The article concluded by saying: "We are ready to acknowledge that the true state of affairs is almost beyond conception; but nevertheless, there is no dodging the fact that we, constituting the populous third county in the State, are treating our sick paupers with a heartless cruelty, which it is to be hoped is without a parallel in any civilized land."
In this year appeared the first number of the Alameda Encinal, the first paper issued in Alameda town. It was published by F. K. Krauth, its present editor and proprietor, and was noted for its typo- graphical style and judicious management.
1870-Cemetery Associations at Haywards-The People of Brooklyn Resolve to Incorporate-Bridge between Oakland and Alameda Proposed-Distasteful to Brooklyn People-Agitation Favoring the Removal of the County Seat to Oakland Commenced-Hay- wards Trotting Association-Mining Excitement near Brooklyn
19
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
-Neither Coal, "a Color," or Copper Found-Installation of New County Officers-Testimonials to Mr. Amerman, the Retir- ing Clerk-The Mills Seminary Coming-Portuguese Benevolent Societies formed-Tax Levy for 1870-Directors of the S. F. and Oakland Railroad Elected-Death of Major-General Thomas- Bill Authorizing the Issuance of Bonds for Building a New Bridge between Brooklyn and Oakland Passed-School Festival at San Lorenzo-Post Office Opened at Washington Corners- County Boundaries-A New Railroad Town-Railroad Consol- idation-Capture of Jesus Tejada-Water Company at the Mis- sion-Berkeley and Oakland Water Works Company-Consoli- dation of the Western Pacific Railroad with the Central Pacific- Accidental Death of a S. F. Merchant-Brooklyn Indulges in a Fourth of July Celebration-A Fatal Trial Trip-Three Men Drowned-Homicide at Haywards-Chinese Expelled from Al- varado-Governor Stanford Purchases the Warm Springs Prop- erty-Beet Sugar Mill in Operation at Alvarado-The Annie Mooney Mystery-A Model Grand Jury Report-Death of Tom Hart-" No Shooting Allowed "-The October Races at Hay- wards-Grand Squirrel Hunt-Mission Land Company-Pro- posed Savings and Loan Society in Alameda-Fall Races on the Pacific Track-A Gipsey Camp Instituted at Alameda-Edmond- son, a Defaulter at Boise-Piscatorial Propagation at Alvarado -Good Grain Crop-S. B. Martin Charters a Vessel to Take his Grain to Europe-Horrible Double Murder-Railroad Bridge near Niles Burned-Loss, $80,000-Decoto Land Company- The Alameda County Advocate Commenced-Titles of Legisla- tive Enactments.
There was organized in Haywards, at the beginning of this year, the Lone Tree Cemetery Association, which purchased thirty-four acres of land near the town for burial purposes. The incorporators were E. Dole, C. Ward, Geo. Brown, H. W. Rice and T. Cunning- ham. There was a Catholic Cemetery of fifteen acres, started a short time previous, which was called Santa Maria Cemetery.
A meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Brooklyn, including San Antonio, Clinton and Lynn, was held on the 19th of February, for the purpose of taking into consideration the advisability of incor- porating under a town charter. The sense of the meeting was in the affirmative, and a bill was drawn up and sent to the Legislature,
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then in session, for the purpose of having it passed. The bill became law, and on and after the 1st day of May, 1870, Brooklyn was an incorporated town. The following officers were elected to serve for the first year : Trustees, H. A. Mayhew, President of the Board ; A. Cannon, H. Tum Suden, H. Tubbs, Chas. Newton ; Clerk and Treasurer, J. F. Steen ; Assessor, E. E. Webster ; Marshal, O. Whipple.
There was a bill before the Legislature for the construction of a bridge across the creek, between Oakland and Alameda, which was very distasteful to the people of Brooklyn, as it interfered with and obstructed the navigation of the estuary down to that town, and they sent in a strong remonstrance against it, but without avail, as the bill became law and the bridge was built, and is now known as the Webster-Street Bridge.
The question of removing the county seat from San Leandro to Oakland received some attention about this time, and a bill, drawn up by some citizens of Oakland for the purpose of effecting such removal, was sent to Sacramento ; but the delegation being opposed to any such legislation, it was not introduced. It was the com- mencement, however, of a very acrimonious and bitter contest between the people of the city and the country, which lasted several years, and finally resulted in the triumph of the city.
The Haywards Trotting Association, or Jockey Club, elected the following officers at its annual meeting in February : President, William Meek; Vice-President, F. B. Granger ; Secretary, C. Ward; Treasurer, D. Smalley.
There was a mining excitement in Brooklyn Township this year. It did not confine itself to the precious metals, and "black diamonds" were looked for as well as gold and silver, and copper. Some parties thought they had discovered indications of coal near the head of Fruit Vale, in March, and parties set to work to unearth it, but they had only their expenditure and loss of time for their trouble. It was the same, a couple of months later, with the parties who were at work in search of gold and silver, further up the mountain side.
There was found a supposed mineral lode, which it was believed would assay $200 a ton in gold and silver. It was located on the land of Mr. May, north of the termination of Fruit Vale Avenue, among the canons in the foothills. The rock taken out was com- posed of talcose slate, in places sparingly intermixed with quartz and strontian. The entire length of some of these gulches is flanked by
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this formation, while neighboring hills are made up of serpentine to the south and sandstone and conglomorate to the north. For two years past there had been considerable speculation on the prospect of finding gold and silver in paying quantities in this locality, and in consequence land assumed an unusual value. Some parties actually paid $20,000 for a piece of ground, which was not worth half the money ; employed an experienced miner to sink a shaft, the rock from which was said to yield $80 per ton, but upon being assayed did not produce a color of the precious metal. The only deposit of any metal yet found in those hills is that of iron sulphurets.
The new county officers took possession of their desks on the 7th of March. The clerks employed in the Court House presented the retiring County Clerk, Mr. I. A. Amerman, with a handsome gold watch, chain and key, as a token of their esteem upon his retiring. Mr. A. A. Moore, Deputy Recorder, made the presentation in a handsome speech, which was feelingly replied to by the talented re- cipient. A few days later the same gentleman was presented with a silver set of table ware, the gift of the members of the bar, and, no doubt, was a well-merited compliment. The presentation was made by Lewis Shearer, Esq.
A meeting in favor of a Female College, to be established in Brooklyn Township, was held at Judge Hamilton's office, San Lean- dro, on the 5th of March. The object was to raise funds and assist the enterprise. J. O. Eldridge was present on behalf of the College, and stated that the institution would be conducted by the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Mills, then conducting a similar school at Benicia.
A branch of the Portuguese Benevolent Society of San Francisco was formed at Haywards, March 13th, when the following officers were elected : President, Joseph Silva ; Vice-President, William Marriante ; Recording Secretary, Joseph Pimentel; Permanent Sec- retary, John T. Quadros ; Treasurer, Antonio Pedes ; Trustees, An- tonio P. Leal, Joseph F. Silvara, Candido Menezes.
Another branch of the same association was established in San Le- andro early in July, where the following officers were elected : Presi- dent, Antonio Lucio ; Vice-President, Lanzo A. Ferreira ; Secretary, Manuel S. I. Andrado ; Treasurer, Frank Williams ; Permanent Secretary, Francisco Est. Correa ; Trustees, Antonio Damaiao, Fran- cisco José Ignacio, Manuel F. da Cunha, Antonio F. da Cunha, Juan Baptista.
What is called the Portuguese population in Alameda County
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commenced to settle here at an early date, and are amongst the most thriving portion of our population, occupying, as they do, small farms of the best land and growing vegetables and fruits. They are natives of the Azores or Western Isles, and are an exceedingly in- dustrious and thrifty class, with simple hearts and simple pleasures, and number between 4,000 and 5,000 in the county.
The Board of County Supervisors, at their meeting held in San Le- andro on the 14th day of March, adjusted the tax levy for the fiscal year of 1870-1, as follows: County General Fund, 21 cents ; Road and Bridge Fund, 40 cents ; Common School Fund, 35 cents ; County Infirmary Fund, 15 cents ; Jail and Recorder's Office Fund, 15 cents ; Oakland Bar Fund, 2 cents. This, exclusive of the State Fund, was two cents more than the previous year's levy.
At the annual election of Directors of the San Francisco and Oak- land Railroad Company, held on the 21st of March, 1870, Alfred A. Cohen, F. D. Atherton, D. B. Barstow, D. O. Mills and W. C. Ral- ston were chosen.
On Thursday, 31st March, the funeral train containing the re- mains of the late Major-General Thomas passed through Alameda County on their way to their final resting place, in Troy, N. Y. The distinguished soldier died suddenly in his office in San Francisco, on the previous Monday.
The proposition before the Legislature authorizing the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County to issue bonds for the construction of a new bridge between Brooklyn and Oakland, to the value of $20,- 000, became law.
At a meeting of the Board held on Tuesday, June 7, it was re- solved that all orders and resolutions passed previous to that date in regard to the Oakland and Brooklyn bridge, on Twelfth Street, be re- pealed, and all bids received in the matter of building be rejected. It was further resolved that $15,000 in bonds be issued and placed in the hands of the Road and Bridge Committee for the construction of said bridge, and that said Committee proceed immediately to build the bridge and roadway, according to the plans and specifications of W. F. Boardman, either by private contract or by day's labor, or by advertisement for bids, as said Committee might deem best. Work was commenced on the 20th of August, under Roadmaster Thorne, of Brooklyn, and Hersey, of Oakland, they doing the preliminary grad- ing, cutting down the hill on the Clinton side and filling in the road- way with the earth. The rest of the work was let to different par-
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ties, and it was close to the end of the year before the job was fin- ished. The grading and macadamizing of Washington Street, Brook- lyn, went on simultaneously.
Bates & Wales' blue trap rock quarries, for macadamizing purposes, were opened this summer. They are situated in the direction of Piedmont, and supply excellent materials for street-making pur- poses.
There was a fine display of the schools of San Lorenzo, Haywards, Alvarado, Centreville and Washington Corners, on the 10th day of June, at Centreville, under the management of Mr. M. M. Spencer, of Haywards. The celebration was in the form of a musical festival, and Prof. Gustave Scott, of San Francisco, had charge of the musical directorship on the occasion.
A postoffice was established at Washington Corners in July, with the late Timothy Rix as Postmaster. This was the first office in the place, the people of that locality having had previously to go to Cen- treville or Mission San José on their mail business.
The Board of Supervisors, at one of its meetings, adopted a reso- lution requesting the Surveyor-General to establish the boundary lines between the counties of Alameda, San Joaquin and Contra Costa. It was their opinion that San Joaquin and Contra Costa in- fringed on the boundaries as first established by Mr. Higley, the first County Surveyor of Alameda. As no official survey had been made, that officer ran the line in accordance with the statute, starting at the junction of the counties named and running in a straight line northwesterly to a point on the old San Joaquin river, which he supposed to be what was designated as the Pescadero Slough. Sub- sequently a dispute arose, and Messrs. Boardman, of Alameda, and Stakes, of San Joaquin, met and reestablished the line. They started from High Pine Peak, near the junction of the Counties of Tuol- umne (now Stanislaus) and San Joaquin (the point of Higley's de- parture), and ran along the "Main Divide," in a westerly course, for two or three miles, and thence in a straight line to the point of the termination of Higley's survey, making a difference in favor of San Joaquin of several miles of valuable land, including the Corral Hol- low coal mines.
Recently the County Surveyor of Contra Costa had fixed on Pes- cadero Slough, at a point some six miles northwest of the point designated by Higley. If the Surveyor of Contra Costa was correct, and Mr. Higley seemed to think he was, then a large strip of valu-
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able agricultural land, rightfully belonging to Alameda County, was in the possession of Contra Costa County. Mr. Higley was author- ized to establish the lines between Alameda and San Joaquin.
On Saturday, June 11th, articles of incorporation were filed in the County Clerk's Office of San Francisco, by the Decoto Land Com- pany of Alameda County. The object was to purchase the ground and lay out the railroad town of Decoto, and plant there 37,500 ever- green trees.
The San Francisco and Oakland and San Francisco, Alameda and Haywards Railroad Companies were consolidated July 1st, under the name of the S. F. O. & A. R. R. Co., to form a continuous line from San Francisco to Haywards. Directors: Faxon D. Atherton, D. O. Mills, Wm. C. Ralston, Alfred A. Cohen and David P. Barstow.
In the latter part of May, Sheriff Morse, accompanied by Constable Morehouse, captured a Californian named Jesus Tejada, who had been charged with being a participant in a dreadful crime in San Joaquin County, about twenty miles from Stockton, on the 9th of December, 1869. He and a number of others belonging to his band, brutally and in cold blood, murdered a man named Frank Medina, an Italian storekeeper, his clerk, two Mexicans and a negro on the oc- casion referred to, and then escaped. Sheriff Morse was commissioned with their arrest. About the latter part of April he received infor- mation that led him to believe that Tejada, one of the murderers, was encamped with a band of outlaws in the mountains, about 100 miles south of Ellis Station, and with his companion started in pursuit. They found the band alluded to but could not identify their man, and had to return. Subsequently, having received further informa- tion, they again proceeded to effect the arrest, and in the night time made a descent upon the outlaws' hiding place. When within a few hundred yards of the spot where Tejada and four companions were sleeping, the officers came upon a sentinel that had been posted to warn the sleepers of the approach of danger. The sentinel, on per- ceiving the officers, started for the tree where the murderer was rest- ing, but the officers overhauled him before he could give the alarm. Creeping up softly, they got within a few feet of the party, and getting their rifles in position called upon them to surrender. Tejada, in sur- prise and consternation, threw up his hands, evidently aware that he was the object sought. He was handcuffed and the officers took him off, leaving the others to their reflections. Tejada was a native Cal- ifornian, about 24 years of age, and six feet in hight. He was lodged in San Leandro jail.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
The certificate of the Bay Spring Water Company was filed in the office of the Secretary of State on the 4th of April. The object of the Company was to supply Mission San José and other towns in Alameda County with fresh and pure water taken from Barry and Story Springs. Capital stock, $50,000, divided into 500 shares. Term of existence, fifty years. Trustees: George W. Cook, Ira Mar- den and Chas. W. Cook.
The certificate of incorporation of the Berkeley and Oakland Water Works Company, was filed in the Clerk's office on the 12th of April. The object was to furnish pure, fresh water for the City of Oakland and to the towns in the County of Alameda and to the inhabitants thereof, from San Pablo Creek, Wild Cat Creek, Cordoneres Creek, and from springs, wells and other sources of supply as might be made available for that purpose. Capital stock, $1,000,000, in 10,000 shares of $100 each. Trustees: F. K. Shattuck, A. J. Snyder, and others.
There was filed in the office of the Secretary of State, on the 23d of June, articles of association, amalgamation and consolidation of the Central Pacific of California with the Western Pacific Railroad, un- der the name of Central Pacific Railroad, executed June 22d. By this arrangement all the capital stock, property, assets, debts and franchises of the companies were consolidated. The number of Direc- tors were seven, and the following were to act until others were elect- ed, namely : Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, E. B. Crocker, E. H. Miller, Jr., and A. P. Stan- ford. Capital stock, $100,000,000. The companies thus consolidat- ed, though run as separate concerns, were, as was well known, owned by the same parties. The consolidation did away with the keeping of two sets of books, and thus simplified the business of the company.
A frightful accident occurred on the San Pablo road, near Oak- land, on the 3d day of July, by which a gentleman named Walter Welch, of the firm of Kelly, Welch & Co., San Francisco, lost his life. It appears that Mr. Welch, accompanied by his wife and daughter, hired a livery horse and went to see a friend out the San Pablo road, and when returning the horse got frightened at some- thing and shied so badly that he upset the buggy, throwing out the occupants and injuring Mr. Welch so much that he died shortly after, and Mrs. Welch was seriously but not fatally injured.
Brooklyn, this year, the first of its incorporation, indulged in a
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first-class Fourth of July celebration, consisting of a procession of the Fire Department, the reading of the Declaration of Independen- ce by C. F. Haswell, and an oration by Dr. Knowles.
A sad accident occurred to three residents of Brooklyn on the 4th of July, by which they lost their lives on the San Antonio Creek. A man named Buzzalini, a tailor by trade, invented a boat to work with paddles, like a railroad hand-car, and got a caveat for patenting the same. He built a boat, and, on that day, took a party of eleven out on a trial trip. When about a mile beyond Broadway Wharf, and one hundred yards from the shore, the boat was swamped, and Buzzalini and two other men, named Patrick H. Grimes and James Clark, unfortunately, were drowned. Buzzalini left a wife and six children to mourn his loss.
On the 27th day of July, at the Haywards Trotting Park, two boys, named Charley Roos and John McCue, young jockeys, were indulging in some play or skylarking, when the former drew a pistol and shot the latter through the head. Young Roos was tried for murder at the following session of the County Court and acquitted, on the ground that the shooting was not willful.
On the 4th of August, in consequence of disorderly conduct on their part, all the Chinamen in Alvarado were driven out of the town by a mob of citizens.
Governor Stanford this summer purchased the fine property in Washington Township known as the Warm Springs, from Mr. A. A. Cohen, with the intention of converting the same into a private residence. He has made no improvement on the property since, but his brother Josiah has been occupying it, cultivating a fine vineyard, and making wine.
Work in the new beet sugar company's mill, at Alvarado, com- menced in the latter end of November, 1870. The mill was located about a half mile from Alvarado, on the Alameda Creek, on the Dyer Ranch. The building was two hundred feet by fifty, three stories high, with a large tower, and was built of wood, at a cost of $20,000. The following well-known gentlemen composed the com- pany : General C. L. Hutchinson, Benj. Flint, W. T. Garrett, T. G. Phelps, J. N. Risdon, P. Spreckles, W. B. Carr, E. R. Carpentier, E. H. Dyer, and Bonesteel, Otto & Co., who were formerly of Wis- consin. The capital stock was $250,000, all owned by the gentlemen named. The building and machinery cost $150,000. The rest of their capital was kept for the purchase of more lands, and for the
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running expenses of the factory. This factory used up fifty tons of beets every twenty-four hours, and employed about 150 hands. The company had between 300 and 400 acres of beets growing in 1870, which were increased. The species of beets of which the best sugar is made, and produces the largest percentage of saccharine, is called the White Silesian. They require a light, loamy soil, with clay sub- soil, to bring out the greatest capacity. The machinery of the establishment was of the latest invention and most perfect construc- tion. It was all made in San Francisco, at the Union Iron Works, except the centrifugals, which were imported from Germany, where every contrivance for making sugar from beets had been thoroughly tested by the most scientific experiments. The whole business was under the management of Messrs. Bonesteel, Otto & Co., who had large experience in similar undertakings in Wisconsin.
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