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 28
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This sugar mill continued in Alvarado until 1874, when it was removed to Suscol, in Santa Cruz County, on account of the accessi- bility of cheaper fuel, which was an important item.
The sudden and mysterious death, in a San Francisco hotel, of a young school girl belonging to Brooklyn, named Annie Mooney, was the cause of deep regret and great excitement in that town at the time. The occurrence took place in August. A coroner's inquest was held on the remains of the unfortunate girl, but the correct cause of her death was not elicited. The fact that she had, at the hotel, enquired for the room of a gentleman who was the conductor of a train on the Central Pacific Railroad, caused suspicion to be entertained against him, and he was arrested by the coroner's jury, on suspicion, but soon after was released. He sued them and the publishers of the Brooklyn Independent newspaper, subsequently, for damages for false arrest and libel.
The Grand Jury of the County Court, at the September session, had a great deal of business to investigate, and the result was an important and able presentment, which is worthy of reproduction here as a model of its kind. It conveys a great deal of information concerning our county institutions, and is worthy of being read and reflected upon by all citizens who may be under the necessity of per- forming similar services hereafter. Some portions of it, which are not essential, have been omitted on account of length :
To the Honorable the County Court of Alameda County :
The Grand Jury for the September Term, 1870, of the County of Alameda, State of California, do respectfully report as follows :
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That we have examined into nineteen cases of alleged offenses against the laws, and have found true bills of indictment in twelve cases, as follows :
One for murder ; one for murder in the second degree; two for bigamy ; one for burglary ; four for grand larceny ; one for accessory after the fact of grand larceny ; one for petit larceny ; one for rob- bery.
That we have ignored bills in six cases following, to-wit :
B. E. Peck, charged with grand larceny ; Chas. Feeder, assault to commit bodily injury ; John Ashwest, robbery ; Nemesa Celares, assault to commit bodily injury ; Manuel F. Duconia, assault to murder ; Jennie Genieve, attempt to commit arson.
That we have referred one case of complaint for grand larceny to the next Grand Jury.
We have visited the County Jail, and thoroughly examined the same, finding it secure, and in a good, cleanly condition.
We have also inquired into the cause of the confinement of all per- sons confined therein, and find that each prisoner's case has been pass- ed upon by the Grand Jury, with the exception of three persons who are serving out sentences of Court heretofore pronounced against them.
The Grand Jury cannot but feel the hardship imposed by their finding against the boy Charles Roos, for murder in the second degree. While the evidence by which we were compelled to decide this case left no alternative to our action, we cannot but observe a serious deficiency in our criminal law, which threatens not only the punish- ment of mature felons, but a child of the tender age of from twelve to fourteen years, whose education has been neglected, and who needs instruction and information rather than punishment. The hardening companionship of the State Prison can only confirm him in a lifelong career of crime. Such cases ought to be sent to an Industrial School; and since the abolition of the institution formerly located at Marys- ville, we would suggest that the next Legislature be called upon to make some other provision for the reformation of juvenile offenders throughout the State.
We have examined the books of the County Treasurer, and find them kept neatly and legibly. We find the sum of $12,914 in the vault, which agrees with the Treasurer's balance sheet.
The assessment roll shows the assessed value of the real and per- sonal property of Alameda County to be $11,786,381, and the amount of tax levied is $255,764.48 for the year 1870.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
We have examined the books of the County Recorder, and find the books neatly kept and systematically arranged.
We also visited the County Clerk's Office, and found on file therein quite a number of certificates of incorporations of religious and other societies, cemeteries, etc., that should be made matters of record, in order to their preservation. We also find the judgment docket of the District Court to be nearly worn out by constant use since the organ- ization of the county.
We recommend to the Board of Supervisors, that they authorize the County Clerk to have the certificates of incorporation on file in his office recorded, and that he also be authorized to procure new judgment docket, and transcribe therein the records of the old one.
We have visited and examined the County Hospital, and find the same in a cleanly and comfortable condition. Since the present Stew- ard, C. Caldwell, took charge, on January 1st, 1870, there have been admitted sixty-two patients (all males).
There were in the hospital, February 15 : males, 27; females, 3 ; total number treated, 92. Present number of patients, 18 ; average number per day from February Ist to April 30th, 1870, 26 ; average number per day from May Ist to July 31st, 1870, 16.
We could not ascertain the number of deaths, as no separate record has been kept thereof by the Steward, and we had not sufficient time to cull this information from the records as kept. We recommend that the Board of Supervisors require of the Steward quarterly or monthly reports for publication, stating the number, sex and diseases of all persons admitted, and especially the names, sex, age, diseases and date of death, of all who die in the hospital. Also, that a sepa- rate record be kept of the deaths, and that a head-board with, at least, a number corresponding with the record number, be placed over each grave in the hospital cemetery, so that should the remains be hereafter claimed, there would be no difficulty in identifying them.
We examined the Court-house building, and found the same to have been substantially rebuilt of wood, and ceiled throughout-thus guarding against future loss by earthquakes. The various offices are convenient, and kept in excellent condition.
On a careful examination into the mode of presenting and auditing bills by the Board of Supervisors for road and bridge expenditures, we must wholly condemn the system as affording no protection what- ever to the Treasury, and as calculated to, render the detection of fraud impossible.
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The statute entitled "An Act concerning roads and highways in the County of Alameda," approved March 20th, 1862, Section 25, reads as follows : "The Board of Commissioners shall * *
at every regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors make a full and explicit report of all their official acts * All their official acts shall be subject to the approval of said Board." Now it is evi- denced before us that no such reports of the condition of the roads and bridges, or of the Road Commissioners' official acts, have been filed by any of the Road Commissioners during two years last past, if ever. But in lieu thereof we find a long series of bills made out on blanks furnished by the Board, which state the name, number of days' work, rate per day, and sum total of labor due, or of material furnished, without a word of explanation as to what work has been done, or where or what equivalent, if any, the county has received for its money. The oath on the back of this document is also appa- rently worded so as to be entirely non-committal on those important subjects. When the bills are presented they are referred to an Aud- iting Committee, whose custom it has been to pass upon them at the same meeting, without any inquiry or examination into the work actually done, and generally upon the mere assurance of the town- ship Supervisor that it is " all right."
We therefore urge upon the Board of Supervisors that they abolish the present form of Road Masters' bills, and substitute therefor such a form and such affidavit as will require proof of the work done, as well as of all the other items contained in the present form.
That the present mode of auditing such bills at the same meeting as when presented, be abolished, and instead thereof that no such bill be audited until at the lapse of at least one meeting after that at which the bill shall have been presented, and that, meantime, the Auditing Committee shall be required to examine the work done. That, as required by statute, the Road Commissioners shall be required, at every regular meeting of the Board, to present reports as prescribed by statute. We further commend this important sub- ject to the next and each succeeding Grand Jury, until the abuses to which the present system directly tends shall be prevented alto- gether.
C. G. Reed, W. H. Hamilton, L. J. Hamilton, Hiram Bailey, Benj. F. Bramen, Chas. W. Keene, A. B. Dixon, G. A. Babb, J. Meagher, James Edger, Hiram Battin, William G. Crow, Martin Brophy, John Arnett. C. T. HOPKINS, Foreman.
San Leandro, September 23d, 1870.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Mr. Thomas Hart, an old resident of the county, and one of the first settlers in Livermore Valley, died at his residence in that place, on the 23d of September, 1870, in the forty-third year of his age. He was buried in the Dougherty grave yard, in Dublin, then the only burying place in Murray Township, and the funeral cortege reached nearly a mile in length, making the largest funeral ever known in that part of the county. An effective funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. L. R. Clark, who did not long survive the man whose obsequies he attended.
The quail-hunters had reason to complain of the restrictions placed on them by a law passed by the previous Legislature, with reference to shooting in enclosed premises. Everywhere a "No Shooting " notice stared them in the face, and the birds were sure of refuge where the chagrined sportsman could not follow. The Act provided : " It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to enter any en- closure belonging to or occupied by another, for the purpose of hunting with hounds, or to shoot, kill or destroy any kind of game, without first having obtained permission from the owner or agent of such enclosure." The position of those matters in the State, are exactly similar to the English law in regard to hunting, with the exception of the license, for a license to shoot game is required by the English statute.
There was great interest taken in the October races, at Haywards, this year. They lasted three days, but the principal contest was between " Alameda Maid " and " Brooklyn Boy." The mare was declared the winner of the race and money.
The members of the Alameda County Farmers' Club treated them- selves to a grand squirrel hunt in September and October, during which months they killed and scalped no less than 11,792 squirrels. There was a premium awarded by the Legislature for every squirrel destroyed and scalp produced, besides a prize given by the Club, which in this instance was carried off by Wm. Cox, who had 27 sealps over and above all competitors. Shooting and poisoning were the means of destruction.
The San José Mission Land Company filed a certificate of incor- poration on the 13th October. Objects: to purchase a certain tract of land, comprising about five thousand acres of the tract known as the San Jose Mission lands, and to improve and distribute the same among the shareholders; also to raise a fund for the purpose of con- structing and endowing two colleges, one for males and the other for
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females, should the order of Odd Fellows locate the one at San José Mission and the other at Decoto, in Alameda County. Capital stock, $1,250,000, gold coin, divided into 500 shares of $2,500 each. The trustees were S. S. Tilton, C. F. Wood, E. H. Myer, Noble Hamilton, Harvey S. Brown, Henry V. Herbert and I. A. Amerman. The plan of the Company was not carried out, but an excellent college was established at Washington Corners.
The preliminary steps for establishing a Savings and Loan Society in Alameda town, to be called the Alameda Valley Savings Bank, were taken in October of this year, and the articles of incorporation drawn up and sent to Sacramento. It was expected the bank would be in operation by the beginning of 1871, but for some reason the proposed financial institution never opened. The incorporators were W. B. Clement, W. H. Harnden, J. W. McKee, Eustace Trenor, Conrad Liese and N. W. Palmer. The Board of Directors, for the first six months, consisted of W. B. Clement, Eustace Trenor, W. H. Harnden, N. W. Palmer, Louis Fassking, J. W. McKee, Henry Robinson, Thos. A. Smith, Frank Coy, F. Boehmer and Wm. P. Gibbons.
The fall races on the Pacific Track, Brooklyn, were very spirited and lasted five days, extending from the 10th to the 15th of October.
A gipsy camp was set up in Alameda, in October, the first known in the county. A number of the lineal descendants of one of Father Noah's boys, Japhet by name, encamped on Buena Vista Avenue, between Walnut and Willow Streets. They had with them the usual accompaniments of the tribe. The human portion of the band was composed of expatriated noblemen and ladies, traveling incog-or, in their wagon, as the humor dictated.
Information was received here in October, that Edmondson, formerly Sheriff of Alameda County, but then latterly Treasurer of Boise County, Idaho, had turned out a defaulter to the extent of $13,000, and had absconded.
Messrs. Wiggins & Taylor, a firm of piscatorial propagators, tried the experiment of trout culture, at Alvarado, where they purchased land for the purpose and sunk an artesian well. Hatching-houses were constructed, the ponds ditched and dyked, but the experiment does not appear to have been a success, as it was not continued. The locality, however, appears to be very suitable for such an enter- prise, whatever the cause of discontinuance.
The grain crop of 1870 proved a good one, especially barley, which
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was a large one in the Alameda Valley. Wheat brought $2 per 100 Ibs., and barley $1.25. One of our extensive wheat-growers, Mr. S. B. Martin, instead of employing middle-men, commission merchants and shippers, to carry his crop to market, chartered a ship and sent his crop direct to Liverpool, at his own risk. The vessel he chart- ered was the Archer, which hauled in at the end of the Central Pacific Railroad Wharf, on the Oakland side. Twelve hundred tons of wheat were brought along her side, and in a few hours were stowed, and the ship, without incurring any wharfage charges, was hauled into the stream ready for her voyage. Whatever profit there was in this transaction went directly to the producer. He avoided commissions, tolls and storage, and got the Liverpool price, having only had to pay moderate freight charges. There is no wheat-grower, outside of California, who has taken up a ship on his own account. Shipments have been made in this way from Vallejo. The facilities offered to wheat-growers for shipping direct to a foreign market are, probably, better here than in any other wheat-growing State in the Union.
The Alameda County Gazette, of Nov. 12th, contained the follow- ing account of a horrible double murder committed the previous week in the southern section of the county, which shows the deprav- ity and native ferocity of the Indian character :
" On the evening of Thursday, the 10th inst., an Indian woman, supposed to be insane, named Anistaba, killed her daughter, aged ten years, the child of a "greaser" (who was himself killed about three years ago at Gilroy) and a man named Cohuacho, a native of Sonora, Mexico, aged about forty years. The killing was done with an axe, in a house near the Alviso hills, where the woman had been put by her Indian friends for safe-keeping, and the man, Cohnacho, set to watch her. From the surroundings it appears that the woman took the man by surprise, in the house, his head being chopped and smashed to a jelly. The body of the little girl was found in a swamp near by, with the head mangled in the same way as the man's. Dr. Yates, who held the inquest upon the bodies, says the sight was an exceed- ingly horrible one. After the killing, the woman wandered from the house, and was not found until the following Friday evening ; she was then found at an Indian house, at Baylis' Mills. When she pre- sented herself to the inmates of this house she appeared to be drunk. Her head was covered with gashes, more than a dozen in number, which were evidently self-inflicted, and her clothes clotted with blood
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from head to foot. Constable Trefrey, of Centreville, lodged the wo- man in the County Jail yesterday morning, to which she was com- mitted by the acting Justice. Since the commission of the crime she has acted as a perfectly sane person, except when she first ap- peared at the house at the mills. Before the arrest she acknowledged the murder, and gave as her motive a desire to die herself, as she had no way of making her living. Violent deaths run among these peo- ple-the last husband of this woman having been killed a few weeks ago, in a drunken row, by an Indian."
A very heavy loss was sustained by the Central Pacific Railroad Company, in the destruction by fire of the bridge crossing the Ala- meda creek, on the San José road, near Niles Station. It is sup- posed that the fire broke out about one o'clock Wednesday morning, November 23d, and being removed from any station or settlement, no information of the occurrence could be given to the officers of the road in Sacramento. The bridge was a very substantial structure, said to have cost some $80,000. Nothing is known as to the origin of the fire. A temporary bridge was built at once, over which the trains passed.
At the annual election for officers of the Decoto Land Company, held in San Francisco, Mr. I. A. Amerman, of San Leandro, was chosen President ; Wm. Harney, Treasurer ; and H. V. Herbert, Secretary. A contract was entered into .at this meeting with S .. Nolan, the horticulturist, of Oakland, to plant 27,000 evergreen trees upon the lands of the company, at a cost of $20,352, the work to be commenced immediately. The company made arrangements with the Central Pacific Railroad Company, whereby commutation tickets between the town of Decoto and San Francisco might be pur- chased for $7.50 per month.
The trees were planted, and although evidently they did not re- ceive much care and many of them died, yet there is quite a respect- able grove of gum and cypress trees on the town site. But as yet, notwithstanding its natural advantages, Decoto has failed to reach the dimensions of a town.
The first number of the Alameda County Advocate, published by S. S. Saul, late of the Gazette, made its appearance at Haywards, on the 19th of December, 1870.
The census of 1870 gave Alameda County a population of 24,737, with an assessment roll of $11,786,381. The complete figures for the year will be found in the statistical department of this work.
20
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Following are the titles of the various legislative Acts passed con- cerning the County of Alameda and the City of Oakland, at the session of 1870-1 :
An Act regulating bond of Recorder.
An Act constituting County Clerk ex-officio Clerk of Board of Supervisors. County Clerk to be ex-officio Auditor. Election of County Clerk and Recorder.
An Act for the relief of Sheriff Morse.
An Act to provide for building bridge across the Estuary of San Antonio. Tax for payment of bridge bonds. To issue bonds for bridge purposes.
An Act for impounding of stock running at large.
An Act to prevent the destruction of fish and game in and around Lake Merritt.
An Act to prevent hunting and shooting on private grounds.
An Act regulating compensation of Under Sheriff.
An Act amending Act of 1862, concerning roads and highways.
An Act establishing legal distances to Capitol, Insane Asylum and Prison.
An Act authorizing a county tax for destruction of squirrels and gophers.
An Act incorporating Town of Brooklyn.
An Act providing for. bridge across San Antonio Creek. Mayor of Oakland to appoint Bridge Committee. City of Oakland to levy special bridge tax.
An Act to provide for collection of delinquent taxes.
An Act to provide additional Notaries.
An Act constituting Superintendent of Schools to be member of State Board of Education.
An Act to lay out and improve streets of Oakland.
An Act for relief of John Scott.
An Act authorizing contract for lighting city of Oakland with gas.
An Act authorizing bonds for school purposes-$50,000.
An Act authorizing tax for redemption of School Bonds in Oakland.
An Act amending an Act of 1864, to improve streets in Oakland.
An Act to authorize a tax for interest on bonds issued for funding certain claims on Oakland.
An Act to authorize a tax for redemption of bonds issued for fund- ing certain claims.
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An Act authorizing the Mayor to appoint Commissioners for a bridge across San Antonio Creek.
An Act authorizing a special tax for bridge across San Antonio creek.
An Act concerning wharves, not to apply to Oakland.
An Act regarding collection of delinquent taxes.
An Act establishing boundary between Brooklyn and Oakland.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
GEORGE BABCOCK.
HENRY GOULD.
BABCOCK & GOULD,
PROPRIETORS OF THE
Oakland City Flouring Mills,
THIRD STREET, NEAR BROADWAY,
-MANUFACTURERS OF-
BAKERS' XXX and FAMILY FLOUR,
Corn Meal, Oat Meal, Pearl Barley, Rye and Buck- wheat Flour, Cracked Wheat, Hominy, Split Peas and Ground Feed.
SAMM'S FLOURING MILLS,
Corner of First and Clay Streets, Oakland.
JACOB SAMM, PROPRIETOR.
Manufactures Finest Family Flour, Farina, Cracked Wheat, Rye Flour, Rye Meal, Indian Meal,, Cracked Corn, Buckwheat Flour, Buckwheat Groats, Graham Flour, Small Hominy, Oat Meal, Oat Groats, Pearl Barley, Split Peas, Feed Meal, Ground Barley, Bran, Middlings, Etc. Barley Ground to Order.
ASK YOUR GROCER FOR SAMM'S FLOUR.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
THE EVENTS OF 1871.
Judge Nye Condemns the Legislature on Account of a Lottery Act- The Crittenden Murder Case-The Sunol Valley Murder-Pur- suit and Death of the Murderer, Juan Soto-Murder of Hiscock, near Pleasanton-Arrest, Trial, Conviction and Execution of Ramon Amador for the Crime-Thunder-storm-The Clark- Reed Homicide, near Ocean View-An Extraordinary Case, Showing How a Criminal was Shielded Against Punishment- Jurymen and Judges Implicated-A Homicide near Haywards, the Result of a Drunken Brawl-Suit for the Recovery of Taxes -First Election of Brooklyn Town Officers-Bill for the Recla- mation of Swamp Lands-Roller Skating and Rinks-Another Homicide in Eden Township-Republican Candidates for Gov- ernor-Selby and Booth-The Livermore Grant Decision-Fourth of July Celebration-Moraga Land Troubles-A Man Killed- The Brooklyn Home Journal-Hotel Burnt at Centreville- Movement in Favor of a College in Washington Township- " After Many Years"-An Old Indian Looking for a Man Dead Over Twenty Years-Teeth of a Mastodon Discovered-A Herd of Sheep Stolen-Still Another Homicide, followed by a Shooting Affair-Republican Ticket Successful at the Elections, and Booth Elected Governor over Haight- Extensive Fire at Livermore - Draw-bridge Decision - Visit of a Norther - A Church, Nearly Finished, Blown Down-Temperance Association at San Leandro-Fire at the County Hospital-Jail-birds Escape -Severe Rainstorm.
The year 1871 was remarkable in this county for its homicides, its criminal calendars, its educational enterprises and short crops.
In his opening charge to the Grand Jury, on the 2d day of Jan- uary, County Judge Nye severely censured the last Legislature for passing an act, contrary to the Constitution of the State, permitting
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
the holding of a lottery in San Francisco, known as the Mercantile Library Lottery. He declared that, without exaggeration, no single legislative act in the history of the State had been so baneful to society, and urged upon them to indict any parties getting up lotteries or raffles in the county, several of which were known to be in pro- gress.
The Grand Jury, in their first report, stated that they had exam- ined into seventeen cases of alleged offenses, and had found true bills in twelve cases.
An order was issued transferring the case of Laura D. Fair, in- dicted for the murder of A. P. Crittenden, in the previous October, to the Third District Court, as well as that of Arastaba, the Indian woman who had murdered her child and an Indian man, near Mission San José, some time previous. Crittenden was shot by Mrs. Fair, shortly after the ferry steamer had left the Oakland wharf, which, as is well known, runs a long distance into the bay, and a survey was made by the Surveyor-General, Mr. Bost, to determine within which county the crime was committed. The result went to show that the Courts of San Francisco, not Alameda County, had jurisdiction in the matter, and consequently the case was transferred thither.
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