USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 36
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Thomas S. Heflin was attorney of Silver City, also ex-district attorney and a prominent Democrat. In March, 1902, while he was drinking in the Club House saloon in Silver City, John W. Childers entered and, accord- ing to report, announced himself in vile language as a fighting man who was looking for trouble. He picked a quarrel with Heflin, some say, over a fee he owed the latter. Heflin was very much intoxicated and was so maudlin that he was willing either to apologize or fight just as the humor came. Childers was in an angry mood and soon precipitated a fight, in which he fired several shots at Heflin, who died the next day.
The interest of the case lies more in the trial than in the killing. Childers was indicted, obtained a change of venue to Doña Ana county, and the case was tried at the April term at Las Cruces, before Judge Parker. At the very opening of the case the discharge of the panel by Judge Parker, because of talk of bribery and other improper influences, created a shock of surprise. The trial jury consisted of all Mexicans but two, and there was strong evidence that these two brought the rest of the jury to favor acquittal in spite of all lack of defense. The statement by one of the Mexican jurors after the trial was: "We did not discuss the evidence. We thought he was guilty, but we were told that he was a very rich man and was going to live here, and that all the ladies in the court- room were friends of his wife and had come to see him acquitted, and that the judge and the lawyers wanted us to acquit him. We are very sorry we were mistaken." This is said to have been the first trial on record in New Mexico where the defendant pleaded self-defense and did
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not take the stand in his own behalf. Childers came to the Territory from Texas, and after the trial returned to that statc.
March 10, 1884, Kit Joy, A. M. (alias "Mitch") Lee, Frank Taggart, George W. Cleveland (negro), all train robbers; Carlos Chavez, a mur- derer under death sentence, and Spencer, a horse-thief, escaped from the jail at Silver City. They got horses from the Elephant corral, but were pursued and overtaken by officers and citizens, two miles and a half north of town, and a desperate battle ensued. Chavez and Cleveland were killed outright, Lee was fatally wounded, and Taggart and Spencer taken pris- oners. Joseph N. Lafferr, one of the pursuing party, was killed by Kit Joy, who escaped. In a hold-up of a train, a short time previous, Lee had killed Engineer Webster, and due to the feeling aroused by this the crowd lynched Lee and Taggart before they returned to Silver City. Spencer was brought back to jail. Joy, the only one who escaped, was son of a resident of Socorro county, and had been a member of Billy the Kid's gang. On March 22 he was captured and brought to jail. His trial was held in Sierra county, on change of venue, and he was convicted of murder in the second degree and sent to the penitentiary for life.
The trial of Thomas Ketchum, train robber, excited much interest and was notable for the legal point involved. The trial was held before Judge W. J. Mills at Clayton, September 4, 1899, and the prosecution was directed by Jeremiah Leahy, of Raton. He was indicted for having held up a train on the Colorado and Southern Railroad in Union county on the night of August 16, and having assaulted Charles P. Drew, the Wells-Fargo Company express messenger. He shot the mail clerk, Fred Bartlett, and was only driven from the scene on the appearance of Con- ductor Frank E. Harrington, who fired a charge of buckshot, wounding Ketchum in the right arm. Ketchum's wound caused him to faint several times during the night, and though he made his escape, he was captured the next morning by a freight crew. His trial resulted in his conviction, and he was given the death penalty according to law. Execution followed in April, 1900, at Clayton, and his head was pulled off by reason of the long drop and his weight.
"Black Jack" Ketchum, as this bandit was known, was the first to be sentenced to death under the New Mexico statutes for train robbery, and his case was appealed to the Supreme Court, not because his guilt was not clearly established, but because the law under which he was convicted was alleged to be excessively severe. The legislature was in session shortly after his conviction. and a petition was sent to that body praying for a change of the penalty to a term of imprisonment. The law under which conviction resulted had been enacted in 1887, and in Justice Parker's opinion accompanying the decision of the Supreme Court affirming the ver- dict of the lower court he says: "The act under which the defendant was convicted was passed in 1887 and has been on the statute books unchallenged by the people of the Territory ever since that time. It has evidently met with the approval of the people and has not been deemed by them cruel on account of its severity. * *
* In the case at bar it is a matter of current history that, while he was the lone robber, the defendant shot the mail clerk through the face and the conductor through the arm (having shot the conductor after he himself had been wounded), and only desisted from the attack upon the train when he was shot through the arm by the
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conductor." The court held that the statute was not cruel nor unusual within the meaning of the eighth amendment to the constitution of the United States.
Ketchum had also been implicated in other robberies and murders, so that he deserved the most condign punishment. He was a member of a notorious gang of train robbers, and his death and the death and sentence to prison of several others broke up the gang. On the night of July II, 1899, his brother, Sam Ketchum, William H. McGinnis and G. W. Franks had held up the same train at the same point in Union county. They failed to get any money because the express messenger had removed the money from the safe and thrown it in the coal box. A posse, under the United States marshal, under telegraphic direction from the attorney general of the United States, followed the robbers to Turkey canyon, ten miles west of Cimarron, where, just before dusk on July 16, a pitched battle was fought. McGinnis shot one of the posse, Wilson Elliott, and soon after Edward Farr fell dead, shot through the heart. Two other members of the posse were wounded, and both Ketchum and McGinnis were wounded, the former mortally. McGinnis escaped, but was captured By the sheriff of Eddy county, after having wounded one of his pursuers and also an old man whom he suspected of having betrayed his where- abonts. McGinnis was indicted in Colfax county, September 19, for the murder of Edward Farr, and on October 7 the jury returned a verdict of murder in the second degree, sentencing him to the penitentiary for life. It was proved that he had assaulted the fireman and express messenger with deadly weapons, that he and his confederates fired many shots into both sides of the train, and that they entered the combination baggage and express car and dynamited the safe and secured valuable express matter. This case was also appealed, but the verdict of the district court was sus- tained. McGinnis is now serving in the penitentiary. Franks, the other bandit, who escaped from the fight at Turkey canyon, and whose real name was probably William Carver, was killed near Sonora, Mexico, in 1902, so that out of the gang three are dead and one is in prison.
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Mexican School, with Teacher and School Directors Eighteen miles from Albuquerque
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Las Vegas Normal College
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EDUCATION
EDUCATION
While the first project looking toward the establishment of anything like a general educational system in New Mexico followed the Mexican declaration of independence, a few private schools had been established in the province prior to that time. Just where these were located or who were responsible for them is not known; but that there were such schools is apparent from the fact that the children of various wealthy Mexicans were able to receive a tolerable education in Spanish without being com- pelled to leave the province. As early as the year 1800 Don Geronimo Becerra had a private school at his home in Abiquiu, and among his pupils were Antonio Jose Martinez, afterward curate at Taos, and his brother, Pascual Martinez. Soon after the completion of his education and admis- sion to the priesthood, Fr. Martinez opened a private school in connection with his religious work at Taos. About the same time the priest then in charge of the mission at or near Mora instructed a small class. But in both these schools it is evident, from all that can now be learned, that prac- tically nothing beyond reading, writing and the simplest rudiments of mathematics were taught. The children, and even the parents of those days, were utterly lacking in geographical or historical knowledge. That the teachers themselves were unqualified to give instruction beyond these simple studies is exhibited by the fact that so prominent a personage as a high church authority in Santa Fé, as late as 1850, inquired of an Ameri- can official if Europe was not a province of Spain.
On April 27, 1822, seven months after the Mexican declaration of independence, the "provincial deputation," or legislative body of New Mexico, adopted a resolution that "the said ayuntamientos (town coun- cils) be officially notified to complete the formation of primary public schools, as soon as possible, according to the circumstances of each com- munity." Any schools organized in pursuance of this legislative resolution, which, in itself, permitted but did not compel the organization of local schools, were maintained under the direction of the Roman Catholic clergy. The church was all-powerful, and no native inhabitant thought of such a thing as separating education and religion. The truth is that the priests were fearful of the results of popular education among the illiterate masses, disobedience and heresy being easily bred of enlightenment. The govern- ment was more of a military-religious hierarchy than a coalition of church and state. Furthermore, conditions were such that practically nothing could be done to carry into effect the provincial resolution, and the poor remained in as profound ignorance as ever. But the sons of wealthy parents were, in many instances, sent to eastern schools-St. Louis, Notre Dame, and even as far east as New York. Those who preferred a strictly Spanish education went to Durango, the headquarters of the church.
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Soon after the American occupation and the organization of civil government under General Kearny, a few private schools were established by Americans. In 1852 a Mrs. Howe, the wife of an officer in the United States army, opened an English school in Santa Fé. On January 1, 1853, the Catholic Sisters of Loretto established their school in Santa Fé, naming it "Academy of Our Lady of Light." Their school at Mora was founded in 1864 and that at Las Vegas in 1869.
Mr. Davis, in his "El Gringo," written about 1855, declares that "the standard of education in New Mexico is at a very low ebb, and there is a larger number of persons who cannot read and write than in any other Territory of the Union. The census of 1850 shows a population of 61,547 inhabitants, of whoni 25,089 are returned as being unable to read and write. I feel confident that this ratio is too low, and that the number may be safely set down at one-half the whole population who cannot read their catechisms and write their names. The number attending school is given as 460, which is about one scholar to every one hundred and twenty-five inhabitants. This exhibits a fearful amount of ignorance among the people, and is enough to make us question the propriety of entrusting them with the power to make their own laws. It was always the policy of Spain and Mexico to keep her people in ignorance, and so far as New Mexico is con- cerned they seem to have carried out the system with singular faithfulness ; and in no country in the world that lays the least claim to civilization has general education and a cultivation of the arts been so entirely neglected."
The first attempted legislation pertaining to education following American control was that of 1855, when a bill providing for the establish- ment of common schools, supported by taxation, was introduced in the legislature, leaving its acceptance to the various counties. The manner in which this proposal was received can be best appreciated when it is known that the counties of Taos, Rio Arriba, Santa Ana and Socorro, comprising the greater portion of the Territory, rejected the measure by the over- whelming vote of 4,981 to 35. This law provided that every male inhab- itant whose property, real and personal, did not exceed $250 in value should pay into the school fund the sum of one dollar per annum. When property was valued in excess of that amount the tax was at the rate of one dollar for each thousand dollars in excess of the first named sum; but no tax was collectible upon amounts in excess of $50,000. It was provided that the board of education should be composed of "one person of the greatest ability, learning and integrity from each precinct," and the probate judge, who should preside over the board.
A joint memorial from the legislature to the national Congress, De- cember 29, 1857, recited that "the youth of our Territory are entirely with- out the means of education, except at an enormous expense, which is within the power of very few of our citizens to sustain; that we see no means for many years to effect a change for the better education of our children except through the aid of Congress. We would therefore re- spectfully ask that a fund of $500,000 be appropriated for the benefit of the cause of public education in this Territory." The federal government paid no attention to this or subsequent requests for financial aid until the establishment of the existing territorial schools.
In 1859 St. Michael's College in Santa Fé, a Roman Catholic school
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for boys, was established by the Christian Brothers, and has been main- tained with increasing success to the present time.
The legislature of 1859-60 passed a law providing that justices of the peace should appoint annually in each plaza of their respective precincts a person capable of teaching the children of such place the first rudiments of learning. The teachers were entitled to fifty cents per month for each pupil, the parents to furnish the necessary books and wood for fuel. If parents refused or neglected to send their children to school, they should be notified a second time to do so; and if they then failed to comply with the law they were liable to a fine of five dollars. But parents were ex- empted from the operation of this law for four reasons: "First, that the parent will take under his own charge, with all possible diligence, the teaching of his own children. Second, that he has the children under the care of another person, who can instruct them more conveniently and will be diligent in so doing. Third, that necessity compels him to employ them in the flocks or at other employment incompatible with their attending school. Fourth, that the pupils are not under his charge-i.e., if they are bound out to another person under the law of master and servants."
The legislature of 1863 passed an act creating a territorial board of education, to consist of the governor, the secretary of the Territory, the judges of the Supreme Court, and the bishop of New Mexico. The act created the office of territorial superintendent of schools, to be appointed by the governor. This law was afterward amended so that the judges of probate in the various counties were also county superintendents of schools, and the justices of the peace were superintendents of the schools in their several districts. If any parent or guardian was unable to furnish his children with the necessary books, paper, ink or wood, or was too poor to pay the fifty cents per pupil each month required by law, he was exempted from the provisions of the law.
The law passed in January, 1867, besides effecting the changes just mentioned, contained this resolution: "Whereas education is one of the branches of the greatest importance as regards progress, therefore an appeal is hereby made to the patriotism of every person interested in the welfare of the Territory of New Mexico to co-operate in so laudable an object, and the judges of probate are hereby required * to appoint a commission * * to open a voluntary subscription among the per- * sons of wealth of their county, and the proceeds arising therefrom shall be used for the education of such children as those whose parents or guardians, from their poverty, are unable to pay the quota designated for educational purposes."
In 1872 the boards of supervisors became directors of the schools in their respective counties, and they must be "fit and competent and of good _ repute." Who was to pass upon their qualifications is not stated in the law. Four years later the chairman of the board of county commissioners, organized under a law of that year, took the place of the probate judge as chairman of the school commissioners.
One of the most remarkable statutes pertaining to education was passed in 1889, outlining the sole qualification for teachers as follows: "That hereafter in this Territory no person who cannot read and write sufficiently to keep his own record in either the English or Spanish lan-
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guages shall be eligible to be elected or appointed to hold the office of school teacher, school director," and several other offices.
The condition of the educational means in the Territory in 1884 may be judged by the following statement made by W. S. Burke, superintendent of schools for Bernalillo county, in a report published by him January I, 1885:
"The law (the school law) has never been printed in any popular form, and it is probable that a majority of the people of the county, es- pecially those of the poorer classes in the country, have never read it nor seen it, and their only knowledge of its provisions has probably been derived from conversations with some neighbor who heard something about it when in town. Since it devolves upon the people of the several districts to carry the provisions of the law into effect, and since the people of a considerable number of the districts at least have had no means of learning the terms of the act, it is not strange that many of the provisions of the statute are as yet inoperative.
"There is not a school house in the county owned by the district. All the schools thus far organized are conducted in rented rooms or in buildings owned by churches and societies.
"It was apprehended by many that great difficulty would be ex- perienced in the establishment of a modern public school system in New Mexico, through the hostility of the native people to this American innova- tion upon their ancient customs. I take great pleasure in saying, to the credit of New Mexico, that so far, at least, as Bernalillo county is coll- cerned, all such fears are utterly groundless, and I have found the people, without any exceptions, not only willing, but anxious to secure the estab- lishment of public schools in every neighborhood in the county. I have had the earnest and interested co-operation of the people in every district that I have organized. I find an urgent demand for school facilities far in excess of what can be supplied with our present available resources, and were the necessary funds at command, the number of public schools in the county, and the aggregate attendance, could be increased 100 per cent within the next six months. I had been led to believe that a very strong prejudice against common schools, and also against the teaching of the English language, would be met with among all the native people, but I am gratified to be able to say that I have thus far met with no vestige of any such prejudice, in any part of the county, but, on the con- trary, have found the people everywhere alive to the importance of educa- tion, and especially education in English. No better evidence of the truth of this could be given than is to be found in the fact that the district directors are always willing to pay a higher price to a teacher who is able to instruct the children in English than one who understands Spanish only."
In 1880, according to the census returns, the number of public schools in the Territory was 162, but only 46 school buildings, and the average attendance was 3.150. Sixty per cent of the inhabitants of the Territory over ten years old were unable to read.
Until 1891 the school code in New Mexico was worse than unsatis- factory. It was vicious. For years every attempt to establish a well- regulated educational system, supported by general tax, failed in the legis- latures, the majority in which was invariably of native Mexican inhabitants.
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EDUCATION
In the legislatures of 1876, 1878 and 1880 reasonably fair educational bills providing for the support of public schools by tax were defeated. In 1878, through the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy, the legislature passed an act incorporating the Jesuit Fathers, or Society of Jesus, of New Mexico, conferring upon them general powers to establish educational institutions anywhere they pleased throughout the Territory, and the right to own an indefinite amount of property, all forever free from taxation. This iniquitous measure was vetoed by Governor Axtell, passed over his veto, and annulled by unanimous vote of Congress, February 4, 1879. The incidents connected with the veto of this measure were dramatic. In his message to the legislature Governor Axtell used the following language : "I requested the attorney general of the Territory, Hon. William Breeden, to prepare a careful opinion upon the law in the case. This opinion I make part of my message and lay it in full before you. Attorney General Breeden says: 'The bill, in my opinion, is clearly in violation of the said law of the United States.'
"This opinion I fully endorse, and if you pass the bill over General Breeden's opinion and my veto you will do so with your eyes open, in violation of your oaths of office and the laws of the United States. There are many other objections to the bill, a few only of which I will briefly notice.
"It is difficult to decide whether the man who seeks to establish the society or the society which he seeks to establish is the worse. Both are so bad you cannot decide between them. This Neapolitan adventurer, Gasparri, teaches publicly that his dogmas and assertions are superior to the statutes of the United States and the laws of the Territory. No doc- trine or teaching can be more dangerous to good government than this, especially in Mexico, where the mass of the people are ignorant. He also by his writings and harangues endeavors to excite animosities and to stimulate the people towards those lawfully exercising legal authority over them to acts of violence. He comes liere while the legislative assembly is in session and lobbies in the most brazen and shameless manner to defeat needed and wholesome laws, and to force through bills antagonistic to the laws of the United States.
"Two years ago hie intruded himself into the lower house and re- mained within the bar and by the speaker's side till he forced the passage of this bill, but at that session it was defeated by an honest legislative council. He now presents himself again, and being fully informed that what he asks is contrary to the laws of the United States, urges you to violate your oaths and pass the bill.
"The society which he seeks to establish in New Mexico is worthy of just such a leader. It has been denounced time and again by the head of the Catholic church and justly expelled from the most enlighted countries of Europe.
"But apart from the bad character of the society and the dangerous character of its chief, the bill is especially objectionable because it does not require that the incorporators shall be citizens of the United States nor residents of New Mexico. The number who may hereafter associate with them is unlimited, and they might all be aliens and reside abroad. Again, the bill permits these people to own, free of taxation, an unlimited amount of property. They are permitted to own all kinds of real and personal
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HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
estate, in all parts of the Territory, and are not subject to any supervision by the legislature nor required to pay anything towards the support of the government. The provisions of the bill are contrary to public policy and in direct violation of the laws of the United States, and cannot receive my approval."
The sensation accompanying the veto and the action of Congress was of long duration. The newspapers of the Territory were, as a rule, bitter in their denunciation of the Roman Catholic church authorities for their successful efforts to kill all general educational legislation, followed by their attempt to foist upon the community the iniquitous measure referred to. So wrought up did the church authorities become that on February 8, 1879, four days after Congress had finally checked them in their plans, the vicar general of the see of Santa Fé issued a manifesto which he styled an "official notice to the press of New Mexico," in which he warned the territorial newspapers not to take the liberty of offering adverse criticism on the "teaching of sectarian dogmas at public expense." But in spite of this warning, the press of New Mexico, instead of subsiding, continued to publish caustic criticisms until the church authorities, realizing that they were gaining nothing, but risking much, by continuing their campaign, re- tired from the field, vanquished.
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