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WHEI^E TO FlflD THE]V[.
f Baker's celebrated Oration at the Burial of Broderick,
[1859], so often referred to and sought for, can be found only in
" Representative Men of the Pacific."
h^ 1 McDouGAi,i.'s sportive remarks on drink in the United States
/Senate, unparalleled for dignified humor, although they may "make
the judicious grieve ;" also his nobler thoughts and statelier sen-
tences on the death of Baker, can be found only in this book.
Thos. Starr King's Lecture on Temperance [i860], his
Masonic Oration [1863], and his moving words at the Burial of
Baker [1861], live only in this now rare work.
Baker's beautiful "Atlantic Cable Address," contain-
ing his memorable Apostrophe to Science and his oft-quoted
allusion to the Comet of 1858, has not perished, but is preserved
only in the " California Scrap-Book."
A fine address [Agricultural Fair], by Newton Booth,
Thos. Starr King's inspiring lecture on Yosemite, and other
superior productions, are in the Scrap-Book only.
A necdotes and Reminiscences of the Notable Men of the Far
West Bar, are told only in " Bench and Bar in California."
No other book contains a graphic account, by an eye-witness,
of the great Broderick-Terry Duel, [San Francisco, 1859.]
" A novel is nowhere in comparison with this book," writes Dr. Bonte,
of the State University.
Striking thoughts on many themes, carefully selected from
California Writers and Speakers, are brought together only in
the " California Anthology." It is here that
"Bright-eyed Fancy, hovering o'er.
Scatters from her pictured urn
Thoughts that breathe and words that burn."
These works are by the undersigned, and are sold free of
postage for $5 per book, except the "Anthology," which is
$3.50. Address
OSCAR TT. SHUCK,
509 Kearny Street, San Francisco, Cal.
c:^V^t^t^ c:^ c/^
REPRESENTATIVE AND LEADING
MEN OF THE PACIFIC
BEIXO
ORIGINAL SKETCHES
LIVES AXn CHARACTERS OP THE PRINCIPAL MEN', LIVING AND DECEASED, OF THE PACIFIC
STATES AND TERRITORIES — PIONEERS, POLlflCIANS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, MERCHANTS,
ORATORS, AND DIVINES TO WHICH ARE ADDED THEIR SPEECHES, ADDRESSES,
ORATIONS, EULOGIES, LECTURES, AND POEMS, UPON A VARIETY
OF SUBJECTS, INCLUDING THE HAPPIEST FORENSIC EFFORTS
AND OTHER TOPULAR ORATORS.
EDITED BY
O S C A 3^ T . SHUCK
Compiler of the "California Scrap Book."
Embellished with Handsome Steel Portraits.
They came— the Foundcs of a State,
The men with spirit brave and free,
Who snatched the magic wand of Fate
And shaped their own high destiny. — J. T. Goodman.
No species of writing seems more worthy of cultivation than Biography. — Langhorne.
SAN FRANCISCO:
BACON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS,
No. 536 Clay Street, between Montgomery and Sansome.
I 870.
iS^Ol
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
BACON AND COMPANY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the District
of California.
/ o
93 C
TO
WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, ESO.
OF YONKERS, V NEWr YORK
A CALIFORNIA PIONEER OF 1849,
AND, FOR MAKY YEARS, A LEADING MERCHANT OF THE
Pftv0i)0Ui$ 0f the pacific,
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED IN TOKEN OF THE REGARD ENTERTAINED FOR HIS CHARACTER BY
The Editor^.
PREFACE
The Editor has long entertained the behef, that a vol-
ume of biographical sketches of men who have attained
an honorable prominence in the young commonwealths of
the Pacific would be received with favor by the reading
public, as containing not only notices of leading charac-
ters, but also a condensed history of the remarkable times
in which the infancy of those States was cast.
Such a volume he now lays before the people. He has
improved upon his original design, by incorporating into
the work a large number of Speeches, Orations, Poems,
etc., delivered at various times and places throughout the
Pacific States ; which, in his judgment, render the work
highly attractive, interesting and valuable.
The volume will be found to contain twenty-four
Speeches, Orations and Addresses ; six Poems, and fifty-
nine Biographical Sketches. Of the latter a few are not
original, and it is necessary to say a word concerning
them.
That of Gen. E. D. Baker, by Hon. Edward Stanly,
was not written by that gentleman for this work, but is
taken from his Eulogy, delivered in San Francisco, in
1 86 1. This chaste production reappears here, with some
changes which the Editor deemed important, and which
the Author will no doubt excuse.
From Gen. Cullum's " Army Register " were procured
the necessary data for the sketch of Gen. Stevens.
b PREFACE.
The notice of James King of William is taken almost
entirely from a brief biography of him, issued in pam-
phlet shortly after his death. The original sketch has
received many important corrections from the pen of a
gentleman of San Francisco, who was intimate with
Mr. King, but who thinks it unnecessary that his name
should appear.
The notice of Col. A. M. Pico is inserted, with a few
slight alterations, as it first appeared in the San Francisco
*'News Letter" of 1869.
The article on Delazon Smith is taken from the New
York " Democratic Review " of i860.
The interesting narrative of Gen. Sutter's early move-
ments in California was first embodied in a petition sub-
mitted to Congress on behalf of the old veteran several
years ago, praying the nation to repair his heavy losses
suffered at the hands of the " settlers " of 1849.
The name of the writer of each of the other sketches
will be found at the head of the proper notice, except in
a few instances, in which, by the author's particular re-
quest, his name is not given.
Although the Editor claims no credit for the manner
in which he has performed his task, yet he is proudly
conscious of the fact that he is giving to the world a
work of beauty and merit; for (and who will gainsay it.^^)
no volume enriched with selections from the master-
pieces of Baker, McDougall, Randolph and T. Starr
King, can be other than useful and meritorious.
O. T. S.
San Francisco, Cal., February, 1870.
3sc
TABLE OF CONTENTS,
Title of Article. Xame op Acthok. Page.
John A. Sctter 1 1
Jose Axtoxio De La Gieura Alfred Robimon 2o
PiERSox B. Reading 29
Lelaxd Stanford W. E. Brown S5
John Bigler The Editor 47
Edward Dickinson Bakek Hon. Edicard Staidy 63
Poem to a Wave Col. E. D. Baker 1Z
Apostrophe to Science " " " V4
Eloquent Allusion to the Comet of 1858 " " " 74
Tribute to Freedom " " " 76
Address at the Burial of Baker Rev. T. Stai-r King 80
Matthew P. Deady Harvey W. Scott 85
Extract from Address to Portland Law Association. ..Jiulae J/. P. Deady .105
Junipero Serra Ill
George Gordon B. P. Avery 115
Remarks on the Life and Genius of Robert Burns George Gordon 117
Matthew Hall McAllister Henry E. HlgMon 129
Joseph G. Baldwin J. G. Howard 135
Cornelius K. Garrison William V. Wells 143
Messaj^e to the Common Council of San Francisco ( 1 853) C. K. Garrison 147
Thomas Starr King .165
Telegram to the People of California on the Death of
Thomas Starr King Rev. H. W. Belloies 174
Resolutions of Unitarian Church of San Francisco, in
regard to Death of Thomas Starr King 175
Address on the Life and Services of T. Starr King Robert B. Swain 177
Poem on Death of T. StaiT King John G. Whittier 206
Lecture on Temperance Rev. T. Starr King 207
Masonic Oration " " " ....211
Charles E. De Long The Editor 219
Mariano Guadalupe Yallejo. Col. C. E. Pickett 225
Elias S. Cooper Dr. L. C. Lane 237
Poem on Death of Dr. Cooper T. G. Spear 246
Joseph W. Winans TJie Editor 249
"The Golden Wedding." Hon. J. W. Winans 254
The Dignity of Labor " " " 255
" Mundus"— A Poem " " " ....268
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Title of Article. Name of Author. Page.
Gkorge L. Woods Calvin B. McDonald. . 2T1
Frank Tilford 77ie IJditor 211
The History, Genius and Resources of Ireland Hon. Frank Tilford. . .288
Caleb T. Fay The Editor 303
William I. Ferguson " " 319
Reminiscences of Ferguson Hon. W. H. Herndon. . 320
Remarks on Death of Ferguson Col. E. D. Baker 32Y
Discourse" " " " Rev. J. A. Benton 332
Kdward J. C. Kewex J. G. Howard 341
Oration before California Pioneers (1854) Col. E. J. G. Keicen... . 346
Charles Westjuoreland B. P. Avery 361
Eugene Casserly 365
Eulogy on Daniel Webster Hon. E. Casserly 370
Henry Wager Halleck ■. Judge T. W. Freelon. . . 375
David C. Broderick 385
Account of the Duel between David S. Terry and
David C. Broderick 393
Funeral Oration over Body of David C. Broderick Col. E. D. Baker 398
Eloquent Protest against the " Code of Honor." " " " 402
Isaac N. Roop Jtidge A. T. Bruce 405
Thomas H. Selby , William V. Wells 411
James Nisbet 421
Franklin Tutiiill 425
Serranus Clinton Hastings T. P. Madden 433
James Willis Nesmitu The Editor 439
Speech on the Bill to Establish a Branch Mint in
Oregon , Hon. J. W. Kesmith 443
Samuel Brannan William V. Wills 455
Philip Legget Edwards Robert E. Draper .461
Hugh Campbell Murray The Editor 473
Remarks on Death of Judge Murray Judge Wm. T. Wallace. All
Do. do. Judge David S. Terry. .478
Henry M. Gray Wdliam V. Wells 479
Masonic Oration Dr. H. M. Gray 486
Tod Robinson 77i.e Editor 495
Isaac Inoalls Stevens " " 499
.Ti: AN Bautista Alvarado 503
Thompsom Campbell lion. F. F. Taylor 509 '
John B. Weller 21ie Editor 515
Cornelius Cole 523
John R. McConnkll William H. Rhodes 529
Ogden Hoffman The Editor 63^^.
Isaac Rowell , Calvin B. McDonald. . . 539
Nathaniel Bennett T/ie Editor 545
Oration on the Admission of California into the Union
1650 Judge y. Bennett 553
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Title of Article. . Name of Author. Page
James King of William 563
Prize Poem on Death of James King of William WiUkan H. Rhodes. . . .SVQ
Joseph C. Tucker WW.aua V. Welh 581
Edmund Randolph WiU'uuu II. Rhodes 591
Address on the History of California (1860) lion. Edmund Randolph.h^^
Milton S. Latham Judge Gaven D. Hall. . 609
Robert B. Swain William V. Wells 615
Remarks on the Operations of the Society for improv-
ing the Condition of the Poor Robert B. Sicain 621
Frederick F. Low William V. Wells 625
Antonio Maria Pico 631
William Morris Stewart 635
Hugh P. Gallagher I). F. D 645
Lecture on Rome Rev. II. P. Gallagher. . 659
Henry Huntley Haight 663
Address on the Completion of the Pacific Railroad. . . Gov. If. H. Haight 667
Delazon Smith 677
Stephen Johnson Field The Editor 685
James A. McDougall William H. Rhodes. . . .689
Remarks on Death of Col. E. D. P.aker Gen. j: A. McDougall. mo
Remarks on the Sale of Li»iuors iu the National Capitol
Building " " " .700
LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS.
Page.
1. HOX. THOMAS H. SELBY Frontispiece
2. EX-GOY. LELAND STANFORD 35
3. SAN FRANCISCO IN 1849 51
4. GEN. E. D. BAKER 63
5. HON. C. K. GARRISON 143
6. REY. THOMAS STARR KING 165
1. HON. CHARLES E. DE LONG. 219
8. HON. JOSEPH W. WINANS 249
9. HON. CALEB T. FAY 303
10. COL. E. J. C. KEWEN 341
11. GEN. H. W. HALLECK 3'75
12. JUDGE S. C. HASTINGS 433
13. SAMUEL BRANNAN, Esq 455
14. DR. H. M. GRAY 479
15. GEN. ISAAC L STEVENS 499
16. EX-GOV. JOHN B. WELLER 516
17. HON. CORNELIUS COLE 528
18. DR. ISAAC ROWELL 539 'vu^"
19. DR. J. C. TUCKER.... 581
20. ROBERT B. SWAIN, Esq 615
21. GOV. H. H. HAIGHT 663
22. DELAZON SMITH, Esq 611
23. GEN. J. A. McDOUGALL. 689
JOHN A. SUTTER.*
GEx. Sutter was born March 1st, 1803, in the Grand
Ducliy of Baden, where his early boyhood was
passed. His father, who was a clergyman of the Luther-
an Church, afterwards removed to Switzerland, and
settled there with his family. He purchased for himself
and heirs the rights and immunities of Swiss citizenship.
The statement, in the volume entitled ''Annals of San
Francisco," that ''John A. Sutter was the son of a Swiss
of the canton Berne," is incorrect. Our subject received
a good education, both civil and military.
Early in life he married a Bernese lady, and was
blessed with several children. At the age of thirty-one,
he determined to gratify a desire he had long cherished,
to emigrate to the United States. Xot knowing whether
or not he should settle permanently in the "Great
Eepublic," he concluded to leave his family behind him.
He arrived at New York in July, 1834. After visiting
several of the Western States, he settled in Missouri,
and there resided for several years. At St. Charles,
Missouri, he made, before the proper tribunal, his dec-
laration to become a citizen of the United States. During
his residence in Missouri, he made a short visit to New_
Mexico, where) he met with many trappers and hunters,
returned from Upper California, whose glowing descrip-
tions confirmed his previous impressions, and excited
within his breast an ardent desire to behold and wander
over the rich lands and beautiful valleys, to breathe the
pure air and enjoy the unrivalled climate, of that then
almost unknown region. Upon returning to Missouri,
* For explanatory note, see Preface.
12 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
he determined to reach the Pacific by joining some one
of the trapping expeditions of the American or English
Fur Companies. But great obstacles were to be sur-
mounted, and long years were" to intervene, before his
feet would rest upon the virgin soil of California. On
the first day of April, 1838, the General was enabled, for
the first time, to connect himself with a trapping ex-
pedition. On that day, he left the Missouri with Captain
Tripp of the American Fur Company, and travelled with
his party to their rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains.
There he parted with the expedition, and with six horse-
men, crossed the mountains, and after encountering the
usual lot of dangers and hardships, arrived at Fort
Vancouver.
Having before learned that there was no known land-
communication with California from the valleys of the
Columbia or Willamette in winter, and there being then
a vessel of the Hudson Bay Company ready to sail from
Fort Yancouver to the Sandwich Islands, Gen. Sutter
took passage in her, hoping to find at the islands some
means of conveyance to California. Only one of the
men who had remained with him thus far, consented to
accompany him. On reaching the islands, he found no
prospect of a conveyance, and after remaining five
months, as the only means of accomplishing his purpose,
he shipped as supercargo, without pay, on an English
vessel, chartered by a party of Americans, bound for
Sitka.
After discharging his cargo at the latter place to the
full satisfaction of the charterers. Gen. Sutter, with their
authority, directed his vessel southw^ard, and sailed down
the Pacific Coast, encountering heavy gales. He was
driven into the bay of San Francisco in distress, and on
tlie second day of July, 1839 — -just five years after the
date of his arrival in New York from Switzerland —
anchored his little craft opposite Yerba Buena, now San
Francisco.
He was immediately waited upon by a Mexican official,
with an armed force, and ordered to leave without delay,
the officer informing him that Monterey was the ''port
JOHN A. SUTTER. 13
of entry." He succeeded, however, in obtaining permis-
sion to remain fort3'-eight hours to get supplies.
A few days later, upon arriving at the ''port of
entry," Gen. Sutter waited upon Governor Alvarado and
communicated to him his desire to settle in Upper Cali-
fornia, on the Sacramento. Gov. Alvarado expressed
himself much gratified upon learning his visitor's wish,
particularly when he understood his desire to settle on
the Sacramento ; saying the Indians in that quarter were
very hostile, and would not permit any whites to settle
there ; that they robbed the inhabitants of San Jose and
the lower settlements of their horses, cattle, etc. He
readily gave Gen. Sutter a passport, with power to settle
any territory he should deem suitable for his colony and
purposes, and requested him to return to Monterey in
one year from that time, when his Mexican citizenship
would be acknowledged, and he would receive a "grant"
for the land he might solicit.
Thereupon, the General returned to Yerba Buena and
chartered a schooner, with some small boats, and started
upon an exploring expedition on the Sacramento river.
Upon diligent inquiry, he could not find any one at Yerba
Buena who had ever seen the Sacramento rker^ or who could
describe to him where he could find its mouth ; the
people of that place only professed to know that some
large river emptied into one of the connected bays lying
northerly from their town. Gen. Sutter consumed eight
dwi>^ in the effort to find the mouth of that river.
AiUT finding it, and ascending the river to a point
about ten miles below the place where Sacramento city
now stands, he encountered the first large party of In-
dians; there were about two hundred of them, all armed
and painted for war ; they exhibited every mark of hos-
tility, save an actual outbreak. Fortunately, there were
two among them who understood Spanish, and with
whom the General engaged in conversation. He quieted
them by assurances tliat there were no Spaniards (against
whom they were particularly exasperated) in his party :
that lie wished to settle in their country, and trade with
them. He showed them his agricultural implements and
14 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
commodities of trade, which he had provided for the
purpose, and proposed to make a sort of treaty with
them. He furthermore explained to them the advan-
tages which they could mutually derive from each other.
Pleased with these assurances, they became contented,
the crowd dispersed, and the two who spoke the Spanish
language accompanied the General and his party as far as
the mouth of Feather river, to show them the country.^
All other parties of Indians seen, fled at the sight of the
vessel and boats.
Parting with his two Indian interpreters and guides
at the mouth of the Feather river. Gen. Sutter ascended
the latter stream a considerable distance, when a few of
his white men became alarmed at the surrounding dangers,
and insisted upon returning, which the General was con-
strained to do.
On his descent, he entered the mouth of the Ameri-
can river, and on the 15th day of August, 1839, landed
at the point on the south bank of that stream where he
afterwards established his tannery, in the present bounds
of Sacramento city. On the following morning, after
landing all his effects, he informed the disaffected whites
that all who wished to return to Yerba Buena could do
so ; that the Kanakas were willing to remain, and that he
had resolved to do so, if alone. Three of the whites
determined to leave, and he put them in possession of
the schooner, with instructions to deliver her to her
owners. They set sail for Yerba Buena the same day.
Three weeks thereafter. Gen. Sutter removed to the
spot upon which he afterwards erected Fort Siitter.
This old Sacramento landmark is still standing, but its
weather-beaten walls are crumbling into dust; no hand
is ready to strengthen and protect them, and not long
will the venerable structure remind the early pioneer of
the virgin days when the discovery of gold had not yet
given the land over as a prey to the adventurous and the
lawless.
In the early days of the settlement, Gen. Sutter en-
countered many troubles with tlie Indians, who organ-
ized secret expeditions, as he afterwards learned, to
JOHN A. SUTTER. 15
destroy him and his party; but, directed by an over-
ruling Providence, he defeated or frustrated all their
machinations, and those who were at first his greatest
enemies, came to be his best and most steadfast friends.
The General now devoted himself energetically to
agriculture and stock-raising. It will be seen that he
became very wealthy and prosperous.
4n: the fall of the year 1839, he purchased of Senor
Martinez, who resided not far from San Francisco bay,
three hundred head of cattle, thirty horses, and thirty
mares. During that fall, eight more white men joined
his colony. When he commenced those improvements
that resulted in the erection of Sutter's Fort and his
establishment there, he had much trouble in procuring
suitable lumber and timber. He floated some down the
Amepcan from the mountains, and was also compelled
to send to Bodega on the sea-coast, a distance of several
hundred miles.
In August, 1840, he was joined by the five men who
crossed the Rocky Mountains with him, and whom he
had left in Oregon. His colony now numbered twenty-
five men, seventeen whites and eight Kanakas. During
the fall of this year, the Mokelumne Indians became
troublesome by stealing the live-stock of the settlers;
they even threatened the destruction of the settlement,
and compelled Gen. Sutter, by their acts and menaces,
to make open war against them. He marched with his
forces thirty miles in the night-time to the camp of the
Indians, (where they were concentrating large forces for
a movement against him) and attacked them — some two
hundred warriors — with such effect that they retreated,
and being hotly pursued, they sued for peace, which was
readily granted, and ever afterwards mutually main-
tained.
Shortly after this encounter. Gen. Sutter purchased
one thousand more head of cattle and seventy-five horses
and mares. His colony continued to increase by the
addition of every foreigner, Americans and others, who
came into the country: they sought his place as one of
security.
16 REPRESENT ATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The trappers he furnished with supplies, and pur-
chased or received in exchange their furs ; the mechanics
and laborers he either employed or procured them work.
In June, 1841, he revisited Monterey, the capital,
where he was declared a Mexican citizen, and received
from Gov. Alvarado a ''grant" for his land by the name
of ''New Helvetia," a survey of which he had caused to
be made before that time.
Thereupon, he was honored with a commission from
the Govenor, of " Representante del govierno en las fron-
teras del norte y encargado de la justicia."
Soon after his return to his settlement, he was visited
by Captain Ringgold, of the United States Exploring
Expedition, under Commodore Wilkes, with officers and
men, and about the same time, by Mr. Alexander RotchefF,
Governor of the Russian possessions, "Ross & Bodega,"
who, during his stay, offered to sell to Gen. Sutter the
Russian possessions, settlements, and ranches of Ross
& Bodega. The terms were such as induced him to start
with Rotcheflf for those possessions and examine the
same ; after which he made the purchase of the land and
posessions for the sum of $30,000 — the personal property
for a few thousand dollars more. The live-stock then
consisted of over 2,000 head of cattle, over 1,000 head
of horses, 50 or more mules, and over 2,000 head of
sheep, the greater part of which were driven to New
Helvetia, the residue left on the premises in the charge
of an agent whom he kept on the property to hold pos-
session of the same.
This increase of his resources, together with the
natural increase of his stock, besides several smaller lots
purchased from other parties, enabled him the more
rapidly to advance his settlement and improvements.
In the year 1844, he petitioned Govenor Manuel
Micheltorena for the grant or purchase of the " sobrante,"
or surplus, over the first eleven leagues of the land within
the bounds of the survey accompanying the Alvarado
grant, which the Governor agreed to let him have ; but,
for causes growing out of political troubles then disturb-
ing the public repose, the grant was nut liually executed
JOHN A. SUTTER 1 7
until the 5tli day of February a. d. 1845; during which
time he had rendered valuable military services, and ad-
vanced to the Government large amounts of property and
outlays, exceeding in value the sum of $8,000, to enable
it to suppress the Castro rebellion; in consideration of
all which he acquired, by purchase and personal services,
the lands called the ''sobrante," or surplus.
At that time he also received from the last named
Governor, the commission of " Commandante militar de
las fronteras del norte y encargado de la justicia." After
this time the war between the United States and Mexico
came on; and although Gen. Sutter was an officer under
the Mexican Government, and bound to it by his al-
legiance, yet, upon all occasions, such was his respect
toward the citizens and the institutions of the United
States, that whenever any party of American citizens,
civil or in military service, visited him, his unbounded
hospitalities were uniformly and cordially extended to
them; and when the country surrendered to American
forces, the General, who had for some time been con-
vinced of the instability of the Mexican Government,
upon request, did, on the 11th of July, 1846, hoist the
American flag with good heart, accompanied by a salute
of artillery from the guns of his fort.
Soon after. Lieutenant Missroon, of the United States
Navy, came up and organized a garrison for Sutter's Fort,
principally out of his former forces, of whites and Indians,
and gave to Gen. Sutter the command, which he main-
tained until peace returned. He was then appointed by
Commodore Stockton Alcalde of the District, and by Gen.
Kearny Indian Agent, with a salary of $750 per annum;
but a single trip in the discharge of his duty as Indian
Agent cost him $1,600, which induced him to resign that
office.
Gen. Sutter was now in the fall tide of prosperity.
His , settlement continued to grow and his property to
accumulate until the latter part of January, 1848. lie
had then completed his establishment at the fort; had
performed all the conditions of his grants of land; had,
at an expense of at least $25,000, cut a race of three
2
\
18 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
miles in length and nearly completed a flouring mill, for
the benefit of himself and the country, near the present
town of Brighton; had expended towards the erection
of a saw-mill near the town of Coloma about $10,000:
had sown over a thousand acres of land in wheat, which
promised a yield of over 40,000 bushels, and had made
preparations for other crops; was then the owner of
about 8,000 head of cattle, over 2,000 head of horses
and mules, over 2,000 head of sheep, and over 1,000
head of hogs; and was in the undisturbed, undisputed
and quiet possession of the extensive lands granted him
by the Mexican Government. From the centre of his
broad domain cOuld be seen, as far as the eye could
stretch on every hand, a prospect to gladden the heart
of the husbandman. But a sad change was about to
take place in the affairs of the old Pioneer: a grand
event was about to transpire, which, while it would
delight and electriiy the world at large, was yet destined
to check the growth of the settlement at Sutter's Fort
and cast a blight upon its prosperity. Gen. Sutter's
mills were soon to cease their operations, his laborers
and mechanics were soon to desert him, his possessions,
his riches, his hopes, were soon to be scattered and
destroyed before the impetuous charge of the gold-
hunters.
On the night of the 28th of January, 1848, James W.
Marshall, the millwright employed upon the saw-mill
before mentioned, arrived at the Fort from the moun-
tains, and informed Gen. Sutter that he had found in the
mill-race dug for the saw-mill, some pieces of metal
having the appearance of gold, which he exhibited, and
which, upon application of the proper test, was found to
be, indeed, gold.
Marshall, one day, having allowed the whole body of
water to rush through the tail-race of the mill for the
purpose of making some alterations in it, observed, while
walking along the bank of the stream early in the follow-
ing morning, numerous glistening particles among the
sand and gravel, which had been carried off by the force
of the increased body of water. Collecting several
JOHN A. SUTTER. 19
pieces, he hastened to his employer — and the great dis-
covery was soon known.
As soon as he could prepare himself, the General re-
turned with Marshall to the mill, where he remained
until the 5th day of February, during which time he
became satisfied of the existence of abundance of gold
at that place. All the hands there at work were in Gen.
Sutter's employ: he urged them not to speak of the dis-
covery until he could return to his fort and have his
grist-mill finished, which would require six weeks longer,
and secure hands to finish planting his crops ; for" if the
discovery should be known all his hands would desert
him.
He returned to his fort, but at the end of a week or
ten days a rumor had existed that a gold mine had been
discovered at Sutter's mill: it rapidly spread, and soon
the reality was known to all. Its subsequent history is
largely intermingled with the history of the times. The
immediate effect was that Gen. Sutter was deserted by
all his mechanics and laborers — white, Kanaka, and
Indian. The mills thus deserted became a dead loss: he
could not hire labor to further plant or mature his crops
or reap but a ^mall part after the grain had ripened.
Few hands were willing to work for even an ounce of
gold a day: the industrious could make more than that
in the mines. Consequent to this discovery there was an
immense immigration, composed of all classes of men,
many of whom seemed to have no idea of the rights of
property
The treaty between the United States and Mexico
guaranteed to the Mexican who should remain in the
country a protection of his property. Gen. Sutter re-
garded himself doubly entitled to that protection, either
as a Mexican or as a citizen of the United States, (which
latter he became by virtue of that conquest and his
original declaration) and that he held a strong claim
upon his country's justice.
His property was respected for a season ; but when
the great flood of immigration which poured into Cali-
fornia in the years 1849 and 1850, found that money
I
20 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
could be made by other means than mining, many of the
new-comers forcibly entered upon his land and com-
menced cutting and selling his wood and using his grass,
under the plea that his land was vacant and unappro-
priated land of the United States. Lawyers were found
who sustained them in their trespass and advocated their
rights, although there were none who came from any
part of Christendom who had not heard of the General's
claims and large landed estates, the full justice given to
and recognition of which by the Mexican Government is
shown by the following fact: When Don Andres Castil-
lero, a senator from Mexico, visited Gen. Sutter, in com-
pany with the Californian authorities, they offered him,
by authority and in the name of the Mexican Govern-
ment, either the sum of $100,000, or the property of the
mission of San Jose, with the live-stock thereon, and
orders for cash on the Custom-House, in exchange for
New Helvetia. Both of these then very handsome offers
were declined, contrary to the advice of the late Pi^rson
B. Reading and others, for the reason that, by giving up
that point, New Helvetia, considered to be, and called
by the Mexicans ^'La Have de la California" — kr^y to
California — the American citizens and other immigrants
would have lost all protection which Gen. Sutter's then
cojisiderable power and position vouchsafed to them.
Another class of men, without any pretext but that
of power and address, commenced stealing his horses
and butchering his cattle, hogs, and sheep: the first were
taken off some distance and exchanged or sold: the
meat was sold to the immigrants. Up to the first day
of January, 1852, the settlers, under the pretence of
preemption claims, had occupied all his landb capable
of settlement or appropriation ; and the other class had
stolen all his horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and hogs, save
a small portion used and sold by Gen. Sutter himself.
One party of five men of this second class, during the
high waters of 1849-50, when his cattle were partly sur-
rounded by water near the Sacramento river, on his lands
in Sutter county, killed and sold the beef of enough of them
to derive $60,000; after which they left for "the States."
JOHN A. SUTTER. 21
Having beheld his power decline and his riches take
wings, Gen. Sutter removed to the west bank of the
Feather river, and took up his residence on Hock Farm.
Here, in the midst of his family, which had recently ar-
rived from Europe, *he led the quiet, useful life of a
farmer, in the county which bears his name. He has
patiently devoted many long years to efforts to regain
some portion of that opulence which his energy won, and
which he continued to enjoy, until the event occurred
which enriched his country and impoverished him. He
is now at Washington, where he has been for a consider-
able time, engaged in pressing his claims upon the
general government, for remuneration for the losses and
injuries he sustained at the hands of the immigrants
of '49.
Gen. Sutter is strongly attached to California, and as
soon as his business duties permit, he expects to return,
and pass, in the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, amid the
scenes of his former prosperity, the sunset of his life.
JOSE ANTONIO DE LA GUERRA.
^Y ^;l.FI\ED JlOBINSON.*
DON Jose Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega was born in
Fo vales, in the province of Santander, Spain, A. D.
1776. He emigrated to Mexico in 1778, where, soon
after his arrival, he entered the mercantile house of his
uncle, Don Pedro Noriega, a wealthy gentleman residing
in the capital,- with the intention of becoming a merchant;
but finding the business unsuited to his taste, and being
ambitious of distinction, and desirous of serving his
country and sovereign, he obtained, in 1798, the appoint-
ment of cadet in the Royal Army. In 1800, he was
promoted ensign to the company then stationed at Mon-
terey, Upper California, where he arrived the following
year. In 1804, he married the daughter of Don Raim un-
do Carillo, Commandante of the Presidio of Santa Bar-
bara. In 1806, he was again promoted, and received the
commission of lieutenant in the company stationed at
Santa Barbara. In 1810, he was named ^' Habitado Gen-
eral" of both Upper and Lower California, and imme-
diately embarked with his family for San Bias, on his
way to the city of Mexico. On his landing, he was
taken prisoner by the curate, Mercado, a partisan of Hi-
dalgo in the revolution of that time, and carried to Istlan,
where he fortunately escaped from the cruel assassination
of his fellow-prisoners.
The revolution of Hidalgo having deprived him of his
office, he remained some time in Tepic, where he served
* For forty-one years a resident of California.
24 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
as Ayudante Mayor in the army there stationed, much to
the satisfaction of the government. In 1811, he return-
ed with his family to California. For several years
thereafter he held command of the troops quartered at San
Diego.
In 1817, he was promoted captain and commandante
of the company stationed at Santa Barbara. Thither, in
that year, he repaired with his family. In 1819, he
again went to Mexico as Habitado General. After a
short official service, the revolution of 1821 caused him
to return to California.
Upon his return, he forwarded to the Mexican Repub-
lican government his resignation. It was not accepted.
The President, Guadaloupe Victoria, feeling the great
need for his services, continued him in the command at
Santa Barbara.
In 1828, he was named Diputado to the General Con-
gress of Mexico, but did not fill the office, in consequence
of his seat having been already taken and occupied by
the ^' Suplente," Don Gervasio Arguello. He returned to
California the following year, in a vessel which he pur-
chased and loaded with an assorted cargo.
He embarked with him as passengers, Abel Stearns,
Sherman Peck, and a Scot named Kinloch. Mr. Stearns'
visit to California was to receive a large grant of land
which his partner had obtained from the Mexican govern-
ment, and to make arrangements for opening the same to
American colonization.
It was in July, 1829, when they landed at Monterey.
Their arrival caused considerable commotion and excite-
.ment among the Spanish population which, at that time,
/inhabited the little town. After passing a few days of
sfeasting and enjoyment among his friends and old com-
/panions, Don Jose took leave of them and started over-
land for San Francisco, (Yerba Buena). He dispatched
his vessel to meet him at the last named place. On his
route, he was received at the different missions at which
he tarried with all the respect and attention due his rank,
by the ringing of bells and firing of guns. In conse-
quence of his great intimacy and friendship with the old
JOSE ANTONIO DE LE GUERRA. 25
Fathers then at the head of the missionary establishments,
he was enabled to negotiate very im.portant and satisfac-
tory sales, and soon disposed of his entire cargo.
On reaching San Francisco he found his vessel awaiting
him. He immediately discharged his merchandise and
set sail for Santa Barbara. His vessel was stranded in
attempting to enter the narrow inlet near that port, but
all on board were saved and reached their destination.
From that time, Don Joae lived almost entirely at home
in the midst of his family, devoting himself to their wel-
fare and happiness. He took no active part in the political
troubles and frequent revolutions of his country, except
as a counsellor and mediator, in which capacity, from his
great reputation as a man of unspotted integrity, patriot-
ism, humanity and wealth, he wielded immense influence
in California.
All the people of Santa Barbara looked up to him as
the patriarch of their little community. On every emer-
gency, to him they resorted for advice and succor.
Oftentimes, during the periodical visitation of earthquakes
in that region, men and women, with their children,
would encamp on the square of ground upon which stood
his noble mansion, and there remain until their fears
subsided, subsisting the while on his hospitality and
generosity. It seemed as if they considered his person
endowed with supernatural grace. To their simple minds
his presence was a sufiicient guaranty for their protection.
The children of the little settlement were taught to
revere him. As they passed the door of his dwelling
they would remove their hats and give the customary
obeisance, in the same manner as they did when passing
the entrance to their religious sanctuaries.
Don Jose's family was extensive, and at his death,
which occurred in February, 1858, he left behind him
over one hundred descendants.
Several of his sons made themselves conspicuous in
the history of California under the Mexican dynasty.
Since its annexation to the United States, Don Pablo de
la Guerra and Don Antonio Maria de la Guerra have
represented their county in the State Senate. The
26 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
tbriiicr is District Judge of the Judicial District compris-
ing Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The
daughters of the old gentleman were all married to for-
eigners. The eldest was the wife of Wm. E. P. Hartwell,
once a celebrated merchant and connected with the house
of John Beggs & Co., of Lima, when considerable traffic
was carried on in the country in the purchase of hides
imd tallow. The second daughter espoused Don Manuel
Jiineno, who, at the time of the surrender of the Mexican
power, was secretary to the Governor then commanding
in California. She afterwards married Dr. James L. Ord,
brother of Major General Ord, of the U. S. Army. The
third married Alfred Robinson, of Boston, and the young-
est married, first, Don Cesareo Laitillade, after whose death
she became the wife of Don Caspar Oreiia — both of her
husbands being natives of Spain.
Don Jose's residence was invariably resorted to by
strangers w^ho visited California in those early days, when
the name of the now prosperous and powerful State was
seldom heard spoken beyond her own limits. The excel-
lencies of his table, and the noble hospitality which he
extended to his numerous guests, are yet fondly remem-
bered by the few survivors who partook of his bounty.
Doiia M. Antonia, his wife, added to the charms of his
establishment, and her ladylike manners and amiability
of character were admired by all. An American lady
who visited California in 1832, in speaking of the many
good qualities of Dona Maria Antonia, observed that
there were two things supremely exquisite in California
— one of which was the grape, and the other the lady of
Don Jos^ de la Guerra y Noriega.
At times when the political disturbances which agi-
tated the country were most annoying, Don Jose would
frequently exclaim: " Cuando vendran los Americanos para
tomar posesion de este pais? — When will the Americans
come to take possession of this country?" He had an
extraordinary aversion to the Mexican government, and
was ready to welcome any change which promised to put
an end to the repeated political convulsions harassing
the people and ruining the country. Therefore, when
JOSE ANTONIO BE LA GUERRA. 27
war commenced between the United States and Mexico,
his ardent love of permanent peace, order and prosperity
moved him to call down the blessings of heaven upon the
American arms, whose success he predicted. He lived to
see the issue of that great conflict, and its happy effects
upon the interests and prosperity of his adopted land.
It may be said of him, truthfully, paradoxical as the
expression may seem, that he w^as a man of true patriot-
ism, yet beheld his country conquered without regret.
When the American flag was unfurled over his own home,
he greeted the triumphant banner as the symbol of justice
and peace.
At his death, the whole town turned out to do homage
to his remains, which were followed to the grave by the
largest funeral procession that had ever been seen in
Santa Barbara. Many an old veteran, companion of his
youth, was seen, whose cheeks were moistened wdth tears
of regret, and whose feeble gait indicated that he, too,
would soon be laid by the side of the virtuous and up-
right old pioneer.
PIERSON B. READING
This noble iDioneer died on Ms farm in Shasta County, Cali-
fornia, in May, 1868. The sad announcement of his death was
heard with profound regret throughout the State. In San Fran-
cisco, the Society of California Pioneers, at its monthly meeting in
June, 1868, appointed PmLip A. Roach, Joseph W. Winaxs, Lewis
CuNxiNGHAM, ARCHIBALD H. GiLLESPiE and Jacob R. Sxyder, a com-
mittee to prepare resolutions in respect to the memory of the
deceased. This committee, in the discharge of their duty, made
commendable effoiis to obtain from every available source, infor-
mation concerning the life and services of the dead pioneer. It is
matter for deep regret that the labors of the committee were not
followed by gTeater success.
The Editor, knowing the energetic exertions made by the
committee, concluded it would be futile to endeavor to procure any
further infoimation in regard to ]\L\jor Reading's career than that
given by them in their report, which is on file in the office of the
Society. He therefore reproduces, in a permanent form, this brief
record of a life,
"Precious in the memorial of the jusf
#bituarH of §xmm §* ffaflmg.
THE undersigned, Committee appointed by the Society
of California Pioneers, at its regular monthly meet-
ing of June, 1868, to prepare suitable resolutions to the
memory of Pierson B. Reading, lately deceased, beg leave
to ask attention to the narrative they have endeavored to
prepare to the best of their ability, in the discharge of
the sad duty confided to their friendship.
The various works which at times have been publish-
ed upon California have been carefully examined by this
30 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Committee in the discharge of its sad task, and the result
has been attended with a sincere regret that, in respect to
the deceased, as also in regard to many who have preced-
ed him to regions beyond the tomb, scarcely a record of
events in which they so actively participated can now be
found.
The Committee have endeavored to obtain from parties
now living, who crossed the plains at the same time as the
deceased, and of those who participated in the events
which induced the settlement of our people in this region,
and led to its acquisition by our government, a knowledge
of the incidents which would prove of interest to our fel-
low-members, and be worthy of record for the future
compiler of the annals of our times; but those efforts, we
say with regret, have been attended with trifling success.
The reliable details which are now presented, were
principally furnished by the Hon. John Bidwell, Major
Jacob R. Snyder, and Major A. H. Gillespie, gentlemen
whose intimate social relations with the deceased have
enabled them to bear witness to the noble imj)ulses of
character which marked his intercourse with his fellow-
men.
The sad intelligence of the death of Major Reading, an-
nounced by telegraph, elicited from various journals pub-
lished in this State, tributes of respect to his memory ; all
united in mentioning the noble qualities which in an em-
inent degree distinguished his mind and heart; and from
those sources, in addition to the friendly remembrances
of the gentlemen herein mentioned, may be compiled the
story of his sojourn among us.
PiERSON B. Reading was born in New Jersey, 26th of
November, 1816, and died at his ranch, Buena Ventura,
in Shasta County, on the 29th of May, 1868, aged fifty-
one years and six months. For about a quarter of a century
he had occupied a prominent position in California. In
1843, he crossed the plains in company with the late Sam'l
J. Hensley, and some twenty-five others, and from that
period was thoroughly identified with this region of the
Continent. The route by which the party arrived is
thus described by Hon. J. Bidwell:
PIERSON B. READING. 31
*'The road by which they had come, had never to my
knowledge been visited or traversed by any save the most
savage Indian tribes; namely, from Fort Boise, on Snake
river, to the Sacramento valley via the upper Sacramento
to Pitt river. The hostility as well as courage of those
savages is well known ; but I may refer to the conflicts
with them of Fremont in 1846, of the lamented Captain
Warner in 1849, and of Gen. Crook in 1867."
In 1844, Reading entered the service of Gen Sutter,
and was at the Fort when Fremont first arrived in Cali-
fornia, in the spring of that year. In 1845, he was left
in sole charge, while Sutter marched with all his forces to
assist Micheltorena in quelling the insurrection, headed by
Castro and Alvarado. The former had shown his par-
tiality for Americans by granting them lands, and this
led to the espousal of his cause by our people. Reading,
in 1846, had received a grant in what is now known as
Shasta County. Later in 1845 he visited, on a hunting
and trapping expedition, nearly all the northern part of
California, the western part of Nevada, as also Southern
Oregon. He afterwards extensively engaged in trapping
— the seasons of 1845 and '46 — on the lower Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers. In all these dangerous expedi-
tions, his intelligence, bravery, and imposing personal ap-
pearance exercised over the hostile Indians a command-
ing influence, that protected himself and party not only
from hostile attack, but also secured their friendly aid in
all his undertakings.
When it became probable that war would be declared
against Mexico, Reading enlisted under Fremont; and on
the organization of the California Battalion by Col. Stock-
ton, was appointed Paymaster, with the rank of Major,
and served until the close of the war in this country.
After its termination, Reading returned to his ranch in
Shasta, which he made his permanent home.
In the events preceding and accompanying the acqui-
sition of this territory, the knowledge and experience of
Reading were of great advantage to the government; and
that the flag of our Union instead of that of another na-
tion now waves over it, is in a great measure due to those
32 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC,
early pioneers who entered California before the existence
of gold in its soil was even surmised.
In 1848, Reading was among the first to visit the
scene of Marshall's gold discovery — Coloma — and shortly
after engaged extensively in prospecting for gold, making
discoveries in Shasta, at the head waters of the Trinity,
and prospecting that river until he became satisfied that
the gold region extended to the Pacific Ocean. A por-
tion of these explorations were made in company with
Jacob R. Snyder. A large number of Indians were
worked with great success, until all were disabled by
sickness. In 1849, with Hensley and Snyder, Reading en-
gaged extensively in commercial business in Sacramento,
and continued in the firm until 1850.
In the fall of 1849, Major Reading fitted out an expe-
dition to discover the bay into which he supposed the
Trinity and Klamath rivers must empty. The bark Jo-
sephine, in which the party sailed, was driven by a storm
far out of her course to the northwest of Vancouver's
Island, and had to return. Others subsequently acting
on the idea, discovered and called the bay after the
world-renowned traveler Humboldt, by whose name it is
now known.
In 1850, Major Reading visited Washington, to settle
his accounts as paymaster of the California Battalion.
The disbursement exceeded $166,000 and had been kept
with such neatness and accuracy, supported by vouchers,
that the Auditor complimented them as being the best of
any presented during the war.
While in the States on this occasion, he visited his old
home, Vicksburg, where in 1837, he had succumbed to the
crisis which caused such wide-spread ruin among the
merchants of the Southwest. His object was to pay in
gold the principal and interest of his long outstanding
and almost forgotten obligations. This he did to the ex-
tent of $60,000 — an instance of commercial integrity of
which our own State has reason to be proud.
In 1851, Major Reading was the candidate of the Whig
party for Governor of California, which exalted position he
failed to obtain only by a few votes. Since then he was
PIERSON B. READING. 3B
frequently invited to become a candidate for political
positions, but declined.
For many years previous to his decease, agriculture,
with a view of developing the interest of the State, oc-
cupied his attention. In 1856, Major Reading married
in Washington, Miss Fanny Washington, who, with five
children, is left to mourn the death of their beloved pro-
tector. The Committee having, to the best of their abil-
ity, presented all the incidents they could obtain regard-
ing the life of their late friend and companion, now ask
leave to present appropriate resolutions of respect for the
consideration of the Society.
Whereas^ it has pleased Divine Providence to termin-
ate the earthly career of our friend and companion. Pier-
son B. Reading, by which event our Society has sustain-
ed an irreparable loss, and the State been deprived of one
of its valuable citizens, who was deservedly regarded by
our people as a man of the highest worth and severest
rectitude of character. Be it
Resolved^ That in the decease of Pierson B. Reading,
frequently a chosen officer of our Society, we have sus-
tained a bereavement, whose only consolation will be
found in the remembrance of the noble traits of heart and
mind, which marked his intercourse with his fellow men^
Possessed of the most courteous manners ; of enlarged
views; and of a highly cultivated mind, united with pro-
bity of character, and the most dauntless bravery, he
deserves that upon the tomb containing his ashes be
inscribed the words that properly typify his life — Read-
ing, Tlie Pioneer.
Resolved^ That the report of the Committee be pub-
lished — that this preamble and resolution be engrossed,
and a copy sent to the widow of our deceased friend and
companion, over whose welfare and that of her children,
we invoke the guardianship of our merciful Father.
Philip A. Roach, Lewis Cunningham,
Joseph W. Winans, Arch'd H. Gillespie,
Jacob R. Snyder.
3
l!^^^^^:i.€x^/^ ^
LELAND STANFORD
LELAND Stanford, eighth Governor of California, and
President of the Central Pacific Railroad Company,
was born in the County of Albany, State of New York,
March 9th, 1824. His ancestors were English. They
settled in the valley of the Mohawk about the beginning
of the last century, and for several generations were
classed among the substantial and thrifty farmers of that
region. His father, Josiah Stanford, was a prominent citi-
zen of Albany County, where he lived for many years,
cultivating and improving the old, homestead farm, called
Elm Grove, on the stage road between Albany and Sche-
nectady. His family consisted of seven sons, of whom
Leland, the subject of this sketch, was the fourth — and
one daughter who died in her infancy. Being in the
prime of his life at the time that He Witt Clinton had
successfully urged upon the people of New York his great
project of canal navigation between the Hudson river and
the lakes, the mind of Mr. Stanford was keenly alive to
the importance of the enterprise, and he watched with
absorbing interest the completion, in 1825, of the exten-
sive work. This was the beginning of that great system
of internal improvements which has made the State of
New York an empire within itself.
A little later the practicability of railroads as a means
of expeditious transit was freely discussed, but not until
1829, when the success of steam locomotives upon the
Liverpool and Manchester road was established, did any
36 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
project of the kind find much favor among business men
in the United States. About this period a scheme was
set on footj and a charter obtained from the Legislature of
New York, to build a railroad from Albany, to the old
Dutch town of Schenectady. The project, at the outset,
had but few friends among the farmers ; but Mr. Stanford,
satisfied in his own mind that the lands of Elm Grovt
and of all the valley would be doubled in value by the
advent of the road, became one of its warmest advocates,
and argued its advantages with all the vigor of which he
was capable. The work was finally commenced, and Mr.
Stanford, leaving the duties of the farm to be attended
to by his. elder sons, took large contracts for grading
the line, and pushed them forward with characteristic
rapidity and success.
During this time Leland was attending school near
his father's farm, and doubtless watched, in the intervals
of his lessons, the progress of the, to him, novel work
which was being prosecuted in the neighborhood. He lit-
tle dreamed in those youthful days, that his manhood
would be devoted to a kindred enterprise, the magnitude
of which would attract the attention of the civilized world.
Confined in his boyhood's experience to the limits of his
own county, the shores of the great lakes, but a few hun-
dred miles away, were to him the distant West. The
country between the Mississippi and the Rocky mountains,
was looked upon as a vast unknown region, inhabited only
by Indians, while the unexplored ranges and plains beyond
seemed as inaccessible and as inhospitable as the frozen
solitudes of Siberia. The Erie canal, which was then
floating the products of the lake shore to the waiters of
the Hudson, had, in its infancy, been looked upon with
distrust by some of the most sagacious business men of
that period ; and yet, ere the boys of that day had matured
into manhood, those distant and solitary plains had been
explored, the ranges of mountains had been pierced and
made to yield hundreds of millions of precious metals,
and a new empire had been battled for, occupied and peo-
pled, on the Pacific coast ; while the wants of commerce
had demanded and secured railroad communication be-
LELAND ST^TORD. ST
tween the two oceans that make the Eastern and Western
boundaries "of the United States.
Until the age of twenty, Leland's time was divided
between his studies and the occupations incident to a farm
life. He then commenced the study of law, and in 1845,
removed to the city of Albany, and entered the office of
Wheaton, Doolittle & Hadley, prominent members of the
legal profession in that city. Early in 1848, he determ-
ined to seek in the Western country a desirable location
for the practice of law. He visited various localities in
the vicinity of the lakes, and finally settled at Port Wash-
ington, in the State of Wisconsin. Here he remained for
the period of four years, and while here, in 1850, was
married to Miss Jane Lathrop, daughter of Dyer Lathrop,
a merchant of Albany, whose family had been among the
early settlers of that town. Soon after Leland's arrival
at Port Washington the reported discoveries of fabulous
mineral wealth in California were a constant theme of the
newspapers in the West, and the eyes of half the young
men in the land, of all trades and professions, were eagerly
turned towards the alluring deposits of the Pacific slope.
Five of his brothers had arrived upon the banks of the
Sacramento, and were successfully engaged in mining and
in trade. They, and hundreds of others of his friends,
were anxious that Leland should join them ; but he had
selected a residence in the growing State of Wisconsin,
and his temperament w^as not so sanguine as to cause him
so soon to give up the comforts of a permanent home,
which he was just beginning to enjoy.
It was not therefore until the Spring of 1852, that he
came to the determination to push his fortunes in the new
field to which so many of his friends had been attracted,
and where so niany of them had met with success. He
arrived in California, July 12th, 1852, and at once proceed-
ed to the interior, being determined to examine into, and
to engage by himself in, practical mining. He tried a
number of locations in various parts of the State, and at
length settled at Michigan Bluff, on the American river
in Placer County. With his mining interests at this point,
and the mercantile house with which he was connected in
38 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
company with his brothers at Sacramento, he soon fomid
himself possessed of a rapidly growing and lucrative busi-
ness. He has never entirely relinquished his mining in-
terests in California, although for some years they have re-
ceived but a small share of his personal attention.
In the earlier years of his manhood, Mr. Stanford was,
by instinct, by education, and by association, a Whig.
While the great free soil movement was gathering strength
in the land, he became strenuous in its advocacy and earn-
est in its support. He was among the few leading spir-
its who formed the Republican party in California, and by
giving freely of his time and of his means, he made his
influence felt in the campaign of 1856, when a gallant
fight was made by that party, against fearful odds, in the
Golden State. In Sacramento, the capital of the State, it
was in those days considered an act of temerity to attend
a free soil meeting, and speakers were hooted at, pelted,
and driven from the stand, who dared to utter sentiments
not in accordance with those held by the then dominant
party. The State, from its organization, had been under
the control of the Southern wing of the democracy, and it
was up-hill work to establish a new political party, which
if successful must result in the entire overthrow of the
one in power. But the destinies of the great freedom-lov-
ing organization were in the hands of men who were
undaunted by defeat. Without losing courage by the
result of the National canvas of 1856, they determined
to organize for the State election in 1857. At this time
Mr. Stanford was the candidate of the Republican party
for the office of State Treasurer^ but the whole ticket was
defeated. In 1859, he was nominated for Governor and
again defeated. In 1861, the Republicans, confident of
their strength, determined upon a vigorous canvass. Mr.
Stanford was absent in Washington during the summer,
but among the many names mentioned for the nomination,
his was most prominent. Soon after his return, the Con-
vention assembled at Sacramento, and upon the first ballot
he received the nomination. The contest that followed
was the most exciting one the State had yet seen. With
two other candidates in the field, he ran nearly six thous-
LELAND STANFORD. 39
and votes ahead of his ticket, and was elected by a popu-
lar vote nearly equal to that of his two opponents com-
bined. The result was as follows, in a vote of 119,730 :
Stanford, Republican, received 66,036 ;
Conness, Douglas Democrat, received 30,944 ;
McConnell, Administration Democrat, received 32,750.
Having thus been called upon as a political candidate
to traverse the State twice, without a hope of being elected,
he was now rewarded, after a third most thorough and
exhausting canvass, by a success undoubtedly beyond his
expectations. In January, 1862, the Governor was in-
augurated at Sacramento, and assumed the duties of his
office at a critical period in State as well as national affairs.
The country w^as in the midst of an internal war, the
magnitude of which startled the people and paralyzed the
various industries of the land. There had been few
daring enough to predict its inception — none far-seeing
enough to foretell how it would end. The mutterings of
the impending conflict had been for a long time borne
upon every breeze, and the shock of battle that followed
the bursting storm was earnest and deadly. The election
in California, the previous fall, had been watched with
peculiar interest by both the contending parties. The
Secessionists of the South were sanguine that the democ-
racy could not be driven from the stronghold they had
occupied so long ; while the loyal men of the North, hop-
ing almost against hope itself, were earnest in their aspir-
ations that California might declare herself on the side
of justice and of right. Mr. Stanford had spent much
time subsequent to Mr. Lincoln's inauguration at the na-
tional Capital, and had been cordially received as a leading
and representative republican of the Pacific Coast. Among
the few who visited the President without seeking office
at his hands, he very soon won Mr. Lincoln's regard, and
became his principal adviser in the difficult task of distrib-
uting the official patronage in California. His nomina-
tion to the office of Governor and his triumphant election,
were hailed therefore with delight by all who were connect-
ed with the National Republican administration.
To the deplorable condition of the nation at the com-
40 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
mencement of the year 1862, was added a local calamity
which devastated the fairest portions of California. A
flood unexampled in its destructiveness was, on the very
day of the inauguration of the new Governor, sweeping
through the streets of Sacramento and hurrying its dread
volume of waters over a territory hundreds of miles in
extent. Lives were lost, houses were submerged, farms
were destroyed, roads and bridges were carried away, till
it seemed as if the very genius of disaster had taken within
its baneful grasp the destinies of the State. The beauti-
ful homes and gardens of the Capital city were desolated
in a day. The Governor and the Legislature were obliged
to go to and from the place of the inaugural ceremonies in
boats. The latter immediately resolved upon a removal to
San Francisco, and the Governor was obliged to transfer
his office to the same place.
It was under adverse circumstances such as these, that
the first Republican administration of California entered
upon its career, with Governor Stanford at its head. He
had, however, been long known throughout the State as a
successful merchant and miner, and it was believed that
he would exhibit in the management of public affairs the
same sound sense he had brought to bear upon his private
business. Nor were the people who elected him deceived
in their choice. He gave his entire attention to the new
duties that devolved upon him ; he maintained frequent
and unreserved correspondence with the heads of all the
Departments at Washington ; thus holding California in
close and sympathetic relations with the central govern-
ment. In this way, with the aid of a constituency actu-
ated by the highest and noblest patriotism, the Governor
had the proud satisfaction of seeing California occupy a
front rank among the sisterhood of loyal States. At the
close of his administration, the Legislature bestowed up-
on him the unusual compliment of a concurrent resolu-
tion, passed by a unanimous vote of all parties, in which
it was ^^ Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring
That the thanks of the people of California are merited,
and are hereby tendered to Leland Stanford, for the able,
upright, and faithful manner in which he has discharged
LELAND STANFORD. 41
the duties of Governor of the State of California, for the
past two years."
Among the most prominent events of Governor Stan-
ford's administration, may be ranked the commencement
of the great continental thoroughfare which connects the
Pacific coast with the vast net-work of rail roads that
bind together and cement in commercial bonds the Atlan-
tic States. The construction of this important work had
for years been a favorite scheme in the Governor's mind.
He was convinced of the practicability of the ^enterprise,
and it was his greatest desire that California should take
the initiative steps to secure to the Nation the magnifi-
cent results of the noble work. The general idea of a
railroad across the continent cannot be looked upon as
original with any one person in the land. The project
was the result of a national sentiment rather than of in-
dividual sagacity. Hundreds of persons had, during the
previous twenty years, suggested as many different plans
for a Pacific railroad ; but nothing of a practical nature
was ever consummated, because no united and persistent
effort was brought to bear upon the project. From ses-
sion to session. Congress had been beseiged by parties with
visionary schemes that looked to national aid, and to that
alone, to build the entire road ; but not until 1861 and
1862 was any feasible and definite plan presented upon
which to base legislative action. During these years, a
few wealthy men of Sacramento, the capital of California,
resolved to take the matter in hand, and to furnish all the
money required to make the necessary preliminary survey.
They were all men of first rate business capacity, who
had been subject to the vicissitudes of mercantile life in
California, who had witnessed its fires and floods, and
who had finally realized comfortable fortunes for them-
selves and families. As business men, they examined into
and considered this gigantic scheme from a business point
of view ; and being themselves satisfied of its ultimate
success, they determined to show their confidence by
risking their entire fortunes in the enterprise.
Leland Stanford, and his associates, Messrs. Crocker,
Huntington, and Hopkins, thus enjoy the proud preemi-
42 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
nence of being the first parties in the United States to
give this project to the country, in a tangible shape.
They employed at their own expense the best engineering
talent that could be procured, to make surveys over the
various passes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This frown-
ing range of snow-capped summits had been considered
an insurmountable barrier to the passage of a locomo-
tive. Its storms to the emigrant, like the cyclone to the
mariner, were looked upon with unmitigated dread ; and
the w^inter winds that swept through its deep gorges, and
whistled among its peaks, seemed laden with a bold defi-
ance that forbade the encroachments of engineering skill.
Reaching, upon its lowest pass, an elevation of seven
thousand feet, within a distance of less than eighty miles,
the idea of a locomotive, climbing hour after hour with
heavy trains the steep ascent, could only be entertained
by earnest, sanguine, and practical minds. The summit
once attained, the descent upon the eastern slope was
scarcely less difficult, to the clesert plain beyond. Here
was a large scope of barren country, without wood and
almost without water, hundreds of miles in extent, with
no population to welcome the approach of the iron track.
With difficulties of such a character staring them in
the face, these Sacramentans, few in number, but mighty
in faith, with Leland Stanford at their head, came to the
determination to commence the work. A practical route
had been found to and over the summit, with no grade
exceeding one hundred and five feet to the mile. Fre-
quent meetings of conference were held at the residences
of Mr. Stanford and Mr. Huntington, and a bill was at
length drafted by them which formed the basis of, and
was in a great measure identical with, the Pacific Railroad
Act, which finally passed through Congress, and under
which nearly two thousand miles of railroad have since
been constructed.
Much as these few energetic men had accomplished in
the incipient stages of this great enterprise, they found
that difficulties multiplied when they came to the practi-
cal workings of their project. No aid could be obtained
from Congress, until forty miles of road and telegraph
LELAND STANFORD. 43
were completed and in good working condition. To grade
this forty miles, to bridge the wide and rapid American
River, to purchase iron for the track, and rolling stock
for its equipment, was no easy task to be accomplished by
half a dozen citizens of a small inland city of California.
They had unlimited faith, however, in the ultimate success
of their undertaking, and were willing to pledge all they
were worth to ensure its success. In 1861, a charter was
obtained from the Legislature of California, under which
a meeting of stockholders was at once held. Leland
Stanford was elected President of the Corporation, and
C. P. Huntington, Yice President; positions which they
have both held from that time to the present. On the
22d day of February, 1863, Governor Stanford, in the
presence of the State Legislature and of a large concourse
of citizens, shovelled the first earth, and commenced the
Pacific Railroad grade.* From that day, work upon the
line has not been delayed for a single week. Obstacles
of a serious character were constantly met, but were as
speedily surmounted. The war for the preservation of
the Union was at its height. The fate of the Nation was
hanging in a balance which occasional successes, and oc-
casional reverses, kept constantly swinging to and fro.
The national finances were disarranged, the national credit
was at a low ebb, and capitalists throughout the country
were exceedingly distrustful of untried schemes. Rival
enterprises, or those that were considered rival, met the
projectors of this national work in the money markets to
which they applied, and sought to neutralize their efforts
to obtain capital by misrepresenting their intentions, and
by discrediting their integrity.
Toll roads over the Sierras, the owners of which the
Washoe traffic had converted into millionaires, were ar-
rayed against the new and more expeditious route, which
would, when completed, destroy the profits of the old ones.
Strange as it may appear, in a State the very existence
of which would seem to depend upon a Pacific Railway, a
*In liis address, upon this occasion, Governor Stanford predicted that the Pa-
cific Raiboad would be completed in 1870. The result has more than verified
his prediction.
44 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
violent, unscrupulous, and unyielding anti-railroad cabal
was evolved from the various opposing interests that were
at this time in the full tide of success. Large amounts
of money were raised to litigate the Central Pacific
Company at every stage of their progress, and to foHow
them with annoying law suits from court to court. These
embarrassments only seemed to increase the ardor of those
who had determined to push the work. The vice-presi-
dent of the company, Mr. Huntington, established him-
self in N^ew York, as the financial and purchasing agent of
the enterprise, and was early recognized as one of the
most prominent and successful financiers of that great
moneyed centre. The amount of iron, rolling stock, and
material necessary to be purchased, and to be kept con-
stantly on the way, was immense ; but although it had to
traverse more than half the length of two oceans, the cal-
culations of its departure from New York and of its arrival
at the wharves of Sacramento, were careful and exact,
and the supply never failed to be at hand when wanted
upon the road.
While the public were apathetic, or at best indifferent,
the managers of the work at the California end were ac-
tive and on the alert. Always keeping within the require-
ments of the Act of Congress, as to grades and curves,
and as to the general character of the work, they never-
theless found at the termination of each year a greater
amount of roadway completed than was stipulated by
government. On the 25th day of N^ov ember, 1867, the
Summit tunnel was opened, and work was in a good state
of progress upon a dozen other tunnels between that
point and the Truckee river. Meanwhile, a sufficient
quantity of iron, locomotives and cars, for more than forty
miles of road, had actually been hauled by teams over a
portion of the mountains, so that in the spring of 1868,
the Central Pacific Company were enabled to lay track
from the East and from the West, until a connection was
made near the Summit on the 17th of June of that year.
When, a year or two previous, the laying of a mile of
track per day was promised, railroad men in all parts of
the world wondered at the extravagant proposition ; yet
LELAND STANFORD. 45
two and three miles became an ordinary day's work dur-
ing 1868 and 1869, and upon one occasion a distance of
ten and a quarter miles of track were laid in one day
between dawn and dark. Thus the great work progressed
without cessation, and at a rate of progress that, in its ear-
lier days, would have been counted as marvelous. Early
in 1869 the through line was completed, and a connection
made with the Union Pacific road.
We have dwelt upon this great enterprise in connec-
tion with our sketch of Governor Stanford, because he
has been identified with it from its earliest inception to
the present time. Elected from the first as its highest
executive officer, he has attended faithfully to its inter-
ests, and has given to the project some of the best years
of his life. Now that the w^ork is accomplished, he is
directing his attention to similar enterprises of less mag-
nitude perhaps, but still important in the development
of the resources of his adopted State.
Governor Stanford, in his public and private life,
may truly be regarded as one of California's representative
men. Arriving upon these shores at an early period, with
but moderate means at his command, he at once assumed
a prominent position among the merchants and business
men of the new State. Without those brilliant attain-
ments which are sometimes the result of a thorough col-
legiate education, he has at his command a generous fund
of useful knowledge ; and he has rarely been at fault in
his judgement of others, or in his estimate of important
measures, whether connected with his official, or his
business career. Never backward in asserting his prin-
ciples, he is 3'et willing to defer to the opinions of others;
and in his intercourse with men, his object seems to be
to gain information upon all points at issue.
Physically, he is larger than the average of men.
Having been inured to labor in the open air in his boy-
hood, and having avoided, during his whole life, excesses
of all kinds, he is at the present time capable of bearing
an amount of bodily fatigue, and of travel without rest,
that few men could endure. With a retentive memor}^
for facts and details, a keen perception of affairs, and
46 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
quick reasoning powers, he yet arrives at conclusions by
patient mental labor. Not easily excited, nor over san-
guine in temperament, he readily grasps large schemes,
and usually works out his plans to a successful consumma-
tion. His favorite theory in judging of others is, that all
men are possessed of good qualities, and that our esti-
mate of individuals whom w^e do not thoroughly know,
is generally below the standard which their merits de-
serve. In consequence of his firm belief in this theory,
he is charitable towards the faults of others — never har-
boring revengeful feelings, and never indulging in long-
time resentments. In considering matters relating ex-
clusively to business, he is reticent to a degree ; but he
is at all times a conscientious and willing listener.
Where some men strive by labored argument to convince,
he strives to convince by the ceaseless assiduity with
which he labors to accomplish results. In social life, he
is unreserved in his conversation, earnest in his hospital-
ity, warm in his friendship, and cordial in his intercourse
with all.
JOHN BIGLER
fr THE ^DITOR
JOHN BiGLER, who was SO prominent and active in the
early settlement and development of California, and
who has played so conspicuous a part in the political
history of the State, was born near Carlisle, Pennsyl-
vania, the seat of Dickinson College, January 8th, 1805.
He is of German descent. The family has been
established in America for more than a century. Both
the paternal and maternal grandfather of John Bigler
fought under Gen. Morgan in the Revolutionary war.
His father was a farmer: for many years he was engaged
in the milling business in Cumberland and Perry coun-
ties, Pennsylvania. During the noted '' Whisky Re-
bellion" in the western part of that State, 1791, 1794, he
was a private soldier under Gen. Washington.
John was the eldest of five sons. The Pennsylvania
statesman, William Bigler, is a younger brother. John
entered college at Carlisle ; but soon after he commenced
his studies, his father removed to Mercer county, north
of Pittsburg, and placed him in a printer's office in that
city, where, for a few years, he applied himself to "the
art preservative of all arts." After the expiration of his
apprenticeship, in 1827, he removed to Belief onte. Centre
county, and took editorial charge of the Centre County
Democrat. He continued the editing as well as the pub-
lishing of this journal from 1827 until 1832. In 1828,
though but a youth, he advocated with zeal and efficiency
the election of Gen. Jackson, for whom his county gave
a majority of more than sixteen hundred votes. He then
commenced the study of law, which he pursued until
48 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
1840, when he was admitted to the bar. Thereupon lie
entered on the practice of his profession, devoting to it
his whole time for several years. We next find him
practicing at Mount Sterling, Illinois, whither he had re-
moved with his family. On April 2d, 1849, he left the
Prairie State to emigrate overland to California. He had
with him his wife and only living child, a daughter of
tender years.
This little family were accompanied b}^ several of
their neighbors, who were also burning to behold the
land of promise. On the 30th of April, the party, num-
bering less than twenty persons, assembled at St. Joseph,
Missouri. From this place the adventurous company
started on the 9th of May.
'^On that day," to use the language of Gov. Bigler
himself, in his Address to the Sacramento Pioneers in
1865, ''the long journey was commenced in good earnest,
and with a fixed determination on the part of all to meet
difficulties to be overcome, dangers to be encountered,
and privations to be endured, with inflexible fidelity to
each other, and as far as possible refi^ain from expressions
calculated to cause discontent or discouragement."
Mr. Bigler had fully entered upon his pilgrimage to a
land where high honors awaited him, and was surrounded
by cheerful and happy companions ; but his heart was
heavy with sorrow. His wife, who had refused to part
with him, was in delicate health, his daughter was a mere
child, as stated, and these frail charges he was taking
with him on a long and perilous journey. Besides, he
was leaving behind him the mouldering form of an only
and dearly beloved son, whom death had but recently
wrested from his bosom and given to the grave. He had
shaken off despondency, but could not free himself from
gloomy thoughts.
Gov. Bigler has given a detailed account of his weary
march overland, in the address before alluded to. He
did his full share of hard work throughout the entire
journey. He drove his own ox-team across the plains,
and stood guard regularly over the train of wagons. On
many occasions, when he was greatly fatigued, or in need
JOHN BIGLER. 49
of sleep, his wife would relieve him; and in addition to
standing guard, she would often assist in yoking the
oxen to the wagons.
When about twenty-five miles east of the upper
crossing of the Sweetwater, the Governor's party were
overtaken by Wm. T. Coleman. This gentleman had,
two days previous, left his train with others to go upon
a hunting tour: he had become bewildered in the hills,
and for some length of time had not tasted food. His
new acquaintances had the pleasure of supplying his
wants, and he was enabled to move forward in search of
his companions. The accidental meeting of these two
men, in the heart of the trackless desert, could not have
been more friendly, nor their parting more cordial, even
if the veil had been lifted from the future, and their sub-
sequent eminence disclosed to them. What pleasurable
emotions must be awakened in the breasts of the suc-
cessful politician and the merchant prince, whenever their
thoughts recur to that brief interview!
Mr. Bigler and family at length arrived in Sacramento,
August 31st, 1849; his wife and daughter being, it is
said, the first white female emigrants to Sacramento.
Upon his arrival, finding there was no call for his
legal services in the new, unsettled community, and being
in want of immediate funds to make his family comfort-
able, Mr. Bigler determined to resort to manual labor.
He took off his coat, or rather Icept off his coat, and
sought employment. He soon obtained a situation in
the store of an auctioneer, named Stevens, where he
worked for some time. Xext, he engaged in the wood
trade, cutting his wood in the country, near Sacramento,
and carrying it into the city for sale. After prosecuting
this business for some time, he contracted with a Sacra-
mento merchant to make a number of calico comforters
for beds. In addition to his other compensation, he re-
ceived from his employer sufficient calico to furnish his
wife and daughter with much-needed dresses.
After completing the comforter contract, he was for
some time employed in unloading the river steamers on
their arrival, for which he received pay at the rate of hvo
4
50 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
dollars per Iwur. By such laborious pursuits as these he
maintained himself and family in comparative comfort.
Nor was he less esteemed by his neighbors, because of
his honest toil. The pioneers, nearly all of them, were
engaged in actual physical labor, without regard to former
associations or professional pursuits. Labor was their
acknowledged king.
The time had now arrived when our subject was to
abandon his humble occupations. About the middle of
October, 1849, he was notified by Mr. Charles Sackett, on
behalf of the citizens, that he had been nominated at a
public meeting as a candidate for the Assembly. The
Sacramento legislative district then extended from the
Cosumnes river to the Oregon line, and from the Coast
Range to the line then dividing California and Utah.
This district was then entitled to four senators and nine
assemblymen. The election was a general one, and took
place November 13th, 1849.
The candidates for Governor were Peter H. Burnett,
afterwards Supreme Judge of the State, and now President
of the Pacific Bank, San Francisco ; John W. Geary, the
late distinguished Governor of Pennslyvania ; Gen. John
A. Sutter, and others. The first named gentleman received
a large majority of the votes cast. John McDougal was
elected Lieutenant Governor, and Geo. W. Wright and
Edward Gilbert were chosen members of Congress. In
the Sacramento legislative district, John Bidwell, Thomas
J. Green, Henry E. Robinson, and Elisha Crosby, were
elected senators, and Dr. T. J. White, Elisha W. McKinstry,
(the present able County Judge of San Francisco) George
B. Tingley, John Bigler, P. B. Cornwall, John F. Williams,
E. Card well, T. J. Hughes, and Madison Walthall, assem-
blymen.
Before the Legislature assembled, the rainy season set
in, and Sacramento was almost deluged. The citizens at
that early day were very poorly sheltered from the wintry
weather. Much suffering was the consequence. Mr.
Bigler and family were compelled to endure trials and
privations which it had never been their misfortune to
meet before, even on the uninhabited desert wastes where
JOHN BIGLER. 51
they had so often encamped. The roof of their cloth tene-
ment admitted the rain. It was necessary to suspend an
umbrella over their heads at night, in order to turn aside
the rain from their faces. Every morning, for more than
two weeks, the floor of their tent was flooded. Every
morning, for that length of time, their little cooking stove
was taken out and emptied of its liquid contents. Their
bedstead was four forked sticks, driven into the ground,
with two round willow poles forming the railing; short
poles, extended crosswise, served as bedcords.
The first State Legislature convened at the capital, San
Jose, on December 15th, 1849, to complete the organization
of the State government. On December 12th, Mr. Bigler
left Sacramento with his family for San Jose on a pro-
peller, the steamer McKim. Arriving at San Francisco
at night, in the midst of a tempest, they could not land
till morning, when, they were put into small boats and
taken ashore at a point on Clay street, between Mont-
gomery and Sansome — the waters of the bay reaching to
that point at that time.
The streets of the metropolis were almost impassable.
Mr. Bigler had to wander for several hours in search of
lodgings. Finally, in a despairing mood, he applied to
the keeper of a restaurant, James Hagan, who allowed the
little party to occupy an upper room, unfurnished, except
with an old straw mattrass. The Governor asserts that
never, in his life, was he more grateful for a favor than
for the privilege of occupying this humble apartment.
He afterwards remembered the circumstance to his bene-
factor's advantage, by inducing Gov. Burnett to bestow
upon Hagan a lucrative office.
The next day, he took passage on the Mint^ a little
steamer bound for the ^' Embarcadero," fiYe or six miles
from San Jose. He soon found himself and family in the
midst of unexpected peril, more fearful than any that had
ever before encompassed them. About three hours after
the frail craft had commenced her vo3'age, she was over-
taken by a terrific storm. The captain, engineer and crew,
being inexperienced, became panic-stricken and aban-
doned their posts. Their conduct added to the con-
62 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
sternation of the passengj^s, most of whom were motion-
less with terror. On board of the threatened boat were
a majority of the senators elect^ ten or twelve assembly-
men, and the Lieutenant Governor. Commander Selim
Wood worth, a senator elect, was among the passengers.
This gentleman, upon witnessing the pusillanimous con-
duct of the officers and crew, rushed to the wheel and
ordered the engineer and fireman to resume their places.
He stated to a friend standing near him, that there was
room for hope unless the boat overturned in changing
her course. In turning, the vessel shipped water, which
flooded her cabin to the depth of ten or twelve inches.
But the new captain's noble purpose was effected, and the
prow of the Mint headed for San Francisco, where her
passengers were soon landed. Most of them refused to
take passage again upon the insecure vessel, and went
overland to the capital ; but Mr. Bigler .had no choice — he
had paid his fare, and for want of funds was compelled
to run the chances of shipwreck. Fortunately, however,
the next day beamed clear and bright; the broad, beautiful
bay was in perfect repose ; and the voyage was made with-
out the recurrence of a single unpleasant incident.
The first Legislature of the State of California con-
vened at San Jose, December 16th, 1849. The Lieutenant
Grovernor elect, Hon. John McDougal, took the chair as
President of the Senate, and Dr. Thos. J. White of Sac-
ramento was chosen Speaker of the Assembly. On the
20th day of December, 1849, Peter H. Burnett was in-
augurated first Governor of California. On the same
day two United States Senators were elected — John C.
Fremont on the first, and Wm. M. Gwin on the third
ballot. December 22d, in joint convention of the two
houses, Richard Roman was elected State Treasurer,
John S. Houston, Comptroller, E. J. C. Kewen, Attorney
General, Charlies J. Whiting, Surveyor General, S. C.
Hastings, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Henry
A. Lyons and Nathaniel Bennett, Associate Justices.
This being accomplished, the late Edmund Randolph and
John Bigler were appointed a committee, on the part of
the assembly, to wait on the Provisional Governor, Gen.
JOHN BIGLER. 63
Riley, and inform him "' that a State government, repub-
lican in form, had been fully organized for California;
and that the representatives of the people would be
pleased to hear and respectfully consider any and all sug-
gestions which he might believe himself authorized to
make."
The committee waited upon Gen. Riley and made
their address. The General's reply was brief and sig-
nificant. He trusted that the committee were as happy
in being the chosen agents of the new State, as he was
in being relieved from all cares and responsibilities con-
nected therewith. The committee then interrogated Gen.
Riley as to the '' Civil Fund," and^his willingness to pay
into the State treasury the funds collected by officers of
the United States army and navy on importations, with-
out authority of law — an amount sufficient to defray the
expenses of the new government until a revenue system
could be matured, and the collection of government dues
commenced in pursuance thereof. The prompt reply was,
that, instead of acceding to the request of the committee,
the Provisional Governor would pay every cent of the
so-called Civil Fund into the national treasury. This re-
sponse was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. Gen.
Riley had previously paid the expenses of the Constitu-
tional Convention, in full, out of the '' Civil Fund."
Messrs. Randolph and Bigler, on behalf of the Assem-
bly, claimed that this action of the General left his
refusal to pay the balance of the '' Civil Fund" into the
State treasury without plausible excuse. Moreover, the
members of the Constitutional Convention, before pro-
ceeding to the work of framing a State Constitution, had
received assurances that the remainder of the funds, col-
lected as stated, would be paid into the State treasury as
soon as the State government was fully organized and
that fact officially reported. It is not now definitely
known whether or not Gen. Riley had promised directly
to pay over the ^' Fund" to the State. It is certain, how-
ever, that prominent members of the Constitutional Con-
vention informed the State authorities elect, that the
General had assured them that he would do so. It is very
54 REPRESENTATrV^E MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
probable that Gen. Riley's action was based upon advices
received by him from the authorities at Washington.
However, he refused to pay over to the State the ^' Civil
Fund," as expected, and his refusal left the new govern-
ment in a very embarrassing and awkward plight. An
empty treasury rendered immediate action necessary on
the part of the Legislature.
Rashness and thoughtlessness have been attributed to
the pioneers, in forming a State government without hav-
ing first provided means for meeting, in part, accruing
expenses; and their conduct has been imputed to the in-
fluence of ambitious men who looked to a State govern-
ment for preferment and fortune. These charges are
unjust. The necessities of the time forced the pioneers
to take the action they did. Grov. Bigler publicly stated,
in the address alluded to, that he hnew the belief was general
that the '^ Civil Fund" — over one million three hundred thou-
sand dollars — would be passed to the State authorities; and
that this belief induced hundreds to favor State organiza-
tion who would otherwise have opposed it.
In addition to thi^, the course pursued by the pio-
neers finds vindication in the failure of Congress to
establish a Territorial government for California — many
believing that without a State government, anarchy would
ensue. The Provisional government had been found in-
adequate. The people of the southern part of the State,
as well as those of Napa, Sonoma, and Solano, regarded
the movement to frame a State constitution as prema-
ture; and the vote upon the question must have been
very close in the Constitutional Convention, but for the
assurances before stated in regard to the ^' Civil Fund."
To provide means to sustain the State government, the
Legislature, in its unpleasant and trying position, determ-
ined to authorize the issuance of bonds, hesirmg three per
cent, per month interest. Mr. Bigler, while he freely ad-
mitted that the plan adopted by the Legislature was not
without justification, yet warmly opposed it, believing its
consequences would prove disastrous.
On the 10th day of January, 1850, Mr. Bigler was
chosen speaker pro tern, of the Assembly ; and on the 6th
JOHN BIGLER. 55
day of February following, he was unanimously elected
Speaker, Dr. White having resigned that position.
In the first Legislature, nearly every State in the Union
was represented. Judge De La Guerra and Gen. Yallejo
were the native Californian members. In this body, no
senator or assemblymen possessed a white shirt or a fur
hat; all wore ^^flop" hats and ^'hickory" shirts, as they
were termed. An English artist took crayon sketches
of all the members of both houses. They were creditable
likenesses, and were seen a few years ago in one of the
principal museums of London.
In January, 1850, Mr. Bigler introduced and procured
the passage by the Legislature of joint resolutions favoring
the construction of the Pacific Railroad. These resolu-
tions are here inserted, as matter of historic interest.
They read as follows :
'' Joint Resolutions in relation to a National Railroad
from the Pacific Ocean to the Jlfississippi River.
^' 1st. Be it resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the
State of California, that our senators in Congress be in-
structed, and our representatives requested, to urge upon
Congress the importance of authorizing, as soon as prac-
ticable, the construction of a IS^'ational Railroad from the
Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River.
'' 2d. Resolved^ That they be further instructed to urge
upon the national government, with a view to facilitate
the great work contemplated in the first resolution, the
immediate organization of an efficient engineer corps, to
make complete surveys and explorations of the several
routes which have been recommended to public notice as
practicable for the line of said road.
'^ 3d. Resolvedj That his Excellency the Governor be
requested to forward to each of our senators and repre-
sentatives in Congress a certified copy of the foregoing
joint resolutions.
John Bigler,
Speaker of the Assembly.
John McDougal,
President of the Senate.
San Jose, March 11th, 1850."
Statutes of Cahfornia^ 1st session, (1850) page 465.
56 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
During this session of the Legislature, Mr. Bigler also
gave his earnest advocacy to the Homestead law.
The first Legislature was popularly known as the
^' Legislature of a Thousand Drinks'' ; and before this body
of faithful, hard-working old pioneers is dismissed from
notice, the origin of the merry appellative will be ex-
plained. There is an incorrect popular notion that this
title was appropriate to the character and habits of the
legislators. Gen. Green, a senator from Sacramento, who
had rented a room adjoining the Senate chamber, before
the latter had been set apart for the use of the State,
w^as in the habit, after the daily adjournment of the two
houses, of inviting his friends to his apartment to par-
take of choice old Bourbon, of which he had a supply.
Tliis invitation was uniformly given in a loud and happy
tone of voice, and invariably in these liberal words:
^^ Walk m^ gentlemen! walk in! and take a thousand drinks f
The genial, generous senator could not have foreseen
that, in coming years, his thoughtless words would be
quoted to the disparagement of his sober colleagues.
In the fall of 1850, Mr. Bigler was a second time
elected a member of the Assembly— this time represent-
ing Sacramento county, the first legislature having divided
the State into counties. Upon the meeting of the Legis-
lature in January, 1851, he was again chosen Speaker of
the Assembly.
In the following summer, he received the Democratic
nomination for the office of Governor, to which, in the
succeeding fall, he was elected by the people; his com-
petitor being the late Major Pierson B. Reading, the
Whig candidate.
In January, 1852, Mr. Bigler entered upon his guber-
natorial duties, and served out his term of two years.
In the fall of 1853, he was again elected Governor by the
Democracy, and served out his second term of two years
from January 1st, 1854.
In the fall of 1855, he was, for the third time, the
chosen standard-bearer of his party for the high office
which he had held for nearly four years. This time, he
met his first political defeat — together with the entire
JOHN BIGLER. 57
Democratic ticket — at the hands of the Native American
or Know-Nothing party, marshalled under the leadership
of J. xvTeely Johnson, now Judge of the Supreme Court
of Nevada.
Released from the responsibilities of public trust,
which had engrossed his time and attention ever since
his first election to the Assembly in 1849, a period of six
years, Grov. Bigler availed himself of this first recess in
his public life to visit his native State. While there, the
presidential campaign of 1856 opened with that vigor
and asperity which marked its continuance. The Dem-
ocracy had placed in the field an honored and favorite
son of Pennsylvania. Their chief opponent, the Repub-
lican party, rallied (and, for a new party, with unex-
ampled spirit) under the standard of one of the first
United States senators from California. The last-named
organization, destined to control the government unin-
terruptedly for so many years, was struggling to wrest
the administration of national affairs from the Democracy
four years in advance of the appointed time.
All men looked to Pennsylvania as the battle-ground
where the result must be decided. The contest was
bitter. Grov. Bigler, devotedly attached to his party,
which had given him distinction in the State of his
adoption, took the stump in behalf of that party in the
State of his nativity. He labored untiringly throughout
the campaign, and at its conclusion, had the pleasure of
seeing the Keystone State, by a tremendous majority,
cast her vote for the chosen leader of his party ; a result
he aided very materially to secure. The Democracy of
that great Commonwealth, through the leading Demo-
cratic papers of the State, gratefully acknowledged the
efficiency of the services rendered in their behalf by
their distinguished visitor.
But two weeks had clasped after the presidential
election when Gov. Bigler returned to California, and set-
tled at Sacramento, his old home. However, he was to
remain only a short time in private life. President
Buchanan had not been in office a month, when he ap-
pointed Gov. Bigler Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
58 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Chile. This was the
first compliment of the kind ever paid to a citizen of the
United States on the Pacific coast; though Gen. Pierce
had, before the close of his term of office, tendered to
Gov. Bigler, first, the mission to Portugal, and afterwards
that to Sweden and Norway, both of which he declined.
His appointment as minister to Chile was confirmed by the
Senate, and he soon left California for Washington, whence
shortly after he departed with his family upon his mission.
He continued to discharge the duties of this position
throughout the full term of President Buchanan's ad-
ministration. While minister to Chile, he settled the cele-
brated ''Macedonian Claim" against that country, which
had been pending ever since its first presentation by
Commodore Porter, in 1820.
He also settled the case of the whaler Franklin^ which
had been the subject of unpleasant dispute for more
than twenty years; and adjusted the murder case of
Horatio Gates Jones, one of the most important and per-
plexing ever acted upon by an American minister.
During his ministerial career, he was influential in
obtaining a test of American and British locomotives on
the Chile railroads, which resulted in the complete triumph
of American mechanical skill and the superiority of
American locomotives.
In 1861, upon the arrival of Mr. Lincoln's appointee
to the Chile mission. Gov. Bigler returned to California.
He found his party in a decided minority, and struggling
to maintain its organization. In 1862, he accepted a
nomination for Congress. The Second Congressional
District, which embraces Sacramento county, was over-
whelmingly Republican. The Democratic candidate and
his friends had no expectations of success. He made the
canvass solely to aid in keeping the party organization
intact. Of course, his defeat followed.
Since his return from Chile, Gov. Bigler has been en-
gaged in the practice of law in Sacramento, where he has
held a homestead for twenty years. A part of this time
he was a member of the law-firm of Coffroth, Bigler &
Spaulding. Since 1862, he has not been before the
JOHy BIGLER. -•^*" 59
people as a candidate for office: he has, however, been
conspicuous in State conventions, and was a delegate from
California to the national conventions which nominated
Geo. B. McClellan and Horatio Seymour for the Presi-
dency.
In October, 1867, Gov. Bigler was appointed by
President Johnson one of the commissioners to examine
and pass upon the work of the Central Pacific Railroad
Company, his associates being Hon. Thomas J. Henley
and Frank Denver. No happier selection could have
been made than that of John Bigler. Ever since he
pushed his weary way across the cheerless prairies that
stretch between the Sacramento and Missouri rivers, he
has felt the necessity and urged the construction of the
great continental highway. When a representative of
the people, early in 1850, as already shown, he com-
menced the clear and satisfactory record he has made for
himself upon this great question, so long a matter of
deep anxiety to Californians. During his visit to the
East in 1856, while a witness and an actor in a mighty
political contest, he was ever zealous in his efforts to
remove any objection urged against the feasibility of the
construction of the Pacific Railroad. In the Daily Penn-
sylvanian^ a Philadelphia newspaper, of November 20th,
1856, appeared the following^^
" In his recent visit to our State, Gov. Bigler every-
where, in public speeches and in private conversations^
expressed the opinion that, in the construction of this
great work, no greater difficulties would have to be en-
countered than were so successfully overcome in the con-
struction of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. No one
more fully appreciates the immense advantages that would
result from its completion than Gov. John Bigler. From
its inception to the present hour, he has been an un-
faltering advocate of this gigantic enterprise."
The great undertaking has at last been consummated,
and a considerable portion of it under Gov. Bigler's im-
mediate supervision. California, in the nineteenth year
of her sovereignty, has been linked to the older States
with iron bonds by the hand of skilled labor, and in this
60 RFPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
union the dream of our pioneers has been fulfilled and
the hopes of our people realized !
During his long residence at Sacramento, Grov. Bigler
has been a witness of all the many trying ordeals through
which that afflicted but enterprising city has passed. He
has seen the mountain torrents, leaping from a hundred
sources, unite their raging waters, and expanding into
the strength and volume of an ocean, sweep with resist-
less energy over and around her; he has seen the fire-
king again and again envelop her habitations in his
consuming arms; he has repeatedly exposed his life in
the performance of noble deeds, when plague and pesti-
lence made her hearthstones desolate.
When the Asiatic cholera aj)peared in Sacramento, in
the fall of 1850, Gov. Bigler immediately devoted him-
self to unremitting efforts for relieving the sick and
burying the dead. The 28th of October w^as a day of
sadness and terror; the deaths by cholera on that day
numbered ninety. The alarm was so great that a sufficient
force to dig graves and give burial to the victims could
not be obtained. On the afternoon of that day, Gov.
Bigler remained at the city cemetery until dark. The
last three bodies interred were consigned to the grave by
Gov. Bigler and an assistant, to accomplish which the
Governor was compelled to get down into the earth ancl
arrange the coffins in their narrow home.
The account of Dr. Morse, (now a leading physician
of San Francisco) which was copied in the Illustrated His-
tory of Sacrainento^ pays this just tribute to the man whose
daring and kindness of heart attracted the attention and
gratitude of his fellow-men:
''We will mention one name, our motive for which
w^ill be readily acknowledged more as the extortion of
truth than the result of partisan partiality. That name
is John Bigler, the present Governor of California. This
man, with strong impulses of sympathy, could be seen
in every refuge of distress that concealed the miseries
of the dying and the destitute. With a lump of gum-
camphor as large as a moderate-sized inkstand, now in
his pocket and anon at his nostrils, he braved every scene
JOHN BIGLER. 61
of danger that was presented, and with his own hands
administered relief to his suffering and uncared-for
fellow-beings."
Where is the man — the political opponent, even — who
would not eagerly follow the writer, did he allow his pen
to dwell in glowing eulogy upon this bright chapter in
the life of John Bigler ?
It will be seen that, during the best part of his life.
Gov. Bigler" has been actively engaged in the discharge
of public duties. He is strictly a party man. He has the
credit of being a very shrewd politician and a keen judge
of men. To the fortunes of his party he has ever adhered
with unfailing devotion. In the vigor of discipline and
the flush of triumph, he has led its columns to new
achievements and attainment of great ends; and when
misfortune overtook and disaster appalled, he has rallied
its scattered legions and dauntlessly flaunted its banner
in the face of the foe.
And the party to which he has so steadfastly clung,
has ever delighted to do him honor. Twice a member of
the Assembly ; twice Speaker of that body ; twice Governor
of the State; a third time a candidate for that office; for
four years United States Minister to Chile; again the
candidate of his party for Congress; three times an ac-
credited delegate to the National Democratic Convention ;
he can feel, in the sunset of his natural and political life,
that his party has not been unmindful of his labors in its
cause. That party yet proudly points to the consistency
of his public life, and the qualities which adorn his charac-
ter as a man.
Gov. Bigler has always been the acknowledged friend
of the poor and laboring classes. He has uniformly striven
to elevate them, and ameliorate their condition. His en-
tire public life has been signalized by patient fidelity to
their interests and claims. He has not forgotten the past,
with its solemn teachings. He is proud of labor, proud
of the masses who live by labor, and proud that he him-
self has been compelled to labor.
Not success, not wealth, not rich estates, not grandeur,
nor fame, nor the applause of the world, could make him
62 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
forget the humble walks he trod in youth. As was said
of ''nature's sternest painter, yet the best," "the ameni-
ties of the refined society which he enjoys in mature
manhood never occupy his imagination so much as the
reminiscences of struggle, suffering, passion and disaster
with which his youth was familiar."
%,
(m^o^mm^w^ fs,)c iBAii^ii[fS.
[CommiPsioncdMaioi- Creueral ni\ftr his death]
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER.
EDWARD Dickinson Baker was born in London, in 1811.
His parents emigrated to the United States, and
came to Philadelphia in 1816. They were highly re-
spectable persons, of energy, good sense, and accom-
plished education. Upon the arrival of his parents in
Philadelphia they taught school for a few years, success-
fully, at a time when that city was probably the most
renowned of any in the Union for the excellence of its
institutions of learning, and the ability of its distinguished
citizens. His early lessons of religion were interwoven
by his excellent parents with classical lore, and his taste
bent to the purest models, and his precocious genius
gratified in its thirst for books. His father had heard
and read of our great government, founded by Washing-
ton and his compatriots, and regarded it as the noblest
work of human wisdom and virtue, the most munificent
spectacle of human happiness ever presented to the vision
of man. The old man had seen sparks of irrepressible
genius in his darling boy, and sought a theatre, upon
which, without resting ingloriously under the shadow of
a titled name, without ^'the boast of heraldry," his son
could make his mark upon the page of history. To the
enduring honor of the old man, be it remembered, that
notwithstanding his devotion to learning, he taught his
children that labor was honorable; and for awhile our
lamented hero worked at the trade of a cabinet-maker.
But though to work as St. Paul did with his own hands
* For explanatory note, see Preface.
64 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
is honorable among all men, yet the Almighty has given
men different gifts. Baker's genius could not be cramped
by the persistent continuance of an occupation in which
he could attain the highest excellence in a few years.
To chain such a mind as he had to any such occupation,
would be as idle as to attempt to persuade the bird of
Jove to quit towering '4n his pride of place," and soaring
aloft above the clouds, and adopt the habits of our useful
domestic fowls. It could not be.' It was the ^'Divinity
that stirred within him," and whispered that he was born
to illustrate great principles by his mental efforts, and to
die gloriously, as he did die, in the noblest struggle that
ever animated the soul of a patriot-hero.
I can imagine that sensible father holding the hand of
his hope and joy as he walked through the streets of the
patriotic Quaker city. Here he showed him the house
where Washington dwelt, and the church in which the
august father of his country knelt in worship before the
Lord of lords and King of kings. Here he visited Indepen-
dence Hall. Here he took him to the grave of Franklin, and
in answer to the inquiries of childish curiosity, he would
say : ^^ Washington, my son, was a great and good man,
honored by the brave and good throughout the civilized
world ; he served his country faithfully through a long
and bloody war, and founded here, amid unexampled diffi-
culties, a great and glorious Union, whose laws insure
protection to the honest foreigner and welcome him to
an equal participation in its rewards and honors. He
earned the title, nobler far than that of King or Empe-
ror — the Father of his Country. Study his precepts and
venerate his character. Benjamin Franklin was poor in
early life, worked with his own hands, and by industry
became one of the most distinguished men on earth,
itoger Sherman was a shoemaker, but honest and indus-
trious, and was honored by his fellow citizens and earned
immortality. He, like Washington and Franklin, was a
signer of the Declaration of Independence. These illus-
trious men, with their patriotic brethren from the ice-
bound region of the distant North, and the sunny clime
of the South, pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 65
honor to the achievement of Independence. Remember
their example — be true to that country which they hon-
ored, which honored them, and may honor you, if you
will. This immortal struggle was one in which patriots
of all the States participated. At the battle of German-
town, Nash, from North Carolina, that State the first to
declare her Independence, (then peopled by thousands, as
now by tens of thousands, of good men and true,) here
fell a martyr in the cause of Freedom. On the other
side of this majestic river — the Delaware, which Wash-
ington crossed, disregarding the terrible inclemencies of
a northern winter — on the other side, is the State of New
Jersey, every foot of whose sod is a soldier's sepulchre.
There Mercer of Virginia fell, another martyr to Free-
dom's cause. Be true to the memory of these men.
You are not by birth, but by choice can be, a fellow-citi-
zen of this heaven-blessed Union. The prayers and hopes
of your father and mother are that you will prove true to
this, now your country, to its institutions, to the cause of
Freedom. "
This early teaching made a deep and lasting impres-
sion on the heart and mind of the patriot-soldier. These
early lessons seem ever to have been the pillar of fire
that guided his course in his public career. When Col.
Baker was still a boy, his father died in Philadelphia. In
1828 he left that city, and seeking a home in the great
West, he went to Carrolton, Illinois, where he borrowed
books and commenced the study of the law. May I say,
without intruding in the holy precincts of family sorrow,
he went attended by a mother's prayers and counsels.
That mother still survives, at the advanced age of 82
years, (1861). She is as remarkable now for the spright-
liness and vigor of her intellect, as she was in earlier life
for her accomplishments and rare endowments. Venera-
ble woman !
"While you reverse our nature's kindlier doom,
Pour forth a mother's sorrow on his tomb.
Millions of patriot hearts sympathise in your sorrow.
Look for comfort to Him who alone can give it — who
66 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
'^doeth all things well." May this calamity, while it
'loosens another one of the bonds that bind you to the
earth, divest the common fate of one more of its terrors,
and create through the hope of re-union another aspira-
tion for a better life beyond the grave. "
In 1832 he was a Major in what is known as the
Black Plawk war.
By the diligent exertion of his extraordinary abilities,
he soon attained a high rank in his profession — and this
is no slight praise, for there were '^giants in the land in
those days. " Hardin, Douglas, Lincoln and Logan were
his rivals and friends, and acknowledged his prowess.
For ten years consecutively he was a member of the
Legislature of the State of Illinois. In December, 1845,
he entered the House of Bepresentative from the Spring-
field District in Illinois, a member of the 29th Congress.
During this Congress, war existed with Mexico, and Baker
left his place in the House, went to Illinois and raised the
4th Regiment organized in that State. He went with his
regiment to the deadly banks of the Bio Grande, and
entered the command of Gen. Taylor. In December,
1846, he returned from Mexico on urgent public business,
and in the House of Representative, delivered a speech
remarkable for its force and intense patriotic feeling,
which subdued •'partizan opposition and produced the
fruits he desired, of additional appropriation for the com-
fort of the soldiers in the field. After this visit to the
seat of Government he resigned his seat in Congress and
returned immediately to Mexico. His regiment was or-
dered to Yera Cruz, where he participated in the capture
of the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. Very soon after-
wards he was at the battle of Cerro Gordo, where the
gallant Gen. Shields was wounded severely, and Baker,
having charge of the attacking column, took the com-
mand. History has told us the story of the good conduct
of the Colonel who commanded the 4th Illinois Regiment,
in that terrible but glorious day. After the war was
ended, he returned to Illinois, and was honored by that
State with a sword, in grateful recognition of his valuable
services.
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 6T
In 1849, while a resident of what w^as called the Sanga-
mon or Springfield District, he was urged by his party
friends to come to the Galena District, then strongly, and
to any other person but Baker, overwdielmingly Demo-
cratic. If any other man had attempted such an enter-
prise, he would have been regarded as a Don Quixote.
But he was always self-reliant. He had, if not all the
ambition, the courage and genius of Julius Cossar. He
commenced there to advocate those principles to which
through his life he had been attached, with unfaltering de-
votion. He went with the sling of Freedom and the peb-
ble of Truth, and the giant Democracy fell before him.
He served in the 31st Congress as a member from the
Galena District. He was not a candidate again, and his
voice not being heard, the Galena District was again de-
cidedly Democratic.
In 1851, his fervid spirit, always seeking some difficult
and hazardous exploit, induced him to embark in the en-
terprize of superintending the construction of the Pana-
ma Railroad. Here he managed a large body of men,
and here he was revelling in the belief that he w^as open-
ing a way to a land of wines and fig-trees, of pome-
granates, a land of oil, olive and honey — opening the road
for his countrymen in all parts of the Union, to a land
forever consecrated to freedom. In that pestiferous clim-
ate,, in 'Hhose poisonous fields with rank luxuriance
crowned," under
Those blazing suns that dai-t a downward ray.
And fiercely shed intolerable day,
he was comforting his soul with the assurance that he
was removing obstructions from the paths of free labor,
that here, on this our blessed shore, it might have its
proudest resting-place. Nothing but a strong constitu-
tion strengthened by the most exemplary temperance, a
'^ frame of adamant, a soul of fire," and an indomitable
will sustained him under the effects of the Panama fever,
which troubled him for several years.
In June, 1852, he arrived in California. Here he soon
attained a high rank in the profession of the law. Many
68 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
pages of this volume might be filled in recounting his
many triumphs among eminent men at the bar. The
country well knows how pre-eminently great he was in
cases of life and death — how irresistible he was, when he
entranced juries by the magic of his eloquence, and de-
prived men of their reason as he overwhelmed them in
admiration of his transcendent genius. By universal
consent he was regarded as having no rival in this branch
of his profession. It would be a grateful task to me, and
a most agreeable one, to dwell upon the beauties of many
of his published speeches. Who but Baker could draw
such houses in old Music Hall, as Webster alone could
summon in Faneuil Hall? Who could call alike the stu-
dent and the mechanic to hear him discourse on the ad-
vantages of free labor and the duty of government to pro-
tect and encourage it ? Who could dim the eye of beauty
with a tear of sympathy and soften the heart of the mi-
ser in one and the same effort, while he pleaded the cause
of benevolence and heavenly charity? Who like him
could call the miner from digging gold, the farmer from
his plow, the man of business from his work, while he
talked as one inspired of the thousand blessings of our
Union, and the greatness that awaited us in the future?
To those who have thus heard him, how "stale, flat and
unprofitable" must be the effort of any other ! How of-
ten, when we have thus heard him, with a heart overflow-
ing with patriotism, and an eye of fire, when he spoke of
the inestimable value of our Constitution and Union, of
our mission among the nations of the earth, when he
seemed to "stoop to touch the loftiest thought" which
other men would toil laboriously to reach, have we
thought he appeared to be the very personification of
the apostrophe of the great poet of nature to man :
"How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties ; in form
and moving, how express and admirable ; in apprehension,
how like a god !"
He remained in California until February, 1860. Then
he attempted and achieved what no other man but E. D.
Baker could have performed. He had for years scatter-
ed the seeds which he saw had at last promised to bring
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 69
forth good fruit in California, when he determined to per-
form in Oregon, upon a larger scale, what he had done in
Illinois. Many who heard of his intentions, prophesied
he was going on a ^'sleeveless errand," that he was a
Quixotic Hotspur who imagined ''it were an easy leap
to pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon. " But
he went to Oregon. He drew crowds to hear him. In
a little more than six months he appeared again among
us, on his. way to Washington City, Senator from Oregon !
It was, in evil conflict, like that of Julius Csesar in arms
over Pharnaces, as described by himself, Venij vidi^ vici —
If ''Peace hath her victories as well as War, " where is
the conqueror whose laurels will not pale their ineflPectual
glories, before those of Baker? His success in the Gale-
na District of Illinois and in Oregon is unequaled by any-
thing that ever occurred in the history of our country.
He took his seat in the Senate in December, 1860.
Much was expected of him ; he did not disappoint the
hopes of his friends. In January, 1861, in answer to the
talented Benjamin, the skillful and accomplished orator
of "high exploit" in the Senate — "a fairer person lost
not heaven" — he made a speech celebrated for strength
of argument, logical power and majestic eloquence,
which would have honored the Senate in the days of Web-
ster, Clay and Crittenden. He was beyond comparison
the foremost man in debate in that illustrious body, the
Senate of the United States. It might have been expect-
ed, as it was ardently hoped by his countrymen, that here
he would remain, and enjoy the fruits of an honorable
ambition. But no ; it was ordered otherwise b}^ fate.
The ruling passion of his soul, that "made his ambition
virtue" — an unconquerable wish to serve and save his
country, drowned all selfish suggestions of individual
comfort. In his own glowing words in the House of Rep-
resentatives, in 1850, "I have bared my bosom to the
battles on the Northwestern frontier in my youth, and on
the Southwestern frontier in my manhood ; and if the
time should come when disunion rules the hour, and dis-
cord is to reign supreme, I shall again be ready to give
the best blood in my veins to my country's cause."
70 REPRESENTATIVE IklEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The time had come, and he was ready to do at the can-
non's mouth what he had professed in the halls of Con-
gress. His noble soul was on the side of his country in
the dreadful contest brought about by desperate and
wicked ambition. His voice in the. Senate and in the
public assemblies stirred the hearts of his countrymen to
rally in support of the best Government ever seen by
man. After the adjournment of Congress he attended a
public meeting in New York, in April, 1861, probably the
largest ever held in our country, and there, amid the
learned and able men of that great city, he stimulated
the public mind and aroused his countrymen to renewed
efforts in behalf of our Union. It was there he spoke by
the side of the lion-hearted, the patriotic Dickinson —
himself remarkable for strength of intellect and great
power of oratory — who at a speech in Brooklyn, New
York, thus speaks of our friend :
Alas, poor Baker ! He was swifter than an eagle ! He was
stronger than a lion ! and the very soul of bravery and manly
daring. He spoke by my side at the great Union Square meeting
in April, and his words of fiery and patriotic eloquence yet ring
upon my ear. And has that noble heart ceased to throb — that
pulse to play? Has that beaming eye been closed in death? Has
that tongue of eloquence been silenced for ever? Yes, but he has
died in the cause of humanity —
"Whether on the scaffold high,
Or in the army's van.
The fittest place for man to die
Is where he dies for man \"
He raised a regiment and led them on in their coim-
try's cause. It is not necessary now to discuss why the
result of the battle of Edward's Ferry was not different.
To Baker's fame it is all right. He fell in the cause of
human liberty, in defense of the Union, in defense of his
country. He fell with his ^'back to the field, his face to
the foe," and long as Liberty has a votary on earth, as
long as the name of Washington is revered among men,
and his principles cherished by his countrymen, so long
will the name of Baker be remembered with gratitude
and admiration.
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 71
No man who knew Baker, can doubt the sincerity and
noble disinterestedness of his attachment to his political
principles. In Illinois^ in California, against overwhelm-
ing numbers, unseduced by the syren song promising
promotion, he kept on the even tenor of his way.
As a statesman, he w^as never suspected in the days of
highest party excitement, of trimming his sails to catch
the breeze of popular applause. He did not purpose to
embark with his friends on the '^ smooth surface of a
summer sea," and leave them when the winds whistled
and the billows roared. lie was
Constant as the Northern Star,
Of whose true, fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
In political contests, when armed with the conscious-
ness of being right, as at the cannon's mouth, he never
feared to encounter any adversary, or ever thought of
consequences to himself. He went into political contests
as he did to the field of battle, where mortal engines
'^ immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit."
On the morning of the fatal 21st of October, 1861,
when he crossed the Potomac, he went to perform his du-
ty to the ^Svhole country, of which he was a devoted and
affectionate son." He thought he was right, and in the
path of duty ; and I can imagine as he stood on the banks
of the Potomac, whose rushing waters red with patriotic
blood, were in a few hours to dash their moaning waves
on Mount Vernon's shore, with a full knowledge of the
danger of death before him, he had in his mind the noble
thoughts to which he gave utterance in the Senate on the
2d of January previous. ''Right and duty are always
majestic ideas. They march an invisible guard in the
van of all true progress ; they animate the loftiest spirit
in the public assemblies ; they nerve the arm of the war-
rior ; they kindle the soul of the statesman and tlie
imagination of the poet ; they sweeten every reward ;
they console every defeat. Sir, they are of themselves
an indissoluble chain which binds feeble, erring humanity
to the eternal throne of God. "
72 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
In private life he was most amiable and affectionate.
I am indebted to the Rev. Thomas H. Pearne of Port-
land, Oregon, who thus speaks of an incident which illus-
trates the strength of his filial affection and duty. After
his election as Senator, he addressed a letter to his mother :
It was the first he was to send bearing the Senatorial frank.
"Who so fitting a recipient of that first letter as that aged mother?
On the way to the post-office with the letter in hand, conversing
with a friend, he remarked with fond pride, that his mother, then
more than 80 years of age, was a woman of strong, cultivated mind ;
that she had often taken down his speeches in short-hand, which
she wrote with elegance and rapidity; that she was a beautiful
writer, and that she still retained in vigor her mental faculties. As
the son Avas transmitting this evidence of his success to his mother,
and recounting' her virtues and excellencies, his eyes filled with tears,
which coursed their way down his cheeks. In itself the incident
is trivial, yet it illustrates two things — the influence of that strong-
minded, intelligent mother in training her son for greatness and
usefulness, and the generous tide of sympathy which beat in his
manly heart.
He had as much unworldliness as Goldsmith ; no love
of filthy lucre ever fovmd a resting-place in his heart.
For years I have known him well, and part of the time
vas associated with him in business, and I never heard a
profane word or irreverent expression from his lips. He
never uttered or wrote a line that could impair the celes-
tial comfort of a Christian's hope. As a man, he was
possessed of that most excellent gift, charity, towards all
who differed with him ; he never indulged in bitterness
of speech towards political opponents, nor towards those
who had done him personal wrong. I have never known
a man in public life whose heart more abounded in gen-
erous philanthropy for all mankind. He exhibited this
feeling at the bar, when he was conscious of his superi-
ority over a younger or feebler adversary. He would
have manifested the same generosity had he been victori-
ous in the last battle of his life, and deserved the eulogi-
um pronounced by him on Gen. Taylor: ^' Nor, sir, can
we forget that in the flush of victory, the gentle heart
stayed the bold hand, while the conquering soldier offered
sacrifice on the altar of pity, amid all the exultation of
triumph."
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 73
He had talents that only needed cultivation to have
insured him distinction, as a poet.
The following poem is given as an illustration of his
poetical powers. It was sent from Washington City to
the Philadelphia Press^ (shortly after Col. Baker's death,)
by Col. Forney, with these comments.
i0m Irj} (E0L §afen\
"In my comments upon the lamented Colonel Baker I stated
that, in addition to his many other intellectual gifts, he was a fine
poet — a remark that was received by many with surprise. I am
permitted to publish one of his fugitive pieces, written by him
twelve years ago, and now in possession of an intimate friend in
this ciij. Observe how the last verse applies to his fate :"
TO A WAVE.
Dost thou seek a star with thy swelling crest,
wave, that leavest thy mother's breast?
Dost thou leap from the prisoned depths below
In scorn of their calm and constant flow?
Or art thou seeking some distant land
To die in murmurs upon the strand?
Hast thou tales to tell of pearl-lit deep,
Where the wave-whelmed mariner rocks in sleep?
Canst thou speak of navies that sunk in pride
Ere the roll of their thunder in echo died?
What trophies, what banners, are floating free
In the shadowy depths of that silent sea?
It were vain to ask, as thou rollest afar,
Of banner, or mariner, ship or star ;
It were vain to seek in thy stormy face
Some tale of the sorrowful past to trace.
Thou art swelling high, thou art hashing free,
How vain are the questions we ask of thee !
1 too am a wave on a stormy sea ;
I too am a wanderer, driven like thee ;
I too am seeking a distant land
To be lost and gone ere I reach the strand.
For the land I seek is a waveless shore,
And they who once reach it shall wander no more.
It has fallen to the lot of few men to be distinguished
at the bar, in popular assemblies, in the Senate, and in
the tented field. Viewed in this light, Baker's fame is
the ''tall cliff whose awful form" overshadows other men
74 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIEia
of his day. The practice of the law sharpens the intel-
lect, but narrows its powers of comprehension. It had
no unfavorable mfluence on his genius. The great Erskine,
unrivalled in his day in the forum, disappointed the hopes
of all when he sat in Parliament. But Baker was an
Erskine at the bar and a Chatham in the Senate. The
magnificent Burke, whose splendid diction grows better
by time, had no power to stir men's blood as Baker had.
Excepting our own Webster, no man of modern times has
been so successful as Baker in the forum, in the Senate, and
before popular assemblies. I have already referred to his
surprising power in addressing audiences of literary or
benevolent character. Which of us tbat heard or read
his speech on the occasion of celebrating the laying of
the Atlantic cable, in 1858, can ever forget his beautiful
apostrophe to science ? —
Oil Science, tliou though t-clad leader of the company of i)ure
and great souls that toil for their race and love their kind !
Measurer of the depths of earth and the recesses of heaven !
Apostle of civilization, hand-maid of religion, teacher of human
equality and human right, per})etual witness for the Divine wis-
dom, be ever, as now, the great minister of peace ! Let thy starry
brow and benign front still gleam in the van of progress, brighter
than the sword of the conqueror, and welcome as the light of
heaven.
Who can forget his reference on the same occasion to
the magniiicent comet, then kindling the admiration of all
beholders in its pathway of celestial glory ? —
"But even while we assemble to mark the deed and rejoice at
its completion, the Almighty, as if to impress us with our weakness
when compared with his j)ower, has set a new signal of his reign in
heaven. If to-night, fellow-citizens, you will look out from the
glare of your illuminated city into the northwestern heavens, jou
will perceive low down on the edge of the horizon a bright stranger
pursuing its i^ath across the sky. Amid the starry hosts that keep
their watch, it shines, attended by a brighter pomji and followed
by a broader train. No living man has gazed upon its splendors
before. No watchful votary of science has traced its course for
nearly ten generations. It is more than 300 years since its ap-
proach was visible from our planet. When last it came it startled
an Emperor on his throne, and while the superstition of his age
taught him to perceive in its presence a herald and a doom, his
pride saw in its flaming course and fiery train the announcement
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 75
that his own light was about to be extinguished. In common with
the lowest of his subjects, he read omens of destruction in the
baleful heavens, and prepared himself for a fate which alike awaits
the mightiest and the meanest. Thanks to the present condition
of scientific knowledge, we read the heavens with a far clearer
jDerception. We see in the predicted return of the rushing, blazing,
comet through the sky, the march of a heavenly messenger along
its appointed way and around its predestined orbit. For 300 years
he has traveled amid the regions of infinite space. "Lone, wan-
dering, but not lost, " he has left behind him shining suns, blazing
stars and gleaming constellations, now nearer the eternal throne,
and again on the confines of the universe — he returns with visage
radiant and benign; he returns with unimpeded march and un-
obstructed way; he returns, the majestic, swift electric telegraph
of the Almighty, bearing upon his flaming front the tidings that
throughout the universe there is still peace and order ; that amid
the immeasurable dominions of the Great King, His rule is still
perfect ; that suns and stars and systems tread their endless circle
and obey the eternal law.
Are not these thoughts rays of immortality which cast
a bright halo around the fame of Baker ? He had errors
— what mortal has not ? — he was conscious of them, and
repented of them in sackcloth and ashes. But who can
think of the early career of this foreign-born boy, de-
prived by Almighty dispensation of a father's care when
a child of tender years ; of his noble struggles against
poverty ; of his wonderful acquirements while working
with his own hands ; of his extraordinary attainments
under the most depressing circumstances on a western
frontier ; of his great virtues in the domestic relations
of life ; of his gentle and charitable heart ; of his patriotic
soul devoted to his whole country, full of fiery zeal in the
cause of liberty, yet untainted by the poison of fanaticism
which corrupts the heart and clouds the mind ; above all,
of his steady, unfaltering devotion to his country, in
peace and in war ; of his patriotic life and glorious death
— who can think of these, and refuse to say with the
friend now attempting with tremulous diffidence to weave
a modest garland around his brow, in doing these fair
rites of tenderness —
Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to Heaven !
Let thy errors sleep with thee in the grave
But not remembered in thy epitaph !
<b REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF TPIE PACIFIC.
A few weeks after his election to the United States
Senate, in 1860, Gen. Baker, while m route to Washington,
addressed a very large mass meeting in San Francisco,
convened under the auspices of the Republican State
Central Committee. His speech on this occasion was re-
garded by very many of his admirers as the greatest ef-
fort of his life, although delivered without preparation.
It was reported in full, and extensively circulated as a
campaign document. Near the close of the speech oc-
curred this impassioned tribute to Freedom ;
"Here, then, long years ago, I took my stand by Freedom, and
where in youth my feet were planted, there my manhood and my
age shall march. And, for one, I am not ashamed of Freedom.
I know her power; I rejoice in her majesty; I walk beneath her
banner ; I glory in her strength. I have seen her again and again
struck down on a hundred chosen fields of battle. I have seen her
friends fly from her. I have seen her foes gather around her.
I have seen them bind her to the stake. I have seen them give her
ashes to the winds, regathering them again, that they might scatter
them yet more widely. But when they turned to exult, I have seen
her again meet them, face to face, clad in complete steel, and
brandishing in her strong' right hand a flaming sword, red with
insufferable light. And, therefore, I take courage. The people
gather around her once more. The Genius of America will at last
lead her sons to Freedom."
We honor him especially for the self-immolating
spirit which led him, like Curtius, to plunge in the gulf
in the hope of saving his country. He was not impelled
by any dream of wild ambition. ]!^ot being born in the
Atlantic States, he could not be President. He had
attained the highest station, in his opinion, on earth ;
a station, as he said, ^'more exalted than that of a Roman
Senator, Consul, Proconsul or Emperor." He had ob-
tained the position of the first debater in the Senate.
His friend with whom he had played in childhood, ''his
own familiar friend" with whom he had taken sweet
counsel, had become President of the United States.
That friend still loved him and rejoiced at his success.
He could have passed an easy and luxurious life on the
primrose path of Senatorial dignity and influence. But
his country was in danger — he took no thought of liim-
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 77
self. He "loved the name of honor more than he feared
death." I honor his memory especially that notwith-
standing his life-long zeal in the cause of liberty, he was
true to "the Constitution and all its compromises," as he
proclaimed again and again in his public addresses. lie
was animated by no sectional hostility, but regarded our
Union "as less a work of human prudence than of
Providential interposition." In the spirit of a disciple of
Washington, as a friend of Webster and Clay, he said :
"Let the laws be maintained and the Union preserved, at what-
ever cost. By whatever constitutional process, through whatever
of darkness or danger there may be, let us proceed in the broad
luminous path of duty, till danger's troubled night be passed and
the star of peace returns. "
At the Union Mass Meeting in New York City, May
20th, 1861, Gen. Baker thus concluded a speech of great
eloquence and power :
And if, from the far Pacific, a voice feebler than the feeblest
murmur upon its shore may be heard to give you courage and hoj)e
in the contest, that voice is yours to-day. And if a man whose hair
is gray, who is well nigh worn out in the battle and toil of life, may
pledge himself on such an occasion, and in such an audience, let
me say, as my last word, that when amid sheeted fire and flame, I
saw and led the hosts of New York as they charged in contest upon
a foreign soil for the honor of your flag ; so again, if Providence
shall will it, this feeble hand shall draw a sword never yet
dishonored — not to fight for distant honor in a foreign land, but to
fight for country, for home, for law, for government, for con-
stitution, for right, for freedom, for humanity, and in the hope that
the banner of my country may advance, and wheresoever that
banner waves, there glory may pursue and freedom be established.
It would be unjust to his memory and to his coun-
trymen to whom his memory will ever be dear, to omit
to speak of his funeral oration over the dead body of a
Senator from California, who died "tangled in the mesh-
es of the code of honor. " I have read no effort of that
character, called out by such an event, so admirable, so
touching, so worthy the sweet eloquence of Baker.
That one effort should crown him with immortality.
Baker was a brave man. He has proved it often. He
had, as an honorable colleague said in the House of Rep-
78 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
resentatives — '^ in the battles of his country carved the
evidence of his devotion to his government," and gave
there proof of his courage. He proved it on the bloody
field of Cerro Gordo, when he was praised by the greatest
of living soldiers for his fine behavior and success. He
has proved it by his death. Yet he knew that dueling
was a sin. He knew it deserved reprobation and was un-
hallowed by any or all of the illustrious names who had
yielded to its requirements under the tyranny of a bar-
barous public opinion. He gave his unqualified condem-
nation to a code which offers ''to personal vindictiveness
a life due only to a country, a family and to God. " Bro-
derick had many good qualities that excited Baker's ad-
miration. Both w^ere self-made men ; both had risen
from poverty to the highest position. Let Baker's de-
nunciation of this unchristian, barbarous code be remem-
bered to his undying honor :
To-day I renew my protest ; to-day I utter yours. The code of
honor is a delusion and a snare. It palters the hope of a true
courage and binds it at the feet of crafty and cruel skill. It
surrounds its victim with the pomp and grace of the procession,
but leaves him bleeding on the altar. It substitutes cold and
deliberate preparation for courageous and manly impulse, and arms
the one to disarm the other. It may prevent fraud between
practiced duelists — who should be forever without its pale — but it
makes the mere "trick of the weapon" superior to the noblest
cause and the truest courage. Its picture of equality is a lie. It is
equal in all the form, it is unjust in all the substance. The habitue
of arms, the early training, the frontier life, the bloody war, the
sectional custom, the life of leisure, all these are advantages which
no negotiations can neutralize and no courage can overcome.
There was a moral courage and sublimity in it that
has a fadeless lustre, reflected by his glorious death.
Not far from each other-
where Ocean tells its rushing waves
To murmur dirges round their graves —
these two distinguished men will repose in Lone Moun-
tain cemetery until the trump of the Archangel shall
sound and ' 'summon this mortal to put on immortality."
Let their monuments arise to meet the eye of the ocean-
worn exile as he comes near this haven of rest. Let
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 79
them tell the traveler, as the landscape fades from his
sight on leaving our gorgeous land, that "the paths of
glory lead but to the grave. " Let parents of unnumber-
ed generations encourage their children to love that coun-
try for which Baker died — to cherish our Government
and its institutions, which can thus advance the humblest
of her sons. There let them rest, honored for their vir-
tues, respected for their public services, mourned by thou-
sands of all nations now present who will unite with us
in saying ;
How sleep the brave who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes blest !
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Eeturns to deck their hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung.
By forms unseen their dirge is sung ;
There Honor comes, a pilgrim grey.
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ;
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell a weeping hermit there !
Farewell, gallant spirit ! While thy death in trumpet
tones tells us "God only is great," may it increase our
devotion for the Omnipotent Almighty, who out of the dust
could create such a being as thou wast. May it increase
our gratitude that our lot is cast under a government, for
whose preservation you poured out the best blood in
your veins. Though the sad heart-moving words, "earth
to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," have been pro-
nounced over thy earthly remains, yet in your own burn-
ing words — and what more ajopropriate ornament for the
bier of him who earned the title of the " Gray Eagle of Re-
publicanism," than a plume from his own wing, a "feather
that adorned the royal bird and supported his flight?" —
Your thoughts will remain. They will go forward and conquer.
They are gathering now into a stream. They are spreading into a
rushing, boiling and bounding river. They are controlling men's
minds. They are maturing lives. They are kindling men's words.
They are freeing men's souls. And as surely as the great pro-
cession of Heaven's host above us moves each in its appointed place
80 REPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and orbit, so surely shall the j)roud i^rinciples of human right and
freedom prevail.
And hereafter, when the " banner of Freedom streams
proudly to the wind in honor of victory — when peace
o'er the world extends her olive wand" — when the great
and good are remembered, you will not be forgotten.
We will remember the man ''of foreign birth who laid
down his life for the land of his adoption." When the
roll is called of Freedom's great martyrs, your sacrifices,
your fidelity to liberty, will be remembered, and ten
thousand times ten thousand patriot tongues shall say of
you, as it was said of another soldier in another struggle,
''Fallen upon the field of honor."
''But the last word must be spoken, and the imperi-
ous mandate of death must be fulfilled. Patriot- warrior,
farewell ! Thus, oh brave heart ! we leave thee to thy
rest. Thus, surrounded by tens of thousands, we leave
thee to the equal grave. As in life, no other voice among
us so rung its trumpet tones upon the ear of freemen, so
in death its echoes will reverberate amid our mountains
and our valleys, until truth and valor cease to appeal to
the human heart."
^Mxm at §tv. mx0^. Mm pwg,
Delivered at the Grave in Lone Mountain Cemetery,
San Francisco, previous to the Interment of Col.
Baker's Body.
The story of our great friend's life has been eloquent-
ly told. We have borne him now to the home of the
dead, to the Cemetery which, after fit services of prayer,
he devoted in a tender and thrilling speech, to its hallow-
ed purposes. In that address, he said: ''Within these
grounds public reverence and gratitude shall build the
tombs of warriors and statesmen * * * who have given
all their lives and their best thoughts to their country."
Could he forecast, seven years ago, any such fulfillment of
those words as this hour reveals? He confessed the con-
viction before he went into the battle which bereaved us,
ED-^VARD DICKINSON BAKER. 81
that his last hour was near. Could any slight shadow of
his destiny have been thrown across his path, as he stood
here when these grounds were dedicated, and looked over
slopes unfurrowed then by the plowshare of death?
His words were prophetic. Yes, warrior and states-
man, wise in council, graceful and electric as few have
been in speech, ardent and vigorous in debate, but nobler
than for all these qualities by the devotion which promp-
ted thee to give more than thy wisdom, more than thy
energy and weight in the hall of senatorial discussion,
more than the fervor of thy tongue and the fire of thy
eagle eye in the great assemblies of the people — even the
blood of thy indomitable heart — when thy country call-
ed with a cry of peril, — we receive thee with tears and
pride. We find thee dearer than when thou camest to
speak to us in the full tide of life and vigor. Thy wounds
through which th}^ life was poured are not ''dumb
mouths, " but eloquent with the intense and perpetual
appeal of thy soul. We receive thee to ''reverence and
gratitude, " as we lay thee gently to thy sleep ; and we
pledge to thee, not only a monument that shall hold thy
name, but a memorial in the hearts of a grateful people,
so long as the Pacific moans near thy resting-place, and a
fame eminent among the heroes of the Republic so long as
the mountains shall feed the Oregon ! The poet tells us, in
pathetic cadence, that the paths of glory lead but to the
grave. But this is true only in the superficial sense. It is
true that the famous and the obscure, the devoted and the
ignoble, "alike await the inevitable hour." But the path
of true glory does not end in the grave. It passes through
it to larger opportunities of service. Do not believe or
feel that we are burying Edward Baker. A great nature
is a seed. "It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spir-
itual body. " It germinates thus in this world as well as
in the other. Was Warren buried when he fell on the
field of a defeat, pierced through the brain, at the com-
mencement of the Revolution, by a bullet that put the
land in mourning? No ; the monument that has been
raised where his blood reddened the sod, granite though
it be in a hundred courses, is a feeble witness of the per-
6
82 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACTFTC.
manence and influence of his spirit among the American
people. He mounted into literature from the moment
that he fell : he began to move the soul of a great com-
munity ; and part of the principle and enthusiasm of
Massachusetts to-day is clue to his sacrifice, to the pre-
sence of his spirit as a power in the life of the State.
Did Montgomery lose his influence as a force in the
Revolution because he died without victory, on its thresh-
old, pierced with three wounds, before Quebec? Phil-
adelphia was in tears for him, as it has been for our hero ;
his eulogies were uttered by the most eloquent tongues
of America and Britain, and a thrill of his power beats
in the volumes of our history, and runs yet through the
onset of every Irish brigade beneath the American ban-
ner, which he planted on Montreal,
Did Lawrence die when his breath expired in the de-
feat on the sea, after his exclamation, "Don't give up the
ship !" What victorious captain in that naval war shed
forth such power ? Plis spirit soared and touched every
flag on every frigate, to make its red more commanding
and its stars flame brighter ; it went abroad in songs, and
every sailor felt him and feels him now as an inspiration.
God is giving us new heroes to be enthroned w^ith
those of the earlier struggles. Before our greatest vic-
tories come, He gives us, as in former years, names to rally
for, and examples to inflame us with the old and the un-
conquerable fire. Ellsworth, Lyon, Winthrop, Bakerj our
patriots who have fallen in ill-success, will hallow our
new contest, and exert wider influence as spirit-heroes
than over their regiments and battalions, while they shall
ascend to a more tender honor in the nation's memory
and gratitude.
And other avenues of service than those of the earth
are opened for such as he whom we are waiting to lay in
the tomb. "It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, "
saith the Sacred Word. Grod has higher uses for such
spirits. In the Father's house are many mansions ; and
Christ hath prepared the place for all ranks of mortals for
whom he died. The mysteries of the other world are not
revealed. The principles of judgment, the tests of accept -
EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER. 83
ance and of the Supreme eminence are unfolded. Intel-
lect, genius, knowledge, faith, shall be as nothing before
humility, sacrifice, charity. But in the uses of charity
the fiery tongue, the furnished mind, the unquailing heart,
shall have ample opportunities, and ampler than here.
Paul goes to an immense service still as an Apostle ; New-
ton to reflect from grander heavens a vaster light. As
we shut the door of the tomb of genius, let it be with
gratitude to God for its splendor here, and with a hope
for its future that swells our bosom, though its outline be
dim.
And let us not be tempted, in view of the sudden
close of our gifted friend's career, in any sad and skeptical
spirit, to say, ''What shadows w^e are, and what shadows
we pursue!" The soul is not a shadow. The body is.
Genius is not a shadow. It is a substance. Patriotism
is not a shadow. It is light. Great purposes, and the
spirit that counts death nothing in contrast with honor
and the welfare of our country, — these are the witnesses
that man is not a passing vapor, but an immortal spirit.
Husband and father, brother and friend. Senator and
soldier, genius and hero, we give thee, not to the grave
and gloom — we give thee to God, to thy place in the
country's heart, and to the great services that may await
thee in the world of dawn beyond the sunset, with tears,
with affection, with gratitude, and with prayer.
MATTHEW P. DEADY.
^Y JIaI^EY y/. ^COTT,
EDITOB OF "the OBEGONIAN."
The rise of American communities and their forma-
tion into States have given opportunity for the growth
and development of many of our most noted and useful
public men.
The man who has borne a prominent part in establish-
ing one of the States of our American Union, who has
been instrumental in giving direction to its growth and
distinctiveness to its character, and who has largely as-
sisted in infusing a spirit of independence and self-
reliance, as well as a moral and practical progressive
energy into its development — such a man is sure of an
honorable and permanent place in our history. All our
States have those who are thus held in remembrance, and
their history forms a large part of the general history of
the country. To illustrate this, particular names need
not be recounted. Every one who studies the history
of the origin of the several States, readily selects the
individuals whose influence has given them the dis-
tinguishing characteristics which they as communities
possess.
The person who acquaints himself with the history
of Oregon will assign to Judge Deady a leading place
among those who are entitled to be regarded as the repre-
sentative men of the Pacific Coast. A residence of twenty
86 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
years' duration, the greater part of which has been spent
in active participation in the affairs of the Territory and
State, has enabled him to exert a remarkable influence
upon the thought, the habits, the jurisprudence, and the
general interests of this rising commonwealth. Few men
have ever more thoroughly impressed their ideas upon a
large community than he has done. He came to Oregon
at a time when the various elements of society, which
had been drawn together from localities separated widely
from each other by customs as well as by distance, had
met and begun to coalesce; and taking them in this
transition state, he has been largely instrumental in
moulding them into their present form. Possessing
many, though not all, of the qualities necessary for a
leading public character, he has often been able to guide
and direct where he has not had power to absolutely
control. His extensive learning, his ready judgment,
his clear perception of the whole relations of a subject,
with the ability to state his opinions in a consistent and
convincing manner, have always given him influence and
power; and while he is lacking in certain elements of
character which enable some men to achieve a very high
popularity, he possesses those solid qualities which al-
ways command respect, and which, in general, enable
their possessor to make a more enduring impression upon
the public thought than is made by many whose praises
are continually on the popular tongue.
Matthew P. Heady was born May 12, 1824, in Talbot
county, Maryland, nine miles from Easton. He is of
Irish and English extraction. His father was a man of
education, and a schoolmaster by profession. His parents
were married in Baltimore, his mother's native place,
where they mainly resided until the year 1828, when
they removed to Wheeling, Yirginia. Here his father
had charge of the Lancasterian Academy, a public school
conducted upon the monitorial system of the celebrated
English Quaker, Joseph Lancaster, and in this school
Matthew took his first lessons in the '' hornbook and
ferule."
In 1833, the family returned to Baltimore on a visit.
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 87
On the return to Wheeling, Matthew's mother died and
was buried in May, 1834, near Burkettsville, in western
Maryland. Thenceforward, Matthew was thrown for the
most part upon his own resources and impulses for his
progress through the world and the direction of it.
During the summer of 1834, he attended school at
Fredericktown, Maryland. In the autumn of the same
year, he returned to Baltimore and entered his grand-
father's store, where he remained until the spring of
1836, when he returned to his father in Wheeling. Here
he went to school, and was employed in a music store
until 1838, when he removed with his father to Belmont
county, Ohio. There he lived and labored upon his
father's farm for about three years, when he voluntarily
left home and went to Barnesville, Ohio, to learn the
trade of blacksmithing. With the exception of six
months, during which he attended the Barnesville Aca-
demy, he wrought at the anvil for the next four years,
when his engagement with his employer closed. During
this period, he became a skillful mechanic. Besides the
physical development and hardiness which these years
of wholesome labor gave him, he obtained at the same
time a knowledge of men and things in the practical
affairs of life which no amount of mere school culture
could have bestowed.
In this country, where every man must make his own
way to fortune, and where '' self-made men," to adopt a
trite phrase, are the only ones who win position and hold
it, the man whose early life is one of severe struggles,
has, in general, a great advantage over those who might
seem to be more favored by fortune. He who has accus-
tomed himself in early life to meet difficulties and sur-
mount them, acquires a courage and a steadfastness
which will serve him better than any patrimonial estate:
for no Mian, in a country like ours, where competition
is so great, and where continued success depends on ab-
solute merit, can sustain himself for a day after he relaxes
his effort and loses faith in himself. In Troilus and
CressickL^ Ulysses, remonstrating with Achilles for his in-
activity, says;
88 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Perseverance, dear my lord.
Keeps honor bright: To have done, is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery. Take the instant way;
For honor travels in a strait so narrow.
Where one but goes abreast; keep then the path;
For emulation hath a thousand sons
That one by one pursue. If you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide they all rush by.
And leave you hindmost.
Grit and pluck are good words to describe the quali-
ties which are indispensable to every American. And
there is nothing which gives these qualities a better
development than the necessity which compels a man to
obtain a practical knowledge of what labor is, and causes
him to commence to build upon this solid foundation of
all human improvement. Most of our public men have
had preparatory discipline in the school of labor, and
tliis has generally been not the least valuable part of
their education and training for public duty. Such a
beginning is almost necessary to Americanize our public
men. But none except low minds attempt to make par-
ticular merit of it. There has been as much mean dema-
gogism on this point as on almost any other. A great
writer says: ''There is no qualification for public place
but virtue and wisdom, actual or presumptive. Wher-
ever they are found, they have in whatever state, condi-
tion, profession or trade, the passport of Heaven to
human place and honor. Woe to the country that would
madly and impiously reject the service of the talents and
virtues, civil, military or religious, that are given to grace
and serve it; woe to that country, too, that passing into
the opposite extreme, considers a low education, a mean,
contracted view of things, a sordid, mercenary occupa-
tion, as a preferable title to lead and command."
After his apprenticeship closed, Matthew pursued his
studies in an academy six months longer. This was the
end of his school days. He therefore never had the
advantages which a collegiate education would have given
him; but the person who obtains any idea of the extent
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 89
of his learning, the accuracy of his information, his taste
and discrimination in literature, and his knowledge of
matters which are generally learned only in the schools,
would readily suppose that he had prepared the way for
this culture by a thorough course of college study.
But though he had labored patiently and with a steady
purpose for several years in making himself master of a
trade, he did not pursue it further; and after leaving
school, in obedience to that principle which attracts so
many of our young men towards literary instead of
mechanical pursuits and leads them to commence with
the study of the law, he began to apply himself with a
view of acquiring a knowledge of that profession. This
was in the winter of 1845-6, and he w^as now twenty-one
years old. While thus engaged, he had recourse to that
common expedient of our young men who are making their
way in the world — he taught school. He continued the
study of the law with William Kennon, Sr., of St. Clair s-
ville, Ohio, since on the Supreme Bench of that State.
In October, 1847, he was admitted to the bar of the
Supreme Court of Ohio, and practiced law in St. Clairs-
ville until the beginning of the year 1849, when he took
the idea of removing to Oregon. His old friend. Judge
Kennon, had long entertained the project of coming to
the Yalley of Wallamet. In his dreams, here was a spot
^^ like those Hesperian gardens famed of old;" and he in-
spired those about him with his own enthusiasm in regard
to a place so fair and so romantic. About this time, the
discovery of gold in California set all the adventurous
spirits of the country agog for the shores of the Pacific.
Several young men of St. Clairsville made preparations
for the western march, and Mr. Deady, sharing the gene-
ral love for adventure, resolved to join them. They set
out about the beginning of the year 1849, but proceeded
no further in company than Leavenworth. At that place
Mr. Deady joined a Government train and continued with
it as far as Fort Kearney, where he fell in with a Pay-
master of the United States Army, who was coming over
the plains with an escort to Oregon. He joined this
party and reached the Dalles, then the farthest outpost
90 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of Oregon civilization, on the 7th of November, 1849.
His friend, Judge Kennon, who had first directed his
mind hither, never visited Oregon. Mr. Deady had set
out for '^The West" with twenty dollars in his pocket;
and various small debts which he was unable to pay when
he started, he discharged with money which he earned in
teaching school during the winter after his arrival.
In those days, the man who came to Oregon never
considered his journey ended until he had reached
Oregon city. Following the general fashion, Mr. Deady
went to that place, and after a few days' sojourn there,
departed for Yamhill county.
On the plains near Fort Hall, his party had fallen in
w^ith some Yamhill people, and traveled in company with
them for the remainder of the journey. The acquaint-
ance thus formed was the means of leading him to Ore-
gon's historic county, Yamhill. He reached Lafayette,
the capital of that county, and then one of the principal
towns in Oregon, on the 13th December. During the
winter, he had recourse to the old employment of school
teaching.
In 1850, he commenced practicing law, and almost
immediately became well and favorably known. At that
time, and for several years thereafter, Lafayette w^as an
important business point; and Mr. Deady was not a man
to go into such a community and remain unknown and
unnoticed. In the general election in June of tliat year,
though he had been only six months in the Territory, he
was chosen a member of the Lower House of the Oregon
Legislature. He distinguished himself as a member of
the House Judiciary Committee, and the next year (1851)
was elected a member of the Territorial Council. Here
the position of Chairman of the Judiciary Committee
was assigned him. A special session of the Legislature
was held in July, 1852, and the abilities he had already
displayed in that body caused him to be elected President
of the council. Thus he became a " growing man" from
his first appearance in public life ; and from that time his
reputation and influence have been increasing steadily,
as he has had opportunities to make himself known.
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 91
Until 1853, he continued to practice law in Yamhill
county.
He married, in June, 1852, Lucy, eldest daughter of
Robert Henderson, Esq., of Yamhill. Four children
have been born to them, two of whom are now living.
In the spring of 1853, he received his first appoint-
ment to a judicial position, being made an Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Ore-
gon. His colleagues on the bench were Hon. Geo. H.
Williams, Chief Justice, now a United States senator
from Oregon, and Hon. Cyrus Olney, now a resident of
Astoria, and still one of the most active and influential
citizens of the State.
Judge Deady held his first term of Court at Hills-
boro, Washington county, in July, 1853. That county
then included the city of Portland and the present
county of Multnomah. But as he had chosen the
Southern Judicial District of the Territory, comprising
the counties south of Wallamet Yalley, he soon removed
to that section. He took a land claim in Douglas county,
ten miles from Roseburg, and established his residence
thereon. For the next five years, his life was an active
and laborious one. Besides attending to his official
duties, he made a farm, performing a large part of the
labor with his own hands. As a considerable portion
of his time was necessarily passed in comparative quiet
and solitude, he had here a rare opportunity for reading,
reflection, and study; and possessing a small, though
very good collection of authors in law, politics, and lite-
rature, he here gave his mind its permanent cast, and
developed that vigor and breadth of understanding which
he has evinced in his subsequent life. He has thus fur-
nished another proof of the fact that intellectual develop-
ment is best promoted in the midst of labors and in op-
position to difficulties. Such is our nature that in order
to make progress, we demand resistance and opposition.
'^ Difficulty," says Burke, '^ is good for man."
When Judge Deady went to southern Oregon, society
there was in an unsettled state, resulting from the new-
ness of the country, the migratory character of the popu-
92 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
lation, and the various incidents belonging to a com-
munity hitherto almost wholly devoted to mining and its
kindred pursuits. There was much bustle and activity
about the mines and in the principal towns; and for four
or live years there had been a steady trade and inter-
course with the Wallamet Yalley and through the Umpqua
river with California. The people hitherto, as is still the
case in similar communities, had been governed mainly
by their own local laws and regulations. It therefore
devolved on Judge Deady to settle and administer the
general principles of law among them. This necessitated
great diligence and labor, and the exercise of much pa-
tience. He performed his duties with credit to himself
and advantage to that portion of the Territory; and
while he thus did much to give a consistent and per-
manent form to the jurisprudence of Oregon, he greatly
enhanced his own reputation, and grew steadily and
firmly in the confidence of those who knew him.
The subject of a State Government now began to be
agitated. For several years successively it was submitted
to the people of the Territory and rejected by them ; but at
length it was carried, and at the general election in June,
1857, members were chosen to meet in convention for
the purpose of framing a constitution to be submitted
to the people for their adoption or rejection. Judge
Deady was elected a member of this convention from
Douglas county. The members assembled at Salem in
Au9;ust, 1857. The conspicuous abilities of Judge Deady
designated him as the person to be chosen to preside over
the deliberations of the convention. He was therefore
chosen President of that body, and took a leading part
in framing the present constitution of Oregon. The
labor of the convention was mainly performed in the
Committee of the Whole, where he was always on the
floor, participating in the discussions and assisting to give
form to the constitution. Many parts of that instrument
were either suggested by him or modified by his hand.
He procured the insertion of the clause in relation to
suffrage, which requires persons of foreign birth to
declare their intention to become citizens one year before
MATTHEW P. DEADY. . 93
they are allowed to vote, a measure which is necessary
in every State to insure the purity of elections. Others
wished to allow the privilege of suffrage to every person
of foreign birth who had been six months in the State,
immediately upon his declaration of intention to become
a citizen ; a policy which opens a wide door for fraud, as
it offers an inducement to persons to declare their inten-
tion to assume citizenship for the special purpose of
voting, and puts it in the power of politicians to make
use of them on special occasions to exercise an undue
influence in elections. By his efforts, also, the official
terms of Justices of the Supreme Court were made six
years instead of four. In the convention there were
those wdio advocated annual sessions of the Legislature
and the election of the Governor and officers of the
Administrative Department every two years. Judge
Deady advocated biennial sessions of the Legislature and
official tenures for these officers of four years' duration,
and his views were adopted. He was an earnest advo-
cate of those provisions of the constitution which secure
the State against the creation of large indebtedness, pre-
vent the legislature from lending the credit of the State
to any corporation, and prohibit counties, cities, and
towns from subscribing money to corporate bodies, or
creating excessive liabilities. Experience has shown that
for an infant State these are wholesome restrictions. He
opposed those clauses of the constitution which attempt
to prevent the coming of Chinese and persons of African
descent into the State, holding that such attempts to
restrict intercourse were in conflict with the constitution
of the United States ; and it is proper to add that time
has fully sustained his position. To present a statement
of his w^hole agency in forming the constitution of Ore-
gon, it would be necessary to give a review of that en-
tire instrument; a review which would protract this
sketch to a length that would, perhaps, be tedious to the
general reader. After a session of six weeks, the conven-
tion perfected the constitution, adopted it as a whole, sub-
mitted it to the people, and adjourned. On the adjourn-
ment, the President addressed the convention as follows :
94 K REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
^^I congratulate you upon the conclusion of your
labors in so short a time, and with so little consequent
expense to the country. For myself, while objecting to
some of the provisions of this constitution, and looking
to changes in time that will improve it, I accept it as it
is. In reference to the question as to whether we are
prepared to become a State, I have not been so sanguine
as some individuals. Upon the questions of numbers
and wealth, I think we are amply prepared. But a coun-
try requires age and maturity to prepare it to become an
independent State and government. It is for the coun-
try to determine that question. For myself, I am willing
to vote to enter into this new form of government, and
the best reward I can wish you is that your constituents
may approve your labors."
The constitution thus submitted to the people was
adopted by a considerable majority at the next regular
election, which took place in June, 1858.
Judge Deady still held his official position on the
bench in southern Oregon during the years 1857-68.
At the general election in June, 1858 — the first election
held in Oregon for State officers — he was chosen without
opposition as Justice of the Supreme Court for the
Southern District of the State. The tender of this
office by the unanimous vote of the people by whom his
character as a man and qualities as a judge were best
known, was a very flattering testimonial. He did not,
however, accept the position ; for when the State was ad-
mitted into the Union in February, 1859, he was ap-
pointed Justice of the United States District Court for
the District of Oregon. The interval which elapsed be-
tween the surrender of his former position and the as-
sumption of his new duties gave him an opportunity to
visit the Eastern States. His tour extended to Washing-
ton and the principal cities, and enabled him to revisit
his old friends and the scenes of his early life. He re-
turned to Oregon after a tour of a few months, sold his
farm in the Umpqua Valley, and in autumn of 1860 re-
moved to Portland, where he has ever since resided.
He was now in a position which gave his powers :i
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 95
higher and a wider range. Being released from the
merely statutory and mechanical labors which had
hitherto devolved upon him in a judicial station, his
pursuits were now of a nature much more congenial to
his mind. His new position brought him to some extent
within the domain of public and constitutional law; and
on all occasions when his duties have required him to
treat these higher questions, he has accjuitted himself in
an able and successful manner. To the performance of
the duties of his new station, he brought mature intel-
lectual powers, a mind ripened by study and impregnated
with the original principles of jurisprudence, and a judg-
ment thoroughly trained, cultivated, and self-reliant.
Besides his purely legal attainments, he was well-versed
in the multifarious learning which can be made subsidiary
to the uses of a man occupying his position.
In 1860, the Legislature appointed three commission-
ers to prepare a complete Code of Civil Procedure for
Oregon. One of these commis^oners declined to serve,
and Judge Deady was appointed to act in his place. The
other two commissioners bore but a small part in the
work, which was performed almost wholly by Judge
Deady. In 1862, the Code was reported to the Leg-
islature, and so well was it received that only one or
two amendments, and they of trifling importance, were
made in the whole work. The Code was enacted by the
Legislature, and still remains, almost without alteration
from the form in which it was originally adopted, the
Code of Civil Procedure for Oregon.
At the session of 1862, the Legislature appointed
Judge Deady to prepare a Code of Criminal Procedure
for the State, to be reported to the Legislature at the
next biennial session. His appointment to this work
was a mark of approbation for his past labors, and a tes-
timonial of the high confidence that was reposed in hiy
ability for the new task. He prepared the Code, reported
it to the Legislature, and it was passed without amend-
ment. He was in attendance at these two sessions of
the Legislature (1862 and 1864) to explain and settle
any points which might be raised against portions of his
96 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC-
work ; and his success is attested by the manner in which
that body promptly enacted the Codes ahiiost as they
came from his hands. The preparation of these two
works was a very laborious task. To ^x upon and settle
a method for all legal proceedings, to make the work
comprehensive and yet not redundant, and to adapt it to
the wants of the people of a new State whose business
pursuits and general interests required to be fully con-
sidered, was a labor of no small magnitude. That Judge
Deady succeeded well is sufficiently established by the
fact that after an experience of some years no material
changes have been made in the Codes as first reported
by him.
Since 1854, no attempt had been made to arrange
and codify the laws of Oregon. From that time, the
laws had been continually increasing in bulk and in-
tricacy. Each successive Legislature had enacted such
laws as real or imaginary wants, changing purposes or
temporary caprice seemed to require. Some acts were
continually undergoing amendment ; other acts and parts
of acts were as continually being repealed and reenacted,
and additions were steadily making to the body of the
laws. The whole was, of course, in great confusion. It
was extremely difficult to know what the law was, and
the change from a Territorial to a State Government,
with the attempt to continue in force the old laws under
the new regime^ made the confusion and difficulty still
greater. The Legislature resolved to provide a remedy.
In October, 1864, the Governor was authorized to appoint
a Commissioner ^' to collect, in the order and method of a
Code, all the general laws of Oregon in force, under their
appropriate heads, with marginal notes and references, as
also a syllabus of each section at the beginning of each
chapter or title, as the case may be, with a well digested
alphabetical index of the whole." As had been contem-
plated, Judge Deady was appointed to perform this im-
portant work. It necessitated great research and labor,
and employed a large portion of his time for the space
of two years. He personally superintended the passage
of the work through the press, which added largely +o
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 97
the labor of the compilation. A brief extract from the
preface may be given here:
'^ No labor has been spared to make this work what
the Assembly intended — a complete compilation of ' all
the general laws of Oregon,' arranged ^ in the order and
method of a Code.' The reader may. never appreciate
the trouble and dijB&culty involved in the compilation, in
a codified form, of the scattered and oft-amended statutes
of the State and Territory, covering a period of ten years
of almost annual legislation. The change in the nomen-
clature of offices and officers, and the new distribution
of their powers and duties, caused by the transition from
a Territorial to a State Government, made the labor of
compiling the statutes of the former period almost equal
to re-drafting them."
The result of the compiler's labors was a volume of
eleven hundred pages, in which the whole laws of Oregon
were for the first time brought into an accessible and
convenient shape. The compilation was accompanied
with extensive and valuable annotations and references^
and the whole was arranged in a systematic manner,
making probably the most complete volume of the kind
ever published on the Pacific Coast. It does honor to
the name of its compiler and annotator, and " Deady's
Code" has often been spoken of with high favor and
appreciation in places remote from Oregon.
For several years, beginning in 1862, Judge Deady
furnished '' Oregon Correspondence" for the San Fran-
cisco Bulletin. He wrote thirty or forty letters a year, in
which Oregon affairs and current topics generally were
discussed in an original and attractive manner. These
letters did much to bring Oregon into prominent notice
in California and elsewhere. A pressure of official duties
caused the discontinuance of the correspondence in 186 G.
In February, 1867, Judge Deady was called to San
Francisco to hold a term of the United States Circuit
Court, in the absence of Justice Field of the Supreme
Court of the United States. Prior to that time. Judge
Deady had been known in California, but the bench and
the bar of that State, with few exceptions, had no per-
98; REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
sonal acquaintance with him. The duties that devolved
on him in holding this term of Court were of a very
delicate and difficult nature. The celebrated McCall-
McDowell case was to be tried at this term; and it was a
case which, from its nature and the circumstances at-
tending it, had attracted very wide attention. The im-
portance of the case, the interest that attached to it, and
the comment it received, justify in this place a brief
account of its origin and of the trial, together with a
concise statement of the opinion of the Court and the
principles on which that opinion was founded.
McCall was arrested in April, 1865, in an interior
county of California, by order of G-eneral McDowell, for
publicly rejoicing over the assassination of President
Lincoln. Captain Douglas made the arrest. The prisoner
was kept in custody for a short time at Fort Alcatraz, and
then discharged. Some time afterwards, he brought an
action in a California Court for damages against General
McDowell and Captain Douglas, but the case was soon
transferred to the Circuit Court of the United States.
It was tried without a jury. The Court held that as
Captain Douglas had acted under the immediate orders
of General McDowell, he was protected against an action
for damages, and that General McDowell was solely re-
sponsible. The case was heard, and the Court awarded
McCall damages in the sum of six hundred and thirty-
five dollars. These damages were intended to be merely
compensatory; and in rendering the judgment, the Court
took into consideration the number of days the plaintiff
was under arrest, with his loss of time and expenses. It
was stated in the opinion, that the language of McCall
which provoked the arrest was ''gross and incendiary,"
and/' well calculated at that moment of intense public
feeling and anxiety to have brought harm upon the com-
munity." Yet the speaking of the words " was not
technically a crime."
The defence maintained that the act of Congress of
March, 1863, authorizing the President to suspend the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus^ and declaring that
any order by the President for arrest and imprisonmoat
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 99
in the cases specified should be a sufficient defence to
any action for prosecution, together with the Act of May,
1866, to indemnify all persons for any act done during
the rebellion by order of the President or Secretary of
War, afforded General McDowell complete defence against
the prosecution. The plaintiff asserted that these acts
of Congress were unconstitutional and void, and therefore
that they afforded no defence. The Court held that
Congress has power to suspend the privilege of the writ
of habeas corpus^ and in an elaborate argument showed
that the Act of March, 1863, was constitutional and valid.
The President was entrusted with power to enforce this
act, and any order from him within its purview would, by
the terms of the act, have been a good and sufficient
defence to an action. But the Court found that, as a
matter of fact, no order had been issued by the President
to General McDowell to make such arrests, and that the
latter therefore acted solely on his own responsibility in
arresting McCall. The Court accordingly held that this
arrest did not come within the purview of the Act of
March, 1863, and that the proceeding was consequently
without the sanction of law. General McDowell's action
was Tiot taken in obedience to the orders of a superior,
and therefore he could not plead in defence the act of
Congress. '^ The power of arbitrary arrest," says the
opinion, '4s a very dangerous one. In the hands of im-
proper persons, it would be liable to very great abuse.
If every officer throughout the United States during the
suspension of the habeas corpus is authorized to arrest and
imprison whom he will, (as aiders and abetters) without
further orders from the President or those to whom he
has specially committed such authority, the state of
things that would follow can better be imagined than
described."
To protect the liberty of the citizen, and at the same
time to take due care for the public safety, is, in times
of great civil commotion, like those through which we
had just passed, a matter of extreme difficulty for the
persons who are entrusted with the civil and military ad-
ministration. It is clear to everybody now that the arrest
100 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
of such persons as McCall for their expressions of exulta-
tion on the occasion of the assassination of President
Lincoln, was not indispensably necessary for the public
safety ; yet when those arrests were made this fact was
not known. The people were not aware of the extent
of the danger, and in view of what had transpired, it was
natural for them to take alarm when men in all parts of
the country were heard shouting in exultation because
the head of the Government had been struck down by
the hand of an assassin. That such persons should, in
some instances, have been arrested, is not a matter of
surprise. Candid men must allow that under all the
circumstances of that period of suspense, of doubt, of
calamity, of sorrow and of righteous anger, the author-
ities showed singular leniency toward those who so far
forgot what was due to the sense of the country, to their
own honor and to good citizenship, as to express a tur-
bulent joy at the perpetration of so great a crime. But
the Court could not judicially consider these things. It
found that utterances like those which McCall was proven
to have made, however indecent in themselves or how-
ever offensive to a right-thinking community, did not
constitute a crime; therefore, the person using such
language was not liable to arrest or to legal punishment.
That an ofi&cer who had simply arrested such person,
under circumstances like these, without doing him other
injury, ought to be protected against a subsequent action
for damages, most people would probably think proper
and just; but the Court, whose duty it was to declare
and administer the law, had not this option. Judge
Deady evidently felt the weight of considerations like
these, as he remarked in his closing paragraph that,
^'Congress might relieve a meritorious officer against a
loss incurred in the discharge of his duty to the public;
but in this tribunal, whose only function is to administer
the law, the defendant must be held liable for the legal
consequences of his act."
By a large portion of the California press and public,
this opinion was at the time very severely criticised.
Others, however, did it justice, and recognized the un-
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 101
questionable principles of law on which it was founded.
Subsequently, it was generally acknowledged that the
opinion was based on legal principles which could not be
shaken. The ruling of the Court upon the point relating
to the responsibility of officers making such arrests was
virtually recognized as correct by an act of Congress,
passed in March, 1867, declaring that all officers and
other persons making such arrests should be held, prima
fack^ to have acted under the orders of the President.
At the same term of Court, Judge Deady rendered
an opinion relating to the law of copyright, which touches
an important branch of that subject, and strikes a sound
principle in determining what sort of productions ought
to be protected by copyrights and patents, for the use
and benefit of authors and inventors.
Every patent and copyright is in the nature of a
monopoly, and the Constitution and laws of the United
States contemplate that privileges like these shall be
granted only for useful purposes. The language of the
Constitution is that these exclusive rights may be se-
cured to authors and inventors '' to promote the progress
of science and the useful arts." But it would seem that
the practice has gone far beyond the plain intention of
the Constitution, since this protection is granted for
almost every trifle, no matter how simple or common.
Every gimcrack is protected by a patent, and by such
protection large fortunes innumerable have been made;
while many of the most useful discoveries have had no
protection at all under the laws, and the persons making
them, unable to obtain security for their rights, have
lived and died in poverty. The case considered and de-
cided on this occasion, grew out of a controversy about
two dramatic compositions, or rather representations, in
San Francisco. It was claimed that a certain so-called
dramatic composition, known as the Black Rook, was an
imitation or copy of another known as the Black Crook^
which last composition had the priority of copyright.
The person who claimed the exclusive right to exhibit
the Black Crook in the State of California applied for an
injunction to restrain the exhibition of the Black Book,
102 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
It was very clear that one of the plays or spectacles was
a colorable imitation of the other, and the circumstances
tended strongly to show that the Black Crook was the
original, and the Black Rook the imitation or copy. It
appeared, however, that the person claiming the ex-
clusive right to exhibit the Black Crook in California had
no literary property in that so-called composition, as he
was neither the author, assignee, nor donee. How he
had obtained possession of his copy did not appear, but
he could produce no proof of legal ownership. There-
fore he could not enjoin the other party from the use of
the copy known as the Black Rook. To obtain an in- ■
junction preventing another from infringing upon a copy-
right or patent, the person applying for such injunction
must himself have ownership or property in the com-
position or invention, or stand in the relation of agent
or attorney of the owner. As the person who was ex-
hibiting the Black Crook could produce no evidence of
ownership or legal interest in the play, his application
for an injunction against his rivals was denied. In-
cidentally, the Court remarked that it was question-
able whether such productions as these two plays were
legally entitled to copyright. The laws require of dra-
matic compositions that, to entitle them to copyright,
they shall be " suited for public representation." As
such exhibitions as those which on this occasion had
carried their controversy into Court, promote neither
^' the progress of science nor the useful arts," it would
clearly appear that it is not within the constitutional
power of Congress to encourage their production, and
that they ought not to have the protection of the law
of copyrights. Both plays were in fact little else than
lascivious spectacles ; and while the Court did not pre-
tend to be the conservator of morals in this respect —
rightly declaring that the regulation of such matters is
the business of the local Legislatures — it asserted that
the protection of such exhibitions is not one of the ob-
jects intended to be secured under the Constitution and
laws. This is a sound principle. It is clearly the intent
of the laws that exclusive privileges should be granted
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 103
to authors and inventors for useful purposes only. It
degrades this high constitutional power to invoke it to
protect frivolous discoveries and meretricious exhibitions.
In the Avery-Bigler case, which the Court considered
and passed upon at this term, there was a general dis-
cussion of the subject of official tenures under the Fed-
eral Constitution and laws, and of the power to make
removals from office. This case also attracted very gen-
eral attention, not only in California but throughout the
whole country, and did much to hasten the passage of
the Tenure-of-Office Act by Congress. In his opinion,
Judge Deady made a very clear exposition of the con-
stitutional principles which govern appointments and
removals, and thus elucidated a subject which, a short
time afterwards, became a matter of very general dis-
cussion through the public press and among politicians.
His conduct and ability on the bench were highly
approved by the able bar of San Francisco. It was the
first time the members of that bar had had opportunity
to become well acquainted with him; and after the term
had closed, they testified their appreciation of his abilities
and their respect for his character in the following pre-
amble . and resolution, adopted ''at a meeting of the
members of the bar practicing in the United States
Courts," and presented by the Honorable Thompson
Campbell:
Whereas, the Honorable M. P. Deady, United States District
Judge for the District of Oregon, has. by the allotment of the United
States Supreme Court, presided over the United States Circuit Court
for the District of California during the present term, and for the
first time been brought into contact with the members of the Cali-
fornia bar; therefore be it
Resolved, That upon Judge Deady's departure from aniong us
to return to his own District, the members of the bar of California
desire to express their thanks to him for the cheerfulness and readi-
ness which he has exhibited in the disposal of a large nuraber of
important cases, and that they must bear testimony to the judicial
courtesy, ability, and learning with which he has performed his
judicial duties, and has won for himself the respect, esteem, and
confidence not only of ourselves, but of the public.
Thompson Campbell, Chairman.
Geoege E. Whitney, Secretary. ^
San Francisco, April 26th, 1867.
104 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Almost the whole of Judge Deady's time is now taken
up with his official duties. His labors in his own District
have been steadily increasing for several years, and he
devotes himself to his work with unceasing application.
He never contents himself with a partial investigation
or exposition of a subject. During the last five years,
he has written and published, in the course of his official
duties, elaborate opinions on a great variety of legal
subjects, and his pen is now extensively employed in this
way.
He was called to San Francisco again in February,
1868, to hold another term of the United States Circuit
Court. It will be sufficient to say that on this occasion
he sustained the reputation he had before established.
Judge Deady is a close observer of all passing events.
Nothing escapes his attention. It is not too much to
say that he is regarded as an authority in Oregon affairs,
and that his opinions on public questions are consulted
and treated with respect by the people of his State. He
never attempted to acquire the art of extemporaneous
public speaking. His mental constitution and habits are
not such as would lead him to engage in it, or enable
him to be successful before popular assemblages. He is
too much like the man that Antony professed to be —
that is, '^a plain, blunt man," who '' speaks right on."
He has no patience with small expedients and temporary
fetches. But though he is not a man who is likely to
acquire a showy and noisy popularity, he will always
command public respect ; and it is well, known to those
who know him intimately that no man more fully sym-
pathizes with popular progress. In his estimates of men.
he is chai-itable and generous, and for all young men he
has words of encouragement. His political views are
thoroughly national, and he believes with Marshall and
Jackson that the Constitution of the United States forms
a Grovernment, and that it confers powers enough to con-
stitute and maintain a nation. His mind is deeply im-
bued with the philosophy of history, and readily seizes
upon the principles which underlie great political and
social movements. His erudition is not merely of the
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 105
showy kind, but it is discriminating, far-reaching, and
comprehensive. His proper place is a judicial position,
and it may be truly said that he is a man who has found
his ''sphere" in life. All admit that as a jurist he
deservedly holds a high rank. He has explored the
original sources of legal learning, and traced the many
streams from their fountains to their confluence and ex-
pansion into the great system which forms the body of
our jurisprudence. He is not slavishly attached to old
forms; on the contrary, he has done much to eliminate
useless rubbish of this sort from the jurisprudence of
Oregon. But he has a genuine attachment and even en-
thusiasm for the simple and liberal spirit of the element-
ary principles of the common law. He has done much
to promote a study of this system and inculcate a respect
and reverence for it. The tendency of his mind in this
regard cannot be better shown than by a paragraph or
two from an address delivered by him in 1866 before the
Portland Law Association, a society of young lawyers in
the city where he resides:
I urge you not to remain satisfied with such a knowledge as may
be gleaned from the modern codes and practice reports. Now, in
the freshness and -vigor of youth, turn your faces to the past and ex-
plore the fields of the common law. As you become conversant
with its history, imbued with its spirit, and familiar with its terms
and expressions, this will become a labor of love, and a permanent
source of profit and delight. It will enlarge your understandings
and enrich your minds. Get learning first, and riches afterwards.
Most of the great cases, which have arisen in the courts of the
United States, have involved piinciples and the application of rules
which had their root and origin far back in the life of the common
law. Without a thorough knowledge and familiarity with these, the
great advocates, who won imperishable fame in the trial of these
causes, would have been comparatively unknovvm as lawj^ers, however
great and commanding their native ability.
One word more. Now-a-days, it is the fashion in some quarters
to sneer at the common law, as a relic of feudalismand barbarism, and
to point to the ci^dl law as the proper source from whence to draw
the jurisprudence of a highly civilized and refined people. But I
caution you to beware of this spirit, and be not persuaded by it. I
admit that the civil law is a great system, and the outgrowth of a great
people. Upon the subject of contracts and kindred matters, most
prominent in a purely commercial age, it furnishes a refined and en-
lightened rule of construction and enforcement. As the people who
106 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
have the common law for their inheritance, both in England and
America, have become devoted to commerce, and increased in
wealth and luxury, they have gradually enriched their jurispru-
dence by assimilations from the civil code. But the law of the
Roman Empire is not conducive as a whole to the preservation of
personal freedom and independence. It knows nothing of a free
representative government, in which the people are continually
trained to deliberate upon the public affairs and assist in the admin-
istration of the laws. Its principles, procedure and spirit are best
adapted to a condition of things, where society is divided into an
Emperor and his subjects — the former having an unlimited power
of command, and the other only the duty of blind and unquestion-
ing obedience. It knows no authority paramount to the will of the
prince.
The laws of a people react upon them, and mould their charac-
ter and opinions. The common law people — the English race-
wherever they go, establish limited governments, with Parliaments
and juries; but the people of the civil law — the Latin race — always
come under some modification of the empire, in which the will of
the prince, emperor or chieftain, is the only and supreme law.
In so far, then, as we discard the fundamental principles of the
common law and adopt those of the civil, we are paving the way for
the political and social condition of the Eoman Empire, in the age
of the Caesars — both good and bad. Probably this is the innate
tendency and inevitable result of our Republic, with our diversified
and agglomerated population and ever-widening territory.
But be this as it may, the common law is the source and panoply
of all those features of our system which distinguish us from the
subjects of absolute governments, ancient or modern, either by mon-
archs or majorities. It was made by freemen for freemen, and so
long as you think these distinctions between it and the civil law
worth preserving, you should cherish it in private, and exalt it in
public.
As a writer, Judge Deady is ready, correct, and
forcible, and the power of his pen is acknowledged by
all who are acquainted with its productions. Nor are his
best efforts in composition confined altogether to the
^^ more weighty matters of the law." A single illustra-
tion of his readiness and spirit as a writer may be given.
In October, 1864, he was attending the session of the
Legislature, then engaged in considering and passing the
Code of Criminal Procedure, reported by him. The news
of the death of General Russell, then lately killed in
battle under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, had
just reached Salem. Russell before the war had been
stationed in Oregon, and had many friends and acquaint-
MATTHEW P. DEADY. 107
ances in that State. A member of the Assembly intro-
duced a series of resolutions eulogistic of the deceased
and commemorative of his life and services. The resolu-
tions were pitched on a high key, and among other things
the expression in Measure for Measure^ '^ to lie in cold ob-
struction/' was quoted. Some prosy wags took hold of
the resolutions, and were disposed to laugh them down
as hifalutin. At the request of their author, Judge Deady
wrote and published as editorial the following brief article
in the Daily Statesman of the 6th October. It is pre-
sented here as a fair specimen of his off-hand composi-
tion:
IN MEMORIAM.
The Assembly has before it a joint resolution to the memory of
the late General Eussell, long commander at Fort Yamhill, and
lately killed in battle under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. A
printed copy of the resolution lies before us. "We rather like it.
As befits the occasion, it has the ring of the trumpet and a touch of
true poetic fire. When a generous people desire "to honor the
patriot dead," or "to encourage their gallant living," their language
should rise above the prosy platitudes of a constable's writ, or an
inventory of goods and chattels. Cold chronology or genealogy
may properly speak of George Washington as an individual who was
born, lived, and died in America, and came to be President of the
United States. But the orator, the poet, and the painter, seeing in
him a model and a mark for his countrymen in all ages, hallow him
by the power of genius, and make him the "Father of his Coun-
try^" — "First in war, fiirst in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen."
If you would have men die for their country, remember those
who thus die. Let the memorial of the brave departed be such as
to warm the hearts and elevate the aspirations of those who come
after them. The dream of obtaining a monument among the illus-
trious dead of Westminster Abbey has done more to maintain the
dominion, prowess, and prosperity of England than all the gold of
her commerce, twice told and repeated.
Thus Rome deified the dead and inspired the living, until, with
-brave Horatius^
The captain of the gate,
a Roman was ever ready to sacrifice himself for his country^ ex-
claiming:
How can a man die better
Than by facing fearful odds.
For the ashes of his fathers.
And the temples of his gods ?
108 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The resolution is couched in the language of eulogy, and so it
should be. This is no time to stop to count the spots on the sun,
but to paint the radiant orb in full light. Let all that is mortal
of our countryman "lie in cold obstruction," but let our memorial
be not only worthy of his death and the cause he gave his life for,
but a peerless crown, to be worn again by the living, now and to
come.
Judge Deady is thoroughly an Oregon man. He
takes pride in his State, and believes in asserting her
dignity and maintaining her importance as an independ-
ent community. The subjoined extract from an article
which he wrote for a leading New England publication
in the year 1867, furnishes some illustration of this:
As a people, we are much inclined to be satisfied with our own
approval, and are not disposed to count or feed voraciously upon the
applause of the outside world. Conscious of being in the possession
of the best country and climate on the continent of America, and
not wishing to "sell out," upon any terms short of a billet for "that
better land," we are quite indifferent about advertising ourselves or
our belongings. Unlike some of our speculative neighbors, we are
not at all anxious to get rid of our bargain, or failing in this, to in-
duce others to come forward and share our lot. But mistake me not.
If any good folk see proper, without provocation or temptation upon
our part, to visit or migrate to this modern Goshen of ours, we will
welcome them in a plain way, and mayhap love and trust them when
we have tried them and found them to our liking. More than this
our amour propre will not allow.
And now, having offered meet incense to our proud provincialism,
I may as well admit that lean see no harm, but haply some good, in
giving you far off New Englanders an occasional reminder that our
" lines are cast in pleasant places," and that here in the valley of the
Wallamet, and in the gorges and glens of its two enclosing and pro-
tecting mountain ranges, is growing slowly and surely the seat of
future empire and wealth. Excuse me if I draw it mild, and write
with the brake hard down. I dare not be as eulogistic as I might.
I do not wish to make you discontented with your lot. However
you may now regret it, you are not to blame because the Mayflower
was driven by adverse fortune to land your amiable ancestors upon
Cape Cod, while this country might have been had for the taking.
Nevertheless, it seems probable that at no distant day the prolific
Paddy will, by sheer increase of numbers, compel you frigid people
to relaunch the ark of your progenitors and voyage forth to seek a
new location for the Yankee nation. In such an event, the mistake
of the Mayflower may be corrected. The adventurous Angles and
Northmen, you know, tarried in the north of Europe for generations
before they found their final home on the island of Britain. When
your penates and pumpkin seeds are all safely on board and under
MATTHEW P. DEADY.
the hatches, give your Palinurus sailing directions for the coast of
Oregon. Once here, where wood and iron, wool and water-power
are both indigenous and inexhaustible, you will find an admirable
opening for the use of your national talents, both constructive and
destructive.
The physical constitution of Judge Deady is remark-
ably good. His figure is large, well proportioned, and
fully developed. He is now in middle life, and it may
reasonably be expected that he has before him many
years more of activity and usefulness.
JUNIPERO SERRA.
^F^M THE ^LTA pALIFOI^NIA, OF pCT. 3 1ST, 1862.
JUNIPERO Serra, the founder of the Missions which
were the first settlements of civilized man in Califor-
nia, was born on the Island of Majorca, part of the king-
dom of Spain, on the 24th of November, 1713. At the
age of sixteen, he became a Monk of the order of St.
Francis, and the new name of Junipero was then substi-
tuted for his baptismal name of Miguel Jose.
After entering the convent, he went through a col-
legiate course of study, and before he had received the
degree of Doctor, was appointed lecturer upon phi-
losophy. He became a noted preacher, and was frequent-
ly invited to visit the larger towns of his native Island
in that capacity. Junipero was thirty-six years of age
when he determined to become a missionary in the New
World. In 1749, he crossed the ocean in company with a
number of brother Franciscan Monks, among them sev-
eral who afterwards came with him to California. He
remained but a short time in the city of Mexico, and was
soon sent a Missionary to the Indians in the Sierra Madre,
in the district now known as the State of San Luis
Potosi. He spent nine years there, and then returned
to the city of Mexico, where he stayed for seven years,
in the convent of San Fernando.
In 1767, when he was fifty-four years of age, he was
appointed to the charge of the Missions to be established
in Upper California. He arrived at San Diego in 1769,
and with the exception of one journey to Mexico, he
spent all the remainder of his life here. He died at the
Mission of Carmel, near Monterey, on the 28th of August,
1784, aged seventy-one years. Our knowledge of his
112 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
character is derived almost exclusively from his biogra-
phy by Palou, who was also a native of Majorca, a broth-
er Franciscan Monk, had been his disciple, came across
the Atlantic with him, was his associate in the College of
San Fernando," his companion in the expedition to Cal-
ifornia, his successor in the Presidency of the Mission of
Old California, his subordinate afterward in New Califor-
nia, his attendant at his death-bed, and his nearest friend
for forty years or more. Under the circumstances, Palou
had a right to record the life of his preceptor and supe-
rior. Junipero Serra, as we ascertain his character di-
rectly and inferentially in his biography, was a man to
whom his religion was everything. All his actions were
governed by the ever present and predominant idea that
life is a brief probation, trembling between eternal per-
dition on the one side, and salvation on the other. Earth,
for its own sake, had no joys for him. His soul did not
recognize this life as its home. He turned with dislike
from nearly all those sources of pleasure in which the
polished society of our age delights. As a Monk he had,
in boyhood, renounced the joys of love, and the attrac-
tions of woman's society. The conversation of his own
sex was not a source of amusement. He was habitually
serious. Laughter was inconsistent with the terrible
responsibilities of this probationary existence. ISTot a
joke or a jovial action is recorded of him. He delighted
in no joyous books. Art or poetry never served to sharp-
en his wits, lighten his spirits or solace his weary mo-
ments. The sweet devotional poems of Fray Luis de
Leon, and the delicate humor of Cervantes, notwithstand-
ing the perfect piety of both, were equally strange to him.
He knew nothing of the science and philosophy which
threw all enlightened nations into fermentation a hun-
dred years ago. The rights of man and the birth of
chemistry did not withdraw his fixed gaze from the other
world, which formed the constant subject of his contem-
plation. It was not sufficient for him to abstain from posi-
tive pleasure ; he considered it his duty to inflict upon
himself bitter pain. He ate little, avoided meat and
wine, preferred fruit and fish, never complained of the
quality of his food, nor sought to have it more savory.
JUNIPERO SERRA. 113
He often lashed himself with ropes, sometimes of wire ;
he was in the habit of beating himself in the breast with
stones, and at times he put a burning torch to his breast.
These things he did while preaching or at the close of his
sermons, his purpose being, as his biographer says, ''not
only to punish himself, but also to move his auditory to
penitence for their own sins." We translate the follow-
ing incident which occurred during a sermon which he
delivered in Mexico, — the precise date and place are not
given. Imitating his devout San Francisco Solano, he drew
out a chain and letting his habit fall below his shoulders,
after having exhorted his auditory to penance, he began
to beat himself so cruelly that all the spectators were
moved to tears, and one man rising up from among them,
went with all haste to the pulpit and took the chain from
the penitent father, came down with it to the platform of
the presbiterio, and following the example of the vener-
able preacher, he bared himself to the waist and began to
do public penance, saying, with tears and sobs, ''I am the
sinner, ungrateful to God, who ought to do penance for
my many sins, and not the father who is a saint." So
cruel and pitiless were the blows, that, in the sight of all
the people, he fell down, they supposing him to be dead.
The last unction and sacrament were administered to him
there, and soon after that he died. We may believe with
pious faith, that his soul is enjoying the presence of God.
Serra and his biographer did not receive the Protestant
doctrine, that there have been no miracles since the apos-
tolic age. They imagined that the power possessed by
the chief disciples of Jesus had been inherited by the
Catholic priests of their time, and they saw wonders where
their contemporary clergymen, like Conyers, Middleton,
and Priestly, saw nothing save natural mistakes. Palou
records the following story, with unquestioning faith : —
When Serra was traveling with a party of missionaries
through the province of Huasteca, in Mexico, many of
the villagers did not go to hear the word of God at the
first village where they stopped ; but scarcely had the
fathers left the place when it was visited by an epi-
demic, which carried away sixty villagers, all of whom, as
114 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the curate of the place wrote to the reverend father Juni-
pero, were persons who had not gone to hear the mis-
sionaries. The rumor of the epidemic having gone abroad,
the people in other villages were dissatisfied with their
curates for admitting the missionaries ; but when they
heard that only those died who did not listen to the ser-
mon, they became very punctual, not only the villagers
but the country people dwelling upon ranches many
leagues distant. Their apostolic labors having been fin-
ished, they were upon their way back, and at the end of a
few days' journey, when the sun was about to set, they
knew not where to spend the night, and considered it cer-
tain that they must sleep upon the open plain. They
were thinking about this when they saw near the road a
house, whither they went and solicited lodging. They
found a venerable man, with his wife and child, who re-
ceived them with much kindness and attention, and gave
them supper. . In the morning the Fathers thanked their
hosts, and taking leave, pursued their way. After hav-
ing gone a little distance, they met some muleteers, who
asked them where they had passed the night. When the
place was described, the muleteers declared there was no
house or ranch near the road or within many leagues.
The missionaries attributed to Divine Providence the
favor of that hospitality, and believed without doubt that
those hosts were Jesus, Mary and Joseph, reflecting not
only about the order and cleanness of the house (though
poor,) and the affectionate kindness with which they had
been received, but also about the extraordinary internal
consolation which their hearts had felt there. Serra's
religious conviction found in him a congenial mental con-
stitution. He was even-tempered, temperate, obedient,
zealous, kindly in speech, humble and quiet. His cowl
covered neither greed, guile, hypocrisy, nor pride. He
had no quarrels and made no enemies. He sought to be
11 monk, and he was one in sincerity. Probably few have
approached nearer to the ideal perfection of a monkish life
than he. Even those who think that he made great mis-
takes of judgment in regard to the nature of existence
and the duties of man to society, must admire his earn-
est, honest and good character.
GEORGE GORDON
ONE of the most able and useful citizens of California,
from 1849 to 1869, was George Gordon, who died so
recently as May 22d in the latter year, aged about 60.
He was a man of great practical sagacity and enterprise,
and joined to an original mind, strengthened by varied
culture and observation, much public spirit and energy
of will. Few men have so directly contributed to build
up San Francisco, or have taken so large a share in
advancing its material interests. Mr. Gordon was a
Scotchman, and one of the best examples of his vigorous,
thoughtful and thrifty race. He came to California in
1849, leading the first company through from New York
by the Nicaragua transit route, and bringing at the same
time, by the vessel which he chartered, a cargo of lumber.
He published a description of this route and his trip,
which was marked by his usual graphic power as a writer.
On his arrival in this city he immediately engaged in me-
chanical and mercantile pursuits. In 1850, he built
Howison's Pier, one of the earliest wharves. In 1852, he
erected the first block of iron buildings, on Front street,
between Clay and Washington. In 1851, he had formed
a partnership with Mr. Steen, and the firm established the
third iron foundry in the city. Not long after this he
bought six 100-vara lots in a body, bounded by Second,
Third, Bryant and Brannan Streets, and laid out South
Park, the first attempt to establish urban recreation
grounds. It was not so successful as he had expected,
pecuniarily, although it was eventually surrounded by
116 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
buildings, and is still very attractively cultivated as a
private park. In 1857, he founded the San Francisco
and Pacific Sugar Refinery, and was a principal owner and
manager in it at the time of his death. This enterprise
created a business which has since assumed very large
proportions and become one of the leading manufacturing
interests of the State. Mr. Gordon took some steps to
introduce beet sugar making, and made researches on the
subject during a visit to Europe, which suggested a series
of interesting publications. His plan was abandoned
for some reason, but the new industry was undertaken
by others and has since been put in successful operation.
He was always anxious to suggest or encourage new
industries, and wrote and spoke frequently in behalf of
such, displaying much ability as a political economist and
a writer. During nearly the whole period of his active
life in San Francisco, he contributed, at frequent inter-
vals, to the leading newspapers, articles over his own
name, treating on a variety of topics of practical interest,
on which his well-informed mind and clear, logical method
of statement always threw light. In reference to the
once famous bulkhead question, he wrote a series of
remarkably able articles. A powerful effort was being
made to give the improvement and control of the whole
city front into the hands of a few individuals, and the
impolicy of this proposition was strikingly shown by the
facts and arguments of Mr. Grordon. In 1859, he wrote
a series of articles relative to taxing mortgages, which
were admitted to be the ablest publications on that sub-
ject. He also furnished to the press many valuable
communications on the subject of street grades, advanc-
ing views of controlling force. On the occurrence of the
great earthquake, in October, 1868, he published a plan
of building for protection against such shocks, which was
the most striking and practicable of all the suggestions
on that subject, and which has in some instances been
adopted by builders. He took a leading part in organiz-
ing the Earthquake Committee, which has been engaged
for some months past in investigating the phenomena
and effects of earthquakes, and the methods of protective
GEORGE GORDON. 117
architecture. He would have framed the report of this
Committee but for his sickness and death. The loss of
such a suggestive and earnest mind to a young State was
justly regarded as an unusual one, and caused a feeling
of profound regret throughout the city, where he was
best known and appreciated. The Chamber of Commerce,
of which he was an active and influential member, did
honor to his memory in a series of resolutions aptly
characterizing" his merits, and attended his funeral in a
body. The British Benevolent and St. Andrew's Socie-
ties, of which he was also a member, gave similar evidences
of esteem. Two hundred and fifty of his workmen passed
resolutions of respect, and joined the long procession of
dignitaries and citizens that followed him to his grave.
He belonged to the same class of creating and leading
minds as Wilson Flint and Capt. Osborn, who went before
him. Like them, he was interested in everything likely
to promote the manufacturing, commercial and agricul-
tural interests of the State, and applied his fortune and
his pen liberally in the direction of his opinions. As
was said of him by R. B. Swain, at the Chamber of
Commerce meeting, he combined the qualities of a suc-
cessful business man with high attainments in literature,
a rare mechanical skill, a cultivated taste in art, and a
general knowledge of science. With a disposition to
theorize and suggest, he yet had the capacity to apply
practically his theories and the disposition to work out
his ideas. Indeed, he was too hard a worker, and laid
the foundations of the disease which carried him off by
excessive labor and application.
fmavfes fit ^mp ^axAm,
At the Oriental Hotel, San Francisco, upon the occasion
OF the Celebrating of the Centennial Anniversary of
THE Birth-day of Robert Burns.
This day one hundred years ago, a small house stood
on the roadside near the town of Ayre ; it was in a newly
planted market garden of some six or seven acres; the
118 REPRESENTRTIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
land was leased by a thrifty, hard working, newly mar-
ried, north Scotsman. The humble cottage had been
built by his own hands; love and poverty furnished it,
and in it, one day, a century ago, the young wife bore
the gardener a son. To her side the rustic mother fond-
ly nestled her first born, and the grave husbandman with
love and pride bent over them both; few things could
have increased their pleasure. But little did they think
that when a hundred years had passed, that day, that
cottage, and they themselves, would be celebrated all
over the world, because of that new born boy. Yes, so
it is: that day was January 25th, 1759. The boy was
Robert Burns, the peasant poet of Scotland, the chief
bard of a land of song.
The father of the boy appears to have been one of a
class of which our country is justly proud. A man of
tireless industry, unwearied perseverance, inflexible integ-
rity, independent in spirit, with a heart deeply devotional
before his Maker, though perhaps not abounding in char-
ity in matters of opinion, economical almost to parsimony
of comforts to himself, but liberal almost beyond his
means to educate his children. He was poor even, for a
small Scottish farmer of those days. As his family in-
creased, he took a farm at a rent of £40 a year. ''It was
the very poorest soil," says Gilbert Burns, ''I know of in
a state of cultivation." He was not successful. Adver-
sity, like a black shadow, followed the good man's steps
— followed his young brood on to the sterile farm. The
crops failed, the cattle died. The dark night was upon
him and his little ones. I know nothing more touching
than the recital of Gilbert Burns. ''To the bufietings of
misfortune we could only oppose hard labor and the most
rigid economy. We lived sparingly. For several years
butchers' meat was a stranger in the house. Every
member of the family worked on the farm to the utmost
of their strength. My brother (our poet) at the age of
thirteen, assisted to thresh the crop, and at fifteen was
principal laborer on the farm; for we had no hired ser-
vant, male or female. The anguish of mind we felt at
our tender years, under these straits and difficulties, was
GEORGE GORDON. 119
very great." And Robert says, in a letter to Dr. Moore,
"My father's master died, and we fell into the hands of a
factor ; my indignation yet boils at the scoundrel's
insolent threatening letters, which used to set us all in
tears."
Brave old father, brave boys! they toiled well and no-
bly — but it was bitter toil ; and hard struggles had they
to bar the door on the wolf that snarled at their lintels
for many a year ; begrudging them the poor morsels that
kept soul and body together, and the few clothes that
covered them. After awhile the old man took another
farm, on which the family seems to have done better; but
after several years, having no written lease, a dispute
arose with the owner, which resulted in the ruin of the
occupant. The old man lived to know he was ruined:
but he escaped the consequent execution. Death shel-
tered him.
Such were the scenes amongst which the youthful
poet first felt within him the stirrings of the mighty
spirit which "wakes to ecstacy the living lyre." Hardly
fed — for even at twenty-two, when his condition had im-
proved, and he had so risen in the world as to be learning
a trade as a flax dresser, we find him lodging at a shill-
ing a week, and writing to his father to say "that his
meal was nearly out." We have no doubt porridge and
oat cake formed the staples of his banquets. Poorly
clothed — for when on the farm he speaks of his "clout-
erly ploughboy carcase, bare at both extremes in all
weathers," — head regardless of bonnet, feet disdainful of
sho«s — with but few books, and not more than a sound
country education, and borne down by continual poverty;
we cannot but wonder how first was kindJed within him
that glorious fervor of feeling, which, after smouldering
in his bosom for awhile, burst out in strains of a pathos
so sweet, a humor so exquisite, of a spirit so fiery, so in-
spiring and exuberant — free as the wind sweeping through
his native heather, tender as twilight of the summer eve.
What fed the passionate emotions of his soul, and gave
them that overmastering strength which in after years
developed itself in deathless song? Whence came that
120 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
tumultuous love of his^ that soft well-spring of gentleness,
that delicate glow of fancy, that high range of thought,
that buoyant wealth of fun, that instant perception of
the beautiful, the ludicrous, the sombre and the grand;
and that wondrous power of change, which sent every
varying sensation and perception sweeping through his
mind — from whence he scattered them, like showers of
diamond dust, through his poems ?
Whence came they? Ask of Him who made the dia-
mond and the sandstone — the gorgeous flower and the
humble grass — the stars and the clouds. It was as if the
Espiritu Santu of the torrid zone, magnificent in foliage,
and superb in its flower with the dovelike petal, had
been transplanted to the miserable northern soil of that
hungry farm, and had there taken strange root, and be-
come invigorated and imbued by northern force and
freedom, had been fed and not killed by their stormy
blasts; and while it retained the luxuriance and bloom
of its native tropics, caught the rugged strength and en-
ergy of its new home, growing amongst its bleak rocks
and on its thin soil a thing of power and beauty — a liv-
ing exponent of the deep and passionate impulses which
slumber in the grave and practical hearts of Scotland.
From the age of sixteen until his twenty-sixth year,
when his first volume was published under the modest
title of ^' Poems Chiefly Scottish," we find him with hardy
industry turning his hand to various labor; the plow,
the scythe and the flail, at which he had few equals and
feared no competitors, always stood between him and
want. His leisure, he intended to devote with hearty
good will to the acquisition of useful information ; but
his practical resolutions were forever upset, by the way-
ward impulses of the imprisoned spirit within him.
Worldly motives prompted him to walk steadily in paths
of routine ; but he was irresistibly lifted off his feet by
the wings of song, which were unconsciously growing
out of his soul. Prudence called him to the affairs of
life — inspiration swept him into the regions of imagina-
tion. There was a continual struggle between his sense
of duty and an overwhelming effluence which flooded his
GEORGE GORDON. 121
mind. He walked through a bleak, sterile glen ; hard
toiling, poorly fed, scantily clothed ; with clouds lower-
ing above him, and chilly blasts around him, but all
ablaze within. The light would burst through • and it
illumed the cold glen, and gilded the rocks, and set the
very clouds aglow.
During these years, Burns was frequently subject to
fits of profound melancholy. This phenomenon is a very
usual accompaniment of the northern imagination. It is
the mist which ever and anon envelopes the rugged grand-
eur of its form — the relapse consequent upon states of
high mental exhilaration — the harp, unstrung after it has
been intensely strained, and widely swept. Whether
this melancholy was a consequence, or a cause, of the
exquisite tenderness of the muse of Burns, we will not
inquire ; but they were intimately connected. As the
mist condenses, and waters the grass and floAvers on the
mountain side, softening and freshening their beauty ;
the melancholy of the poet bathes the imagery of his
songs with touching grace and gentleness. These dark
spells give the minstrelsy of Burns that intermittent
character, which distinguishes innate and heaven-bestowed
genius from mere educational and acquired dexterity.
They come like mighty frosts, congealing the outward
issues of his song, but leaving the hidden springs open.
The visible current disappears, but the waters accumu-
late within. By and by, something occurs which sets
them seething as in a cauldron. His passions as he him-
self says, would rage like so many devils, until they
found vent in song. Internal heat thaws the mute and
frozen channels, and away dart the pent-up waters, spark-
ling and alive ; dashing with vivid force and glistening
with every color under heaven.
About his twenty-sixth year, he collected and pub-
lished his first volume of poems, which left him a moder-
ate profit, but did not improve his circumstances. He
became very poor — ^'Hungry ruin had him in the wind"
— and despairing of better days at home, had all but em-
barked to the West Indies as overseer of an estate there.
Fortunately his friends interposed, and he was enabled to
122 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
visit Edinburgh, where his fame amongst the reading cir-
cles had preceded him. Here he got amongst ''souls of
a finer mould/' published a second edition of his poems,
took a tour through some portions of Scotland, and after
six months of absence, invested with a growing fame,
and a good deal improved in a pecuniary sense, he return-
ed home to his mother and sisters, at Mossgiel, to bless
them with his little affluence, and make them happy in
his honorable renown.
There is a fine moral beauty in the faithful tenderness
displayed by Burns to his mother and family. The in-
cense of the world did not intoxicate him. His head
turned to his old home. He lighted it with his fame, and
succored it with his savings. Let us imitate our national
bard, and aye think of the old home ! If, in the race of
life, we have won worldly gear, let us share our blessings
with those loving hearts who tenderly nourished us when
we had none but them to shield our helplessness. Kow
has come the day of reciprocation. Now debtors, we
can discharge in part that early debt, to which we owe
our being and our success, with its long arrear of interest.
Now men, rejoicing in our strength, let us be all the world
to those dear hearts, who were once all the world to us ;
and sanctify our manhood with our earliest loves. Let us
not forget ; lest when we are old and feeble, our own
loved little ones, working out the justice of God, leave us
forsaken. If we can mingle our love and our abundance
on the modest altars of our boyhood's hearth, and be
high priests there and manly ministrants, there is noth-
ing in this world and haply but little in the next, from
which the incense of so pure a joy shall rise.
We, in distant California, glory in Burns. Let us do
as he did. Let us not be niggard of loving letters to
those who never begrudged loving words to us. What if
we have to forego some festive scene, or burn some mid-
night oil ; are there not those who have forborne pleasures
for us, upon whose tired faces for our sakes the watcher's
rushlight has shed its pallid rays? Nor let letters con-
tent us. Let substantial mementoes of our love adorn
our early homes, little or much as we can — but always
GEORGE GORDON. 123
something. Haply the few dollars, or the few hundreds,
though little to us, would be mickle to ours. The fire
might burn more cheery ; the winter's cold more cosily
be shut out : the summer sun more pleasantly enjoyed
because of our care. The mere money would be the least
joy. There would be a lustre about every poor guinea
not born of gold. The real sterling would not be that of
the marts of commerce. It would be recoined money,
stamped and burnished in the mint of a son or brother's
love. It will fill their little purses and their big hearts
at the same moment, because "our Rab sent it."
Burns, after his return home, made another tour ; we
find him with an easy, natural grace and nobleness, visit-
ing the eminent, the wealthy and the titled. The Duke
of Athol, the Dutchess of Gordon, the Earl of Glencairn,
honored themselves by inviting him as their guest. After
six more busy and eventful months, during which he set-
tled with publishers, and found himself master of the im-
posing sum of £500, and a constantly gathering fame, he
returned home once more — gave his brother Gilbert a
share of his riches, and with the rest started in life as a
farmer at Ellisland, with a reversionary interest of a place
in the excise ; a thing which undoubtedly did him much
mischief.
At this time he married the object of his early and
continued love. He had become famous and compara-
tively rich, since he first loved the humble peasant girl
whom he married. Highborn beauty had smiled on him,
and no doubt lit up many a temporary flame in his tin-
dery composition. Wealth and refinement had courted
him ; and he was not a spirit to be insensible to their
blandishments. But his generous and real heart turns to
his early love, with a faith that had not quailed before
frowns of poverty, which comparative ajffluence could not
shake, and which the syren song and brilliant future of
fame could not seduce. So should it be ! His is a das-
tard heart, which would plight his troth to some loving
being ere he goes forth on the crusade of life ; but would
belie its vow should he return laden with spoils. The
Muse of Burns still continued to pour out, with a more or
124 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
less abundance her lyric strains. He caught his inspira-
tion in the walks of daily life, amongst his own class,
and from the nature in which he lived and had his being.
The wings on which he soared were love and humor ; his
flights were through the free air, and were guided by a fine
moral sense. He was not sublime ; but beyond any poet,
he comes home to the heart, he leads us into the quiet
sunlight. The sweet smell of nature salutes us, and the
fresh dew hangs trembling on his leaves and flowers. By
the rippling streams, on banks and braes and heathery
knolls, in the green dell and along the moorland edge, he
takes us. Sometimes his spirit apostrophises the storm,
as it sways the lofty pine, and sweeps through the forest
with a mighty sigh ; but generally it bathes in its tender
light something that he can love. His pet sheep, poor
Maillie, receives him ^'wi' her kindly bleat;" his auld
mare, Maggie, getting a new year feed of corn ; the little
mousie rinnin' from her desolated nest in the stubble ; the
^' daisy, wee modest crimson tippit flower" — all come in
for a share of his glowing kindness. He lifts the latch of
a theekitt cottage. His eye beams on the patriarchal sire,
the kindly wife and mother, the blazing ingle, and the
open Bible. He watches the bairns as they come drop-
ping in ''Frae service out among the farmers roun," with
Jenny and her bashful lover amongst them ; the plaintive
psalm and the solemn prayer ascend to heaven ; and the
poet's full heart bursts into song. The actors in that
scene have long passed away ; the husband and the father
prays no more ; the bairns have lived and toiled and now
rest ; haply the very cottage has crumbled into dust ; but
the scene itself remains. The genius of song shone upon
it one Saturday night, and by its own transcendant rays
transferred it to imperishable plates — flattered in nothing,
nor in aught imperfect — but as it was, a group of humble
life, drawn with such exquisite truth, that it will stand as
long as family love and prayer endure. This touches our
hearts.
His own heart is swelling full and over, ''and ilka bird
and ilka tree" receives its share. But if a bonnie lassie
comes along, as to the queen of love, he turns to her ; and
GEORGE GORDON. 125
investing her with royal robes, woven by his own ardent
imagination, pours at her feet the very essence of his devo-
tion and worship. She dies perhaps — it matters not — he
sees her beyond the stars, and in a transport of passionate
longing, throws himself on the sod, agonized by the dis-
tance which separates them, and breathes forth his elo-
quent soul to '^ Mary in Heaven." He is not long sombre.
Sorrow having found vent in song, like spring clouds
after their moisture is discharged in rain, disappears, and
the sun comes forth again. With the change, his exuber-
ant humor, second only to his love, comes out and dis-
ports itself. He addresses ^' The Deil," and tells of '' Tam
O'Shanter," — ''a louse on a lady's bonnet," calls out his
fun and wisdom. And where nothing better happens to
evoke his quaint humor, it even spends itself on "The
Toothache," and a ''Tax Collector's demand." His pas-
sionate heart and his redundant fancy, continually com-
mingle and effervesce in a tumult of poetry ; pregnant
with the tonic of high moral purpose and the spirit of
freedom, it has furnished a glorious intellectual beverage
to our generations past — is as grateful to our palates to-
day, as it was to those of our forefathers.
The farm at Ellisland did not answer. He was courted
and caressed by persons in station far above him, and the
labor of the farm became distasteful. He unfortunately
had been procured an office in the excise, to which he
looked in case the farm failed. Doubtless the sternness
of necessity, had he not had this office in view, would
have caused such attention as would have made the farm
successful. He received the place, the emoluments of
which were some £70 per annum. This position brought
him in contact with profitless company, and induced hab-
its of intemperance. It hampered his noble indepen-
dence of spirit. His views, right or wrong were opposed
to the government, and as he expressed them freely, he
was threatened with dismissal. He defended himself
with his accustomed eloquent spirit ; and though he did
not lose his place, his promotion was refused. He felt
like a caged eagle, and he beat in vain against his bars.
His condition preyed on his mind, and he drank more
deeply than before.
126 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Fearless truth has to crouch, under the more imperious
need for bread. The carcase is maintained by the slavery
of the spirit. Poor Burns felt the chain, and 'Hhe iron
entered his soul;" but death shortty delivered him.
Is there no hand-^vriting on the wall at this high fes-
tival? Shall we exalt in our poet's glory and take no
warning from his closing days — He whom Scotland loved
is smitten by Scotland's vice, and shall we not cry out?
We make no apology for hanging a national warning at
half-mast, upon the lofty monument of the poet's renown
— of draping his glory with our mourning and regret.
Not with words of blame, but in the accents of sorrow,
would we recall the spectacle of that spirit of beauty, de-
graded and dragged captive by animal appetite — of that
glorious effluent of divinity, obscured and polluted by the
craving fiend of strong drink. Gloom and poverty sadly
curtained his dying couch.
Scotland's earth received her wa3rv^^ard son at the age
of thirty-seven, to his last rest; and men woke to the
consciousness that a splendid genius had come like a me-
teor amongst them, and had passed away. A life check-
ered with the brightest lights, and the somberest shades,
had merged into eternity. But he had sunk himself into
the hearts of the people, and they loved him. We may
safely say that no poet of any people has been so deeply
loved as Burns — a man full of faults, but more gloriously
full of virtues. His fame has become so knit with his
country, that to love Scotland is to love her peasant bard.
Rest thee, noble, leal heart — faithful and impulsive
spirit, rest! Long enough hadst thou lived for fame.
Thou cam'st like a comet, but though thy nucleus disap-
peared in a brief space, thy track, full of radiance, re-
mains transfixed in glory in the heavens, and is added to
our perpetual constellations. Star after star has since
appeared ; a crowd of orbs now gem our skies ; but in its
soft and tender light thy glory still remains, undimmed
by time or contrast. Thou hast taken thy place amongst
the choral band of Poets, who in all time have chanted
the songs of Humanity, and have given utterance to its
loves, its hopes, its triumphs, and despairs, — to its pas-
GEORGE GORDON. 127
sions stormy as winter on the summit of Benvoirlich, or
soft as summer on the Banks of Doon. Thy voice is
heard as a sweet tenor — scarce heard indeed when the
swell of mighty notes prevail, when Milton's superb bass
rolls out, as from the unseen spheres; when again the
martial recitative of Scott, or Byron's sonorous baritone
peel forth — bnt ever and anon, stealing on the ear with
a quiet melody; clear, simple, and true, which searches
and plays amongst the tendrils of our nature, stirring the
fountains of tenderness within us, until the unbidden
tears come forth, and our touched hearts acknowledge a
master's power. No more wilt thou sing the songs of
freedom, and of love, and of humble life — no more catch
up the ancient melodies and ballads of thy country, and
transmit them clothed with new and living beauty.
But a nation's tongues take up thy strains; they go,
wandering in pathos and power, through the valleys and
amongst the hills of thy native land, waking her echoes
and sinking into the hearts of her people, softening them
and making them brave — they are prolonged beyond her
narrow bounds, and carried wherever her sons wander,
till the airs thou hast immortalized encircle the earth — and
at this moment will ascend from almost every clime a
spontaneous thank-offering to the Great Source of all
poetry, in gratitude that He woke thy glowing minstrelsy.
MATTHEW HALL MCALLISTER
PY j^ENI^Y p. JilGHTON.
f I iHis eminent gentleman was born m ;:^avannah, (ieorgia,
X on the twenty-sixth clay of November, in the year
eighteen hundred, and died at San Francisco, California,
on the nineteenth day of December, eighteen hundred
and sixty-five. He was educated at Princeton College,
New Jersey, and bred to the law, in which honorable
profession, for three generations, members of his family
have achieved distinction. After his admission to the
Bar, he practiced successfully in the City of Savannah
for twenty-nine years ; and during the Administration of
John Quincy Adams, filled the post of United States At-
torney for the Southern District of Georgia, which had
been previously held by his father, Matthew McAllister,
under the appointment of General Washington. For many
years, Judge McAllister was so fully occupied by the labo-
rious duties connected with his extensive and lucrative
practice, that he took no conspicuous part in public
affairs ; but when, in eighteen hundred and thirty-two,
the attempt was made to graft the revolutionary doctrine
of nullification upon the policy of the South, he boldly
ranged himself with the defenders of the Union and the
Constitution, and in the heated discussions which occured
during that period, exhibited a breadth of knowledge,
a logical power, and a fervid eloquence, which soon mark-
ed him for a popular leader. At the age of thirty-five,
he was one of the most prominent and influential mem-
bers of the Legislature of Georgia, and subsequently,
for five successive years, represented Savannah in the
9
130 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
higher branch of that body, during which time^ in the
face of a vigorous and persistent opposition, he effected
a radical and most beneficial change in the judicial sys-
tem of the State, by the establishment of the Court for
the Correction of Errors.
In eighteen hundred and forty-five, he became the Dem-
ocratic candidate for the Governorship of Georgia, and
though his party was in a hopeless minority, such was his
personal popularity, that he was defeated only by a small
vote; and three years afterwards, represented his native
State as one of the delegates at large, in the National Dem-
ocratic Convention which nominated General Cass for
the Presidency. In eighteen hundred and fifty, he mi-
grated to California, and practiced law in San Francisco
with remarkable success until eighteen hundred and fifty-
three, when he temporarily returned to Georgia. At this
period, the Legislature of that State were engaged in the
selection of an United States Senator, and upon the arriv-
al of Judge McAllister, notwithstanding the fact that he
had permanently identified himself with the interests of
the Pacific Coast, he was nominated by his friends, and
out of one hundred and eleven votes, which were neces-
sary to a choice, he obtained the extraordinary number
of ninety- three. So emphatic a compliment has been rarely
paid to any man, however eminent, under similar circum-
;stances. In eighteen hundred and fifty-five, upon the
(Organization of the first Circuit Court for the Pacific
States, he received the appointment of Presiding Judge,
which position he retained until eighteen hundred and
sixty-two, when failing health compelled him to resign ;
and, after forty years spent in arduous labor and rewarded
by honorable achievements, he retired into that private
station from which it pleased God that he should never
again emerge.
Thus have been summarily stated a few of the leading
facts in the life of this distinguished man, of whose ca-
reer, it may be justly said : ''sic itur ad astral Of his
intellectual and moral qualities it may be generally ob-
served, that he possessed in happy combination the shrewd
practical sense, the keen and analytical power, and the
MATTHEW HALL MCALLISTER. 131
strong moral feeling, which characterized his Scottish
ancestry, and the glowing imagination and the chivalrous
honor which grow out of aristocratic systems and ripen
under tropical skies. His learning was both extensive
and varied ; his style, whether in speaking or in writing,
clear and rich ; and his language apt and precise. His
manners were of the old school, so gentle and so courtly
that they won for him affection and commanded for him
respect. He was kind and generous to all with whom he
came in contact, and young practitioners especially, who,
in their early struggles, are often chilled and wounded by
the frosty patronage, the trampling jealousy, or the hard
severity, of their seniors, ever found in him a discriminat-
ing adviser and a sympathizing friend.
Illustrations of the correctness of these remarks might
be numerously cited, were not brevity part of the design
of this sketch. Among those bearing on his professional
standing, may be recalled the celebrated case of Kennedy
vs. The Georgia State Bank, reported in the eighth volume
of Howard's Reports of the Supreme Court of the United
States, which Judge McAllister argued against Daniel
Webster and other eminent lawyers, and in which he was
victorious. His argument in this case fully exhibits the
vigor of his mind and the profundity of his research,
which were even more strikingly displayed after he had
reached the Bench, in an opinion which received the un-
usual honor of being formally adopted by the Supreme
Court of the United States. These, however, are but two
examples out of many that might be selected from the
product of his industry within the wide circle in which
he moved.
But perhaps the most valuable services which Judge
McAllister rendered to his country and to mankind, were
in connection with the development of the great commu-
nities which fringe the Pacific Ocean, and which, within
twenty years, have fulfilled the prophecy of Bishop Berke-
ley by carrying civilization to its extreme western limit.
In this practical age, in which facts multiply with unex-
ampled rapidity, and the minds of men are profoundly
occupied with their own immediate concerns, we are apt
1S2 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
to overlook the importance of contemporary events in
their relation to the future ; but history has always placed
the founders of States among the most illustrious of our
race, and to this class the subject of these observations
emphatically belonged. The head of a large and distin-
guished family, at an advanced age, surrounded by asso-
ciations from which it must have been most difficult for
him to escape, he severed the ties which bound him to
his native State, crossed a continent, and in a country
scarcely redeemed from barbarism and exceptional in all
its conditions, established centres of usefulness and of
influence, which have most powerfully contributed to the
rapid, but symmetrical and steady, progress that has
attracted to the Pacific Coast the wondering admiration
of the world. Not only this, but in his place on the
Bench, with great questions to decide, in the solution of
which he was almost unassisted by precedent, he most
actively and beneficially participated in the just applica-
tion of legal principles to anomalous and intricate com-
bination of fact, and thus rendered to society, perhaps
the greatest benefit that wisdom and learning can confer.
The single volume of his opinions, edited by one of his
sons, is a monument to his memory which will excite the
attention and respect of future generations, and the utility
of which will be coextensive with the existence of the
Union.
The death of Judge McAllister was sudden but not
unexpected. In the various Courts of San Francisco —
Municipal, State, and Federal — the usual honors were
paid to his memory, and were accompanied by eulogies,
both from the Bench and from the Bar, more than ordi-
narily earnest and impressive. The funeral ceremonies
were rendered highly imposing by the number, the respect-
ability, and the sincerity, of those by whom they were
witnessed.
To those who enjoyed the advantage of a personal
acquaintance with Judge McAllister, especially to the
narrow circle where his inner life was spent, there are
other thoughts and other feelings suggested by his death,
which are best unuttered. ^^Quis talia fando . tem^eret a
MATTHEW HALL MCALLISTER. 133
lachrymis.'' With reverential tenderness he was commit-
ted to the peace and serenity of the tomb. There, in
that beautiful cemetery, overlooking the Pacific, where
the war of our hard and struggling life cannot penetrate,
and where the western breezes make soft music amidst
the graves of the unforgotten dead, he shall calmly and
securely sleep, while in the metropolis of California his
descendants shall worthily transmit his lofty virtues and
his intellectual fame, and throughout the Pacific Coast,
society, ever expanding and ever improving, shall per-
manently feel the impulse of his labors, and shall preserve
his name on the roll of its most illustrious Pioneers.
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN
^Y f p. ^OWARD,
AUTHOB OF THE "BliOVE PAPEIiS."
THE father of Joseph G. Baldwin, a native of Connec-
ticut, emigrated to Virginia at an early period of his
life; and after a few years' residence in his adopted State,
married a lady of his own name from Maryland, whose
uncle subsequently became very distinguished in the
judicial annals of Virginia. That father still lives at
Lynchburg. Born at Staunton, in the county of Augusta,
on the 22d of January, 1815, we find young Joseph, at
the tender age of twelve, developing unusual business
precocity and earnest self-reliance in the performance of
the arduous and responsible duties of a Deputy District
Court Clerk in his native town. Still further illustrating
his youthful energy and early mental capacity, we hear
of his assuming the entire editorial control of a popular
newspaper, at Buchanan, in the county of Rockbridge, at
the very boyish period of seventeen. And it may be here
remarked with propriety, that no better instance can be
adduced than the individual now under review, of the
tendency of our peculiar institutions to foster and reward
the unaided efforts of the emulous offspring of compara-
tive indigence.
How he acquired his legal knowledge, save by night
vigils, cannot be told ; but a comparative lad of but nine-
teen years of age, he is next seen at DeKalb, in the Stiite
136 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC,
of Mississippi, springing into legal notoriety^ and the
caressed and intimate associate of such luminaries as
Wiley P. Harris and J. T. Harrison, and that marvel of
modern oratory, S. S. Prentiss. Between him and the
latter arose upon the instant an enduring regard, stronger
than the ties of brotherhood. It was the sudden meet-
ing of kindred genius — the blending and coalescing of
two master-spirits. It was wonderful, the strange affec-
tion that knit so indissolubly together those two nervous
minds. It was just as the great advocate was embarking
at Xew Orleans to breathe his last in his loved IS^atchez.
He turned away from the coterie of almost worshiping
ones who surrounded him, to his devoted friend, Colonel
Alexander Walker of the Delta. ''Alec, be sure," said
he in that melting voice of his, "to write my love to
Joe Baldwin. / have written my last on earth. A great
man is Joe. He has no superior as writer and lawyer.
He comes the nearest to my idea of an universal genius."
It was the tribute of dying worth to living excellence.
At twenty-one, young Baldwin repaired to Sumpter
county, in the State of Alabama, continuing the practice
of his profession with renewed zest and extraordinary
success, until summoned by the voice of the people to
the State legislative councils. In '44, he acquired much
oratorical reputation as an electoral canvasser on the
Whig ticket; and in 1849 was defeated by Col. S. W.
Inge for Congress, by 250 votes; yet establishing his per-
sonal popularity in that violent Democratic State by
securing the suffrage of every county in his district but
one.
At that time, the practice of the law in that
section of the country was somewhat peculiar. The
attorney was in the habit of traversing his entire
judicial circuit. The termination of this protracted
itinerancy left him but a scant space of some two or
three months for devotion to his home clientage. It was
during one of those hurried intervals, and while fretted
with an extensive and lucrative practice, that he in-
dicted by snatches and at candle light, that series of
sketches now so popularly known under the soubriquet
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN. 137
of The Flush Times of Alabama. I regard it almost a
matter of supererogation to descant upon the merits of
this production, now so generally diffused throughout
our land. Its title and class of topics, somewhat repug-
nant to the staid and scholarly mind, would associate il
with that careless, and roistering and rollicking, mass of
ephemeral exudings with which the press has teemed for
several past years. Its perusal dissipates such disparag-
ing notion. That it was hastily composed is no argument
against its intrinsic worth. It was the first literary essay
of a mind crowded with thought and replete with ex-
quisite imagery — the primitive yield of a rich virgin
soil — the gleeful bubbling of a full, and till then undis-
turbed fountain. Occasionally descending into the pro-
vincialisms and sectional eccentricities of a class with
whom the author was brought in contact, the reader is
never annoyed with tameness or startled by vulgarity.
There is a genial and bounding mirthfulness throughout,
with no offensive or wounding syllable. He riots in
ludicrous delight, with the peculiarities of the nomadic
bar, and yet so hearty and refined are his strokes of
humor, that he enhances his victims in our estimation.
There is nothing of that gross caricature in the Flush
Times that so pleases the unlettered crowd. It would be
difficult not to admire old Chasm in his fierce battle
against the legal fledgling. While venting such gall as
never issued from the mouth of Timon, he maintains the
dignity of a veteran lawyer, and interweaves the most
apposite and learned quotations in his classical and
scathing invective. Apart from the emanations of con-
vulsing wit that scintillate and sparkle along each page,
this work has a higher charm of pure, classic diction.
It contains no violation of the most rigid literary taste,
or the most elevated chastity of thought ; and it almost
groans under its affluence of cunning fantasies of lan-
guage, and merry conceits, and adroit suddenness of sit-
uations.
There is one serious effort in the collection that be-
comes extremely pathetic as we recall the relations that
existed between the writer and the subject. A survivor
138 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
is portraying the attributes of his deceased friend ; and
it required just such a golden pen to trace the bright
and glowing theme. They had been companions; and
many a time and oft had pierced the drowsy ear of night
with their chaste but uproarious hilarity. It may be a
defect of both taste and judgment on my part, but for
purity of style and richness and copiousness of illustra-
tion and sententious analysis of character, I have en-
countered nothing superior in the English language to
Judge Baldwin's essay on the life of S. S. Prentiss. It
is a dense repertoire of salient thought enveloped in
spotless Saxon robe; and yet the writer scarcely ever
crossed the portals of a hedge school-house.
He has written another work, of a character so di-
vergent from his humorous essays that it puzzles us to
conceive them the issue of the same brain. His '' Party
Leaders" is a careful and philosophic product of his ma-
turer years. A reviewer, who would mould public opinion
to his behests, once pronounced its style ''ambitious."
It was the sneer of envy and malicious detraction. The
language of this superior treatise especially embodies the
elements of nervousness and simplicity, while the ar-
rangement and marshaling of his facts develop the
highest order of logic. I am more than willing to rest
the literary fame of my deceased friend upon this single
production. It has already noiselessly crept into the
classics of the day, and has received the stamp of merit
from English approbation. Not, perhaps, in the dis-
jointed times of the present, but the future statesman
will garner it up as the most reliable contemporaneous
biography of those great spirits who thought and acted
for the rude masses of our generation ; and it will be-
come his encyclopaedia from which to cull pregnant
political facts that would otherwise have glided into
oblivion. He will ponder over its close analysis and
amazing fertility of thought, and award that due com--
mendation to its brilliant author, of which our people
are somewhat chary.
Judge Baldwin was extremely careless of his literary
reputation. Penning with utmost ease and facility, he
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN. 139
adopted no method, but wrote only when ^' in the mood;"
and he strewed his prolific manuscripts around with the
recklessness of a spoiled child, the playthings of which
he was weary. I know, however, that had he not been
summoned away, he would have devoted himself to the
master effort of his life. He had already amassed the
materials for a philosophic history of this portion of the
Pacific coast. With wealth sufiicient for literary retiracy,
engirt on all sides with admiring and loving friends, and
in the full flush and vigor of his powers, it might well be
augured that he would achieve something of honor to the
age. But the great and good God willed otherwise.
It now becomes necessary to say something of his legal
attainments and forensic ability. It is a very stupid error
of the illiterate that the limited mental constitution of a
man does not permit excellence in more than one intel-
lectual pursuit ; and hence their loathness to intrust litiga-
tion to a lawyer who is detected in anything that savors
of abstract intellectual pursuits. But the vast learning
and continuous writing of Cicero debarred him not from
his patrons^ nor impaired his powers of oratory. It is
learning that gilds and renders attractive the drudging
professions; and hence the illustration of Macaulay on
this very matter that the fleet ostrich employs its wings
as well as feet.
Contending against a voice by no means attractive and
a physique ill adapted to the graces of the higher rank
of oratorical efforts. Judge Baldwin had at his command
forcible and terse and pointed language, that never failed
to arrest the attention of both judge and jury.
In another connection, allusion has been made to the
severe logical cast of his mind, and yet, with the rarest
versatility and relief, while avoiding all attempts at rheto-
rical flourish, he would bring to bear the most inimitable
and exquisite powers of illustration. About the most
arid and uninviting legal abstraction, he would weave some
happy simile or anecdotal coincidence that would captivate
the understanding of the most obtuse.
In 1853, Mr. Baldwin left Alabama, reaching California
iu th^ early part of 1854.
140 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
With a mind stored with every phase of legal learning,
both as counsellor and advocate, he had achieved dis-
tinction in his olden home ; and it is not surprising there-
fore, that in the new State of California he should rank
at once among the most eminent of the bar of San Fran-
cisco. His success was commensurate with his marked
ability. His professional prominence secured him the
position of a seat upon the Supreme Bench, to which he
was elevated by the voice of the people, in the fall of the
year 1858.
The manner in which he discharged the duties and
responsibilities of this new and untried sphere mounts
into the marvelous and borders upon the realms of fable.
At the outset of his judicial career, there was a constantly
increasing calendar that had already swollen to the fright-
ful number of near 600 causes — an Augean stable of
diverse and intricate litigation that might well appall the
most herculean Judge. At the termination of his term
of office, the portentous calendar was cleared; and it is
within bounds to say that four-fifths of the serried and
confused mass had passed through his laborious hands —
an amount of continuous toil unexampled in the annals
of judicature. More than any other of our Supreme
Judiciary, has he contributed to elucidate our infant sys-
tem of laws and the novel and perplexing questions that
have sprung up under our peculiar situation and varied
pursuits. He combined unwonted industry with most
consummate ability. His adjudications are models of
clear and logical perception, and reveal the most ex-
tensive research, and stringent power of analysis, and
copious and refined illustration, and are characterized by
grace of style, and scholarly learning and sound deduc-
tion. In little while, he reared his name among the most
distinguished and erudite of the jurists of the land.
The State of California should be very proud of Judge
Baldwin. He has been intimately and prominently as-
sociated with her history for the last ten years. Even
his salient and epigrammatic wit, generally so transitory,
is interwoven and will become traditionary with the
striking events that provoked its flashing.
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN. 141
The manners of Judge Baldwin were of a frank and
simple nature, with a sweet intrusiveness of social tem-
perament that disarmed all reserve and beckoned im-
mediate companionship. He united the highest order of
conversational powers to the fascination of his exhaustless
flow of racy and pungent humor ; and yet had he a manli-
ness of character ' and a stern sense of right and a high
principle of honor that won the esteem of the great and
good with whom he was brought in contact. Such as he
could never foster a sordid feeling. His pockets were
ever open to every charitable appeal. He esteemed
his race, and his checkered career is marked at each
footfall with the most passionate affections. Towards
those he loved he manifested the tenderness of girl-
hood. I have seen the big tear-drop course down his
cheek as he would mount in glowing panegyric upon his
great political chieftain, Henry Clay. He has gone to
his long home, leaving no enmity behind. As son and
husband and father he was the idol of devoted love. It
was only a few weeks before his death that he buried a
darling boy; but they met again in the spirit-land. It is
almost wrong to weep at the final departure of such a man.
Upon his garments rests not a stain. He is in bliss and
with his God : would we recall him to a life that at best
is full of sorrows ?
:7EL .1771
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON
• 4. ■■- -•
THIS gentleman was born on the Hudson river, near
West Point, on the 1st ddj of March, 1809. His
ancestors were Hollanders, and among the first settlers
of New Amsterdam: on the father's side the Garrisons
and Coverts, and on the mother's the Kingslands and the
Schuylers — among the earliest of the old Knickerbocker
families. His father, Oliver Garrison, was at one time a
large capitalist, but lost his property when Cornelius was
quite young. The latter, at the age of thirteen, left his
home and found employment in the carrying trade on the
Hudson river, following this occupation during the busi-
ness season for about three years. Alive to the value and
necessity of an education, he diligently applied himself
throughout the winter months when the navigation of
the river was suspended, to study at a country school.
At the request of his mother, he abandoned the river and
went to New York city, to learn architecture and the
building trade. He remained in New York three years.
The knowledge which he acquired of architecture during
that period was extensive, and valuable to him in the
years which immediately followed.
At the age of nineteen, young Garrison removed to
Canada, where for five or six years he was actively engaged
in the erection of buildings, and the constructing of
144 IlEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
steamboats on the great lakes. During his residence
there, he became a married man, espousing a lady of
Buffalo, New York.
In Canada, Mr. Garrison acquired the reputation,
which he has ever since enjoyed, of being a reliable,
clear-headed, and sagacious business man. The Upper
Canada Company — one of the wealthiest in England, and
owning extensive possessions — gave to him the general
super v^ision of the Company's affairs in the province ; a
trust upon which he entered, but which he soon surren-
dered, owing to the threatened outbreak of hostilities
between England and the United States, growing out
of the border difficulties existing at the time. Having
led an active life in Canada for nearly six years, Mr.
Garrison returned to the United States, and went to
the Southwest, where he long followed the same busi-
ness he had so successfully prosecuted in the British
provinces, and was also engaged in several other im-
portant mercantile enterprises connected with steam
navigation on the Mississippi.
About the time of the discovery of gold in California,
Mr. Garrison removed to Panama, where he established
a commercial and banking house. This enterprise was
the most successful of any which had thus far engaged
his attention. In the latter part of the year 1852, being
then on a visit to New York city, with a view to estab-
lish there a branch of his Panama house, our subject
accepted an offer made him by the Nicaragua Steamship
Company, to take the San Francisco agency of their line
of vessels.
A sketch of Mr. Garrison's seven years' residence in
California would almost involve a history of San Fran-
cisco during that period. He landed in that city
when the newly-established Nicaragua Steamship Line
was rapidly declining under inefficient management,
and had fallen into disrepute by the terrible calamities
of the Independence and 8. 8. Leivis. The Mail Steamship
Company, with its splendidly equipp^sd line under the
able direction of Captain Knight, was in the full tide of
success, and it seemed that the rival line, growing more
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON, 145
and more unpopular with each new disaster, must soon
pass out of existence. Mr. Garrison arrived, March
23d, 1853, on the steamer Sierra J^evada, with a salary of
$60,000 per annum, and $25,000 additional, as the agent
of sundry Insurance Companies. The effect of his ad-
ministrative ability upon the fortunes of the Nicaragua
Transit Company was immediate. From being on the
verge of dissolution, it sprang, as if by magic, into life and
prosperity. The new agent promptly reorganized the
service in every department; recommended the building
of several fast ocean steamships, which in due time made
their appearance around Cape Horn, he, in some instances,
having a proprietary interest in the steamers and placing
them on the line as an individual enterprise. Imbuing
the Company in New York with his own indomitable
energy, he induced Yanderbilt to establish a line of ser-
viceable steamers on the inland waters of Nicaragua. An
excellent road was constructed from San Juan del Sur to
Virgin Bay, and the navigation of the San Juan River was
improved. At the same time he made a strong bid for
carrying the mails — letters being taken free to induce
patronage to that route — and finally, an equal portion of
the treasure shipment was secured. The traveling public
admitted that ^'a power in the land" had appeared, and
the Nicaragua route was transformed, from a condition of
apathy and decay, into vigorous prosperity, mainly by the
energy and will of one man. The steamship competition
of that day has never been paralleled in the history of
ocean navigation. Its influence extended far and wide,
and the rivalry, strained to the utmost tension of con-
flicting moneyed interests, gave a tone to every department
of business on the Pacific coast.
About six months after his arrival^ and perhaps before
lie had come to fully understand his adopted State, Mr.
Garrison was elected Mayor of San Francisco. He might
fairly have claimed exemption from additional burthens,
considering the herculean task he had undertaken in the
sphere of his legitimate business. The distinction was
wholly unsought by one whose tastes and occupations
through life had been outside of the political arena.
10
146 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
His immediate predecessors, Messrs. Harris and Brenham,
had filled the Mayoralty with marked ability and success,
and it may be supposed that he entered upon his duties
with some misgivings as to his qualifications for a field
thus new and untried. It was soon evident, however, that
the same sound judgment and executive talent that could
grasp and prosperously control steamship lines and bank-
ing institutions, could with equal facility administer the
affairs of a community. His inaugural address, delivered
in October, 1853, to the two branches of the Common
Council, was a model of plain, unpretending common
sense, abounding in practical suggestions, going straight
to the point, and quite devoid of flourish or attempt at
oratorical display. He acknowledged the weight of the
responsibility, and pledged himself to devote his best
energies to the interests of the city.
A month later, he submitted a message, which may
challenge any paper of the kind, in sound business ideas
and financial propositions. It contained the germs of
what became, years afterwards, the rallying cries of re-
form in the administration of the city government. The
first outspoken denunciation in any official document, of
the disgraceful public gambling then prevalent in the many
saloons in San Francisco, and the first rebuke of Sunday
theatricals, with a recommendation for ordinances for
their suppression, are found in this message. And it was
not merely a verbal protest against the evils described.
Mr. Garrison never ceased to wage war against them until
the desired reforms were completely effected. The crime
of a public gambling hell has never blackened the fame
of San Francisco since Mayor Grarrison's term. For this
act alone he is entitled to the gratitude of all who respect
morality, decency and good order. The first proposal of
an Industrial School for juvenile delinquents, who should
thus be separated from contact with the hardened crim-
inals in the cells of the city prison; the earliest sugges-
tions of a tariff of hack fares for the protection of strangers
from extortion ; the taxation of non-resident capital,
millions of which were enjoying all the protection and
benefits of Government without contributing in the least
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 147
to its maintenance; the building of substantial, well-
ventilated school houses in place of the shanties then
used in various districts — these, among other proposals
equally sensible and at that time novel, were embodied
in the message. There was also a plain and compre-
hensive statement of the city indebtedness, with well-
digested plans for its liquidation, and placing the public
finances upon a healthy basis — all showing that an earnest
and thorough-going business man was at the helm.
This message is here inserted, nearly in full. A1-"
though a lengthy document, yet it possesses great his-
toric value, and no San Franciscan should neglect a
careful perusal of its sound, practical suggestions, and
the interesting view which it presents of the condition
of the various departments of the city government, six-
teen years ago.
Message op Mayor Garrison, delivered to the Common
Council of the City of San Francisco, Xov. 15, 1853.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of San Francisco.
Gentlemen: — In fulfilment of a duty enjoined on me
by the charter of the city, and a promise made at the
time of my induction into office, I beg leave respectfully
to communicate to you the following statement of the
indebtedness of the cit}^, and its financial condition, on
the 22d of the past month, together with the estimated
receipts and disbursements for the remainder of the fiscal
year. I have also appended my views, founded upon a
thorough examination of all the ramifications of the
government, in regard to the evils and abuses which
have so long existed in the conduct of our municipal
afiairs, with the hope and conviction that the Common
Council will cooperate with me in making the corrections
which are necessary to the well-guarding of the public
treasury from abuses, the just and economical adminis-
tration of its finances, and high-toned credit of the city.
As will be seen from the following table, the entire
indebtedness of the city, on the 22d day of October,
1853, was as follows;
148 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Funded Debt $1,500,000 00
City Warrants unpaid Juty 1, 1853 $215,647 47
City Warrants issued from July 1 to Oct. 5, 1853 217,953 84
City Warrants issued from Oct. 5 to Oct. 22, 1853 23,021 78
$456,623 09
Less received by Ft. Matthewson from treasurer, to Oct.
5, 1853 $58,890 34
Less received by S. E. Harris. from treasurer, to Oct, 22,
1853 95,597 40,
•$154,487 74
$302,135 35
Warrants issued on account Jenny Lind Building, July
1, 1852 $31,804 94
Mortgage held by M. Dore 27,792 19
$59,597 13
Less amount canceled by treasiu-er 5,593 33
$54,003 80
Supposed amount of 3 per cent, scrip outstanding, prin-
cipal and accrued interest $120,000 00
Sundry bills in bands of ComiDtroUer, unpaid 14,052 75
$134,852 75
Total Floating Debt, Oct. 22, 1853 490,191 80
Total indebtedness, Funded and Floating $1,990,191 80
By an ordinance of the Common Council, passed on
tlie 5th of September, 1853, the Mayor, Comptroller, and
Treasurer were authorized to issue bonds of the city
sufficient to obtain an amount equal to its floating in-
debtness, with an additional sum of three hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, ($350,000) for school, hospital,
and fire purposes. In accordance with the provisions of
such ordinance, proposals were advertised for, to be re-
ceived and opened by the officers empowered on the
25th of the past month, they reserving to themselves
the right of rejection; and although it is a matter of
regret that bids w^ere received for only a portion of the
amount, and at figures which would not justify their
acceptance, no difficulty is apprehended in disposing of
the whole amount authorized and required, at an early
day, at prices within the bounds of reason, and approxi-
mate to their intrinsic value. Upon the accomplishment
of the sale, the present floating debt will be extinguished.
The funded debt will then amount to the sum of about
$2,350,000 — the early reduction of which amount will
be produced by the provisions of the ordinance requiring
the annual raising by taxation, in addition to the amount
levied for other purposes, of a sum sufficient to pay the
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 149
interestj and one-twelfth of the principal, of the new
issue, together with the sum of fifty thousand dollars
annually raised for the liquidation of the ten per cents.,
and the obtainment of interest upon the said amounts
yearly invested.
The extinction of her floating debt will enable the
city hereafter, if due regard is had to economy, to meet
all her liabilities in cash, thus ridding her of the scrip
system of payment, and resulting in a saving of at least
twenty-five per cent, in her ordinary expenditures. The
city treasury alone has been the sufierer from the past
mode of discharging her obligations.
The scrip system, founded as it was in corruption,
has exercised an influence not only detrimental to the
treasury, but pernicious in its eff"ects upon the public
ofiicers and the people. It has led to speculations, ex-
travagancies, and malfeasance in the public departments,
and exposed the treasury to ruinous abuses, resulting in
a debasement of the city credit to a bankrupt state. A
credit system, such as this has been, if persevered in,
will sink us so deep in embarrassment, as to call forth
the just indignation of our people, and remain a stigma
upon our Legislature for ever. I congratulate the Coun-
cil upon the prospect of a speedy removal of this in-
cubus from the body corporate, and the elevation of our
credit beyond the reach of speculation and the fluctua-
tion of the street.
The expenses of the city from July 1 to October 22,
as per Comptroller's statement, amounted to the follow-
ing:
Warrants issued, - - - $240,975 62
Bills not audited, - - - 14,052 37
A portion of which has not been paid by the Treasurer.
The Mayor then submits a lengthy detailed statement
of the condition of the city's finances, giving the receipts
and expenditures from the commencement of the fiscal
year, July 1, 1853, to October 23d, 1853, and also an
estimate of the resources and expenses for the remainder
of the fiscal year, embracing a formidable array of figures
which would, perhaps, fail to interest the general reader.
150 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
It will be noted that there is an increase, this year,
of $143,000, in the amount of taxes levied over the
preceding year. While this increase is commented upon,
and complaint founded upon it, it should be borne in mind
that a most liberal estimate has been placed upon the
property subject to taxation, by the valuations of the As-
sessors, a fact well known to every tax-paying citizen.
The whole amount returned by the Assessors this year,
as liable to taxation, is $28,500,000. No one who is the
least conversant with the subject, can deny that the
amount should be nearer $40,000,000; a closer ap-
proximation to which should be reached by the officers,
upon whom the duty devolves, thereby reducing the per
centage to its proper standard. It should also be re-
membered that our city is growing and extending rapidly,
and new calls are constantly made upon her for the means
of necessary improvements, increasing as we are, daily, in
population, and being compelled to accede the privileges
and benefits of government to a larger number of citizens,
over a wider extent of jurisdiction, a reduction in the
present amount of taxation cannot be looked for.
Our citizens, when complaining of the burdens of
taxation, and comparing them with other cities, should
not forget that while they are paying to the support of
their government, two per cent, upon their property, at
very low valuations, they are paying much less than the
citizens of any other city on the continent, perhaps in the
world, in comparison to the relative value of money and
the enormous revenues derived from real estate. In our
sister cities, the property-holder willingly submits to the
imposition of a tax of one per cent, upon his estate, while
the revenue he receives from it seldom exceeds six per
cent, per annum. Here, where the revenue derived from
money and property is from five to six times as great,
and the tax levied only double in per cent., the common
and popular cry of onerous taxation is not, certainly,
founded on fact or good reasoning. At the same time,
it is your duty, and I shall make it my especial duty, to
see that our citizens are not called upon to pay more
than is actually required to carry on the government
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 151
justly and economically; hesitating to open new sources
of expenditure, unless actually necessary to the proper
and good government of our city.
I would recommend that early measures be taken to
procure authority from the Legislature for the taxation of
non-resident capital, millions of which is now invested in
this city, enjoying all the benefits and protection of the
government in its employment, without contributing in
the least for the cost of its maintenance, thus throwing
an amount of taxation upon our people which they should
not in justice be called upon to bear. The importance
of this matter must be obvious to all, and I trust it will
receive your early and serious attention.
A great falling off in the receipts of the city from
licenses has taken place this year, in consequence of
the defects in the license law. Without undertaking to
enter into the question of the justice or legality of the
provisions demurred to, I would suggest that your im-
mediate attention should be given to the subject, and
prompt and decided steps taken to remedy the evils com-
plained of, and save the treasury from the great loss that
must en-sue if the present provisions of the law are in-
sisted upon.
It is a source of pride and satisfaction to me, as it must
be to you and our citizens at large, to know that the
interest upon the Funded Debt was promptly paid on the
1st instant; in addition to which the sum of fifty thousand
dollars has been paid over to the Commissioners on ac-
count of the redemption of the bonds.
The punctual payment of our interest has imparted an
increased confidence to holders, and enhanced our credit
at home and abroad.
The greater portion of the contracts entered into by
the city, for the construction of wharves on the city front,
have been complied with, and the majority of them are
paying a revenue to the city.
There are litigations pending in connection with a
portion of them, which it is hoped will soon reach
favorable terminations.
Monuments of man's enterprise and the commercial
152 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
greatness of our city, they cannot but excite in us feelings
of pride and admiration.
The work of grading, planking, and improving our
public streets, has been for some time in prosecution. It
is to be regretted that a commencement had not been
earlier made, and more vigorous efforts used towards
comj^letion before the setting in of the wet season.
A tardiness has been manifested in the fulfilment of
contracts, which merits and should receive the condemna-
tion of the department, and subject the delinquent con-
tractors to forfeiture of their contracts.
Many abuses have existed in this department of the
government; contracts have been loosely, and in some
cases, illegally entered into, involving the expenditure of
immense sums of money, and conflicting with the rights
and privileges of citizens. It is due to the property-
owners and to the interests of the city, that the attention
of the Council should be given to a thorough investiga-
tion and remodeling of the contract system, in order to
preserve the city from the expense of endless litigations,
which must ensue if the contracts are not properly and
legally entered into and complied with.
The total amount of assessments levied for
street improvements, is - - - $927,444 21
Of -which the city pays for crossings, - 127,643 21
Amount to be borne by property-owners, $709,801 00
Of which has been suspended for your in-
vestigation, ----- 524^379 71
Should your investigations prove that these -contracts
cannot be sustained by law, and that the city and the
property-owners are liable to be drawn into collision in
consequence, I would recommend that new lettings be.
made in due form, payable in cash, and the amounts re-
duced from the credit to the cash system, thus saving a
large amount to the owners of property, while the con-
tractors will not suffer, but rather gnin by the change.
It is worthy of your consideration v^hether a cor-
responding reduction cannot be made in the expenses of
the other departments, whicji I have no doubt can be
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 153
effected without doing the least possible injustice, or re-
ducing the actual compensation of any person.
The contingent fund, which now reaches annually an
enormous amount, needs your attention and examination.
It is this fund from which generally spring the leakages
of large corporations, and the Council cannot be too
jealous of its continued increase.
I would recommend that vigorous measures be adopted
for the immediate recovery of the claims held by the city
for unpaid assessments, a large amount of which has been
allowed to sleep for a long time past, without any means
being taken to enforce their collection.
I would also recommend an early sale of the city
property other than that required for city purposes. The
wealth of the city in propert}^ now wrongfully detained
from her by other parties is sufficient, if made available,
to liquidate her whole indebtedness, create a fund ample
for the purposes of education, and remove all fears of
future embarrassment. Measures should be taken to
place her in possession of her just rights, which have
been so long neglected and withheld from her. There is
no good reason why she should be deprived of the bene-
fits of so much wealth, and others be permitted, without
the shadow of right, to enjoy its revenues, while she is
groaning under the burdens of indebtedness.
The condition of our public schools is such as to call
for the most prompt and effective action of the Common
Council.
It seems that this branch of the public service has
not received that attention and fostering care which its
great importance demands. I regret to find that while
lavish appropriations have heretofore been made for, and
unscrupulously squandered on, other branches of the
government, our schools — the nurseries of the future
greatness of oin- people — have been inexcusably neglected.
The buildings in which the children of our city are
daily congregated for purposes of instruction, are totally
unfit for the uses intended. Mere shanties, erected with-
out regard to health, convenience, or moral fitness of
locality, they are disgraceful to the city and the times,
154 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC,
and entirely inadequate to the requirements and spirit
of that system of education which has long been the ad-
miration of the world ^ and to which we must look for
the perpetuity of our nationality.
The world knows, and I trust we not only know but
feel, that popular education is the guiding-star of the
Republic, the secret of American greatness: therefore, to
neglect it is criminal — to bend all our energies to its
most complete perfection is our duty.
I would impress upon you the great necessity of
speedy steps being taken for the erection and furnishing
of suitable buildings, of substantial construction, well
ventilated, and adapted to the healthful and proper edu-
cation of the children of the city. There are portions
of the School Lands now used for other and improper
purposes: these should be immediately reclaimed and
devoted entirely to the purposes for which they were
designed. The buildings should be properly fenced, and
playgrounds should also be set apart for the children in
the intervals of study, as care should be taken of their
physical health as well as their mental culture.
The amount of $100,000, upon the negotiation of the
new issue of bonds, will be devoted to school purposes.
This sum will do much towards the accomplishment of
the desired end, and place our common schools in a con-
dition that will reflect honor and lustre upon the system,
instead of being, as at present, ineflPective in its opera-
tion and reproachful to the city. It is only to be re-
gretted that your predecessors had not a more enlarged
idea of the educational system, and had not set apart a
greater sum for this purpose.
The want of an asylum or House of Refuge for juv-
enile delinquents is severely felt, and the establishment
of a properly organized institution for their confinement
and reformation, should engage your warmest sympathies
and early action. The present mode of consigning our
youthful criminals to the cells of the city prison, is pro-
ductive of the most pernicious effects to them and to the
community at large. Thrown in contact, as they now
are, with the vicious and the hardened, they emerge from
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 155
their place of durance only to enter upon new scenes of
vice and pursue bolder degrees of crime. The establish-
ment of a House of Industry for their benefit, I think, is
deserving of your serious attention, not only as guardians
of the public weal, but as philanthropists and enlight-
ened men.
The ladies of San Francisco, with that benevolence
and laudable zeal which is so characteristic of their sex,
I am happy to be able to say, have taken the orphan
children of our city under their especial care and protec-
tion. A commodious building for their accommodation
has nearly reached completion, raised altogether by their
commendable industry and exertions.
If there is any thing calculated to excite our warmest
sympathies, and bring into life the purest feelings of
man's nature, it is the condition of the lone orphan,
especially in this distant land, where he is often left with
no parent hand to guide him through the mazes of a city's
wilderness, no parent's tongue to teach him the destinies
he was born to. We cannot award too high a meed of
praise to those ladies who have so nobly, diligently, and
successfully labored in the orphan's behalf.
The condition of our public streets is a subject of
serious complaint. Health and cleanliness demand that
means should be taken to stringently enforce the city
ordinances, and to prevent our thoroughfares being made
the common depositories for refuse and garbage, and to
secure the infliction and rigid collections of fines for
every violation of those ordinances. The occupants of
the different markets within the city should be compelled
to remove all their refuse matter beyond the city limits,
thus preserving some degree of cleanliness in those local-
ities. It is due to our constituents that some regard
should be paid to their health and comfort ; and although
the condition of the treasury will not warrant the ex-
penditure of large sums for the purpose, an honest at-
tempt, at least, should be made to mitigate, as far as
possible, the evils of which just complaint is made. I
would suggest that inquiries be instituted to ascertain the
expense of keeping the streets in good condition.
156 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The temporary suspension of the works of the Mount-
ain Lake Water Company, in their present advanced
state, is to be deplored. That such an important under-
taking has not met with more earnest encouragement
and pecuniary aid, is unfortunate. I am happy, however,
to be able to say that there is every prospect of an early
resumption of their work, and of an abundant supply
of pure and wholesome water being introduced into the
city. The projectors of this enterprise are entitled to
the gratitude of the community for the public spirit
which has guided their endeavors to procure for our
citizens benefits so decided and invaluable.
The works of the San Francisco Gas Company are
reaching a speedy consummation. The laying of pipes
through the streets has for some days been in progress,
and in a few weeks we shall be enjoying another of the
fruits of a concentrated and well-directed use of capital.
I would urge upon your honorable body the import-
ance of some plan being adopted for the improvement
of the public Plaza, and would recommend its being
properly graded, curbed, and enclosed with a neat and
substantial railing ; sodding and ornamenting it in such a
manner as will render it an agreeable promenade instead
of its remaining, as it now is and has long been, a public
nuisance and disgrace. The plan of loaning the parks
of the city for purposes of private speculation and gain,
merits, I think, the condemnation of us all.
The condition of the Fire Department is a source of
pride and gratification. It numbers thirteen engines,
thirteen hose carriages, and three hook and ladder com-
panies, all in a complete state of effective organization,
with twelve hundred names of members upon the rolls
of the' department.
I cannot too highly commend the honorable zeal with
which the members of this department respond to the
frequent calls for their services, and their great fidelity
to the trust reposed in them. Millions of dollars' worth
of property has been saved to us by their prompt and
united action, and a sentiment of pride and confidence
imparted to the public mind, reflecting honor upon the
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 157
one and engendering a feeling of security in the other.
As the members of this department devote their valuable
services to the city, without pay or reward, hazarding,
and too often sacrificing their lives, in the performance
of their arduous duties, they deserve and should recei\e
our warmest acknowledgement and fostering care. Meas-
ures should at once be taken for the constt-uction of
buildings suitable for the accommodation of their appar-
atus, and the purchase of new engines, in accordance with
the provisions of the ordinance authorizing the setting
apart a portion of the proceeds of the further issue of
bonds for that purpose.
In the estimate for the expenses of this department
will be found included an item of $7,000 for the con-
struction of seven new cisterns, which are needed in cer-
tain portions of the city, now deprived of the protection
they furnish, in cases of conflagration. I would recom-
mend that an appropriation be made for the immediate
building of the number specified. Those now in use,
numbering thirty-eight, with the proposed addition, it is
thought, will furnish an ample supply of water to meet the
requirements of the department in ordinary emergencies.
A prolific source of complaint on the part of our cit-
izens and strangers who are daily landing on our shores,
is found in the system of extortion practiced by the
licensed hack-drivers of the city. I would, therefore, re-
commend that a tariff of fair and remunerative rates be
established for the conveyance of persons from one portion
of the city to another, and that penalties should be en-
acted and rigidly enforced in all cases of violation; thus
securing to the honest hackman his just compensation,
and relieving our citizens and strangers from the annoy-
ances and exactions that they have heretofore been com-
pelled to submit to.
I would call the attention of the Common Council to
the open and public manner in which gambling is carried
on in this city; and, although I cannot look to the ex-
tinguishment of this vice from the community at the
present day, I would recommend that some means be
taken to hide this source of human misery and shame
158 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
from the public gaze. As now openly practiced, its
effects are most demoralizing upon the community, not
only drawing into the threads of its nets those in high
standing, tempting the hardy toiler from the paths of
honest labor, but germinating and encouraging in the
youth of our city habits of indolence and desires fo^ dis-
honest gain, that lay the foundations and nurse the
promptings of crime.
Sunday evening theatricals, I think, in this enlight-
ened age, call for a rebuke at the hands of the city gov-
ernment, and I would recommend that an ordinance be
adopted for the prevention of their enactment. As a
man to be great must be good, so a city and a people
must observe the dictates of morality, if it is their am-
bition to rise to the high summits of human glory. It is
to be hoped that the right-thinking portion of our com-
munity will lend their example and influence to the
exterminating of habits and customs which are inclined
to smother or destroy the best impulses of our nature.
No nobler sight can greet the eye of man than could be
witnessed from the hill-tops that surround us — a people
the most industrious and enterprising upon the face of
the globe; resting, as they here can rest, in the midst of
plenitude and peace, from the labors of the week; re-
buking so signally the acts of lawlessness and disorder,
showing some degree of thankfulness for the blessings
which are here so abundant, and asserting so effectively
the power and greatness of free government.
In conclusion, I cannot resist the opportunity of con-
gratulating you and my fellow-citizens upon the rapid
growth of our city, the great improvements constantly
being made in the extent and architecture of our build-
ings, the public spirit and private enterprise so visible in
every street, affording, as they do, such substantial proofs
of our increasing wealth and prosperity. No city of a
century can boast finer structures than now grace this
city of a day. The world cannot afford such evidences
of the power of mind over matter as the eye constantly
rests upon here.
The certain and early building of the great Pacific
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 159
Railroad, which has not only agitated the public mind
of this city, but also of the older States of the Union,
will at no distant day bring us in close proximity to the
heart of our Union. Its want is not only felt here, but
in New York, the commercial centre of the Eepublic.
There, the golden ores which we have dug from our
mountains, and washed from our river banks, could soon
be given to the smelter, to be rolled into rails (golden
rails they will prove to California and to the United
States) to be stretched across the Plains, uniting the two
great emporiums of the western world.
In connection with the Pacific Railroad, I would re-
mark that a company has lately been organized in this
city, composed of gentlemen of wealth and enterprise,
for the formation of a line of steamers, to ply between
San Francisco and the ports of China, with every en-
couragement of its being carried into active operation;
thus not only connecting us directly with the Celestial
Empire, but, by means of steamers now placed on the
route from Honolulu to the Isles of the Pacific, making
this the port of entry to the whole trade with the Indies
and the Pacific. Even now, our exports are more than
equal to the entire cotton crop of the Southern States,
hitherto the principal staple our whole country has de-
pended on for the payment of her indebtedness abroad,
the place of which we have in a great measure supplied,
and, without doubt, saved the nation from, dishonor abroad
and bankruptcy at home.
The telegraph wires are already skirting our hillsides
and leaping our valleys, connecting us with the cities of
the interior, and drawing them into closer harmony and
conmiunication with the metropolis.
Great and wonderful as has been the sudden growth
of San Francisco, progressing, as she is, rapidly in all
the arts of peace, and enjoying so many of the fruits of
science — faithful and enlightened legislation, and the
liberal education of the generation who are to succeed
us, will alone secure to her the brilliant future that is
promised.
San Feancisco, Nov. 15, 1853.
160 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The cause of education in California owes much to
the substantial aid extended by Mr. Garrison. When
money was delayed at the proper source for the building
of school-houses, and work had ceased, he advanced the
required sums from his own resources. And his sym-
pathies have always been with the poor and lowly. He
established the first African school in San Francisco,
holding at that early day that, as the negroes were
eventually to become citizens, the proper way to prepare
them for that condition was by education. ■
Two great subjects, especially interesting to his emi-
nently practical turn of mind, Avere never lost sight of —
a steamship line to China and Australia, and the explora-
tion of a route for the Pacific Railroad. Not long after
assuming the duties of his office, he urged public action
to these points, and he was repeatedly a member of com-
mittees appointed to report to public meetings on the subject
of a railroad. His name heads the list of subscribers to
this object. He was also the first cash subscriber in a
large amount to build a telegraph line over the Sierras, to
demonstrate the feasibility of an overland telegraph line
between San Francisco and New York.
There can scarcely be mentioned a charitable enterprise
in those days to which Mr. Garrison was not a liberal con-
tributor. It is typical of the man that, during the whole
of his term as Mayor, he served the public gratuitously —
having at the close of that term drawn a check for the
entire amount of his salary, which he divided equally
between the Catholic and Protestant Orphan Asylums.
The Ladies' Relief Society, the Mercantile Library Asso-
ciation, of which he was created a life member, and many
churches, were the richer for his open-handed donations,
while innumerable indigent applicants for a free passage
in his steamers joyfully acknowledged his broadcast and
never -failing benevolence. In the early years of the
California fever, hundreds of destitute people, continually
collecting at Panama, were gratuitously forwarded thence
to San Francisco at a personal expense to him of many
thousands of dollars.
In September, 1853, Mr. Garrison headed a move-
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 161
merit in San Francisco of the former citizens of Louisi-
ana, to take measures to relieve their fellow-citizens of
New Orleans who were suffering from the dreadful
ravages of yellow fever, which in that year exceeded in
virulence any thing then known. During the month of
August, there had been 5,229 deaths. The appeal was
eloquent and forcible. Mr. Garrison contributed lavishly
to this charity; and the Germans, vrho held a special
meeting to adopt measures for the relief of their fellow-
countrymen who were being decimated by the destroyer,
passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Garrison for his friendly
offer to remit all the funds free of charge to New Orleans.
An instance, out of many of a similar kind, may be
selected as exhibiting Mr. Garrison's peculiarly decisive
manner of dealing with circumstances. During his term
as Mayor, a noted speculator and his gang, iu April, 1854,
commenced driving a line of piles, by night, across the
dock from the end of Long wharf, to that of Clay street
wharf, thereby obstructing navigation, injuring the har-
bor, and jeopardizing the city's title to property of im-
mense value. Shortly after midnight, Mr. Garrison, having
been informed of the facts, repaired to the spot, and the
exciting scene that ensued is still fresh in the memory
of those who witnessed it. He found the police force
overawed by the defiant bearing of the parties. The
Marshal refused to obey the Mayor's orders to arrest the
rioters, ostensibly on the ground that the authority was
insufficient. Upon this, Mr. Garrison, acting with his cus-
tomary resolution, took the affair into his own hands, met
the desperadoes with their own weapons, regardless of
threats, and, it is sufficient to say, he summarily termin-
ated the lawless proceedings, amid the cheers of the great
crowd who had collected upon the wharves awaiting the
event. The example was highly beneficial as a prec-
edent for subsequent occasions of a like nature. In July
following, a similar scene occurred on Montgomery street,
where an attempt was made to fence off Merchant street.
The Marshal having again refused to obey the Mayor's
orders to arrest the parties, Mr. Garrison assumed the
personal responsibility, had the obstruction instantly torn
162 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
down, and on the following day, impeached the Marshal,
who was soon o.fter removed from office by unaminoua
vote of the Common Council.
In the year 1859, Mr. Garrison returned to the At-
lantic States, and settled in New York city. There he
became at once known as a bold and successful financier — •
a man of vigorous grasp and comprehensive views — the
weight of his character and business sagacity being felt
in the heaviest transactions of the times. He is to-day
one of the leading steamship proprietors in the United
States, being the principal owner in many ocean steamers.
Now, when our national commerce is languishing
under discouragements which few capitalists are willing
to encounter, Mr. Garrison continues to maintain the
only United States steamship company with which the
Grovernment has a mail contract carrying the American
flag on the Atlantic ocean — the important line between
New York and Brazil. During the late war, he camo
promptly with all his remarkable energies to the support
of the Grovernment, and with his steamships rendered
eminent services to the cause of the Union. It was at
this trying epoch that his sterling patriotism was particu-
larly displayed. When the cause looked the most gloomy,
and capital began to hesitate, he fitted out, mainly
by his own exertions, Butler's Ship-Island expedition,
and became personally responsible in England for the
principal part of its armament. This was formally ac-
knowledged by Mr. Lincoln, Secretary Seward, Mr. Sum-
ner, and other prominent members of Congress.
After an absence from California of about ten years,
the Commodore, who, in times past, had taken so con-
spicuous a part in ocean steam navigation, especially be-
tween San Francisco and New York, and on the Pacific
coast, was among the earliest to make the railroad trip
across the continent. His visit to the metropolis of the
Pacific was not merely to seek pleasure and recreation,
but also to build substantial improvements upon his real
estate, principally in the vicinity of the city front.
Some of the most valuable structures in that part of
San Francisco have been erected by him, and a consider-
able portion of his immense fortune, amounting to sev-
CORNELIUS K. GARRISON. 1G3
eral millions of dollars, is invested in the scene of his
former business transactions.
The Commodore, on his arrival in San Francisco, was
met on all sides by the congratulations of his many friends
on his evident good health, and kind wishes for its long
continuance followed him on his return to New York.
Just one week prior to his departure from San Fran-
cisco, he received the following invitation, which, it will
be seen, was signed by the leading professional and
business men of the city:
San Francisco, August lOth, 1869.
Hon. C. K Garrison — Dear Sir: In token of the veiy great re-
gard we entertain for you, both on account of your public services
and private benefices to the citizens of San Francsico, we, your old
friends and associates, beg to ask your acceptance of a farewell
dinner, to be given at the Maison Doree, on Monday evening,
August 16th, at seven o'clock.
A. J. Bowie, M. D., Charles E. McLane,
Edmond L. Goold, William Alvord,
Peter F. Doling, L. L. Robinson,
Hon. Henry A. Lyon, O. Eldridge,
James H. Baird, Hon. Delos Lake,
Benj. M. Hartshorne, Thomas H. Selby
John T. Boyd, Hall McAllister, '
William C. Ralston, Joseph P. Hoge,
L Friedlander, S. M. Wilson,
D. O. Mills, Charles Mayne,
E. V. Joice, Hon. Eugene Sullivan,
F. J. Weeks, F. L. A. Pioche,
Joseph A. Donohoe, A. B. Forbes,
Lafayette Maynard, John Benson,
Lloyd Tevis, George H. Howard,
Jesse Holladay, * William Norris,
J. G. Eastland, H. P. Wakelee.
Gen. E. D. Keyes,
This invitation was accepted, and the banquet was
served with the most sumptuous and elegant appoint-
ments. Hon. Ogden Hoffman, United States District
Judge ; His Excellency Governor Haight, and Hon. Frank
McCoppin, Mayor of the city, were present as invited
guests. Dr. A. J. Bowie presided, and made the follow-
ing address :
Gentlemen: This banquet to-night, to the Hon. C. K. Gan'ison,
was prompted by a desire on the part of Mr. Garrison's friends to
convey to him, first, their full recognition of the great services he
had rendered to this community, in behalf of immigration to
164 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
our city and State; but more especially because of his personal en-
dearment to the early surviving settlers and residents of the city of
San Francisco. AVe can scarcely hope, however much we may desire
it, that Mr. Garrison wdll again venture to encounter the toil of
another visit to our city, which w^e know he loves so w^ell, and to
whose development and growth he has contributed so largely; and
therefore, at one and the same moment, we proclaim our pleasure
at receiving him and our regret at parting, by bidding him at this
banquet, all hail and farewell !
To which Mr. Garrison replied as follows :
Gentlemen : I am filled wath the greatest and truest emotion at
this most unexpected and flattering entertainment on the part of my
old friends. If I had required any incentive beyond what had been
supplied by my past relations with California, this spectacle of so
much worth and intelligence w^ould urge me still fuiiher in hope
and effort to develop the interests of this mighty country. Gentle-
men, my heart is too full of gratitude for this splendid ovation to
permit me to do aught else but beg you will accept the poverty of
my language to express my full feelings of gratitude.
Messrs. Judge Delos Lake, Judge Lyons, Gen. E. D.
Keyes, W. C. Ealston, Charles E. McLane, Hall McAllis-
ter, Joseph P. Hoge, J. G. Eastland, and others, followed
in remarks pertinent to the occasion, and were happy
in allusions to reminiscences in connection with the past
efforts of their guest toward the development of Cali-
fornia.
Mr. Garrison's distinguished success in commercial
affairs is due, not more to his unconquerable energy, than
to an unbending integrity manifested in all the relations
of life. His w^ord is proverbially as good as his bond.
Conservative and tolerant in his intercourse with men,
his friendships have always been warm and intimate, and
are life-long. An especially prepossessing address and
good conversational powers, added to great firmness and
force of character, have generally enabled him to in-
fluence others and impress them with the soundness of
his views. Left early in life to provide for himself, he
has been emphatically the architect of his own fortunes.
In looking back upon his business career, he enjoys the
well-earned consciousness of having contributed largely
to the material prosperity of the country, while hundreds
unremembered by him still cherish the memory of his
charitable deeds and whole-souled generosity.
^
UII7S
OF TB
o»
feyoE«"k^
THOMAS STARR KING
THE Editor desires to assure the public that he has left
no stone unturned in the effort to obtain an original
sketch of Rev. Thomas Starr King. The career of this
man was so brilliant and eventful — in the brief compass
of forty years, he accomplished such mighty purposes —
that his life and deeds deserve to be chronicled by a gifted
and practiced pen, entirely familiar and in harmony with
the theme.
For the purpose of securing such a sketch, the Editor
approached or communicated with many of the most pol-
ished and effective writers of the Pacific — and also of the
Atlantic States — and in so doing, exhausted the list of
those whom he knew to be intimate friends and admirers
of Mr. King, when living, and whom he considered com-
petent to the task.
All, for various reasons, declined to furnish the desired
sketch. Having had only a casual introduction to Mr.
King a few years before his death, and not having enjoyed
any intimacy with him ; and moreover, knowing nothing
of his career prior to his arrival in California, the Editor
felt his incapacity to treat the subject properly, and had
nearly concluded that his work would have to be given
to the public in an incomplete state, owing to the omission
of a biographical notice of this truly representative man.
But a short time before the manuscript was placed in the
hands of the printer, he was presented with an address
read a few days after the decease of Mr. King before the
Unitarian Society, of which he was Pastor, by a prom-
inent citizen of San Francisco, who had for several years
been a warm personal friend of Mr. King, and who had
received from his dying lips the injunction : ''Keep my
166 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
memory green." This gentleman was then, as he had for
some years previously been, a well known merchant, and
also Superintendent of the United States Branch Mint of
San Francisco. The description of the death scene of
Mr. King, of which the author was an unhappy witness,
is fraught with absorbing and melancholy interest.
This address, however, discloses no information con-
cerning Mr. King's ancestry, birth, boyhood, or any por-
tion of his career passed prior to his arrival in California,
but the San Francisco Bulletin^ on the day of Mr. King's
death, contained an ably-written editorial, eulogistic of
his splendid talents and his great services to the State.
And the local columns of that journal gave a brief notice
of his life, on the same day, and, a few days later, con-
tained a full account of the solemn ceremonies and im-
pressive scenes attending his burial.
These articles in the Bulletin newspaper, and the ad-
dress alluded to, together make up a faithful and inter-
esting history of Mr. King ; and the Editor gives place
to them here, in lieu of an original sketch, confident that
they will be accepted by an appreciative public as a wor-
thy memorial of his life and services.
From the San Francisco Fvening Bulletin j March 4:tK 1864,
The ANNOUNCEMENT of the death of the Rev. Thomas
Starr King startles the community, and shocks it like
the loss of a great battle or tidings of a sudden and un-
dreamed-of public calamity. Certainly no other man on
the Pacific Coast would be missed so much. San Fran-
cisco has lost one of her chief attractions ; the State, its
noblest orator ; the country, one of her ablest defenders.
Mr. King had been less than four years in California, yet
in that short time he had done so much and so identified
himself with its best interests, that scarcely one public
institution or enterprise of philanthropy exists here
which will not feel that it has lost a champion. He was
a vast power which any struggling good work could com-
mand. The most erudite and the least cultivated were
alike charmed by the eloquence of his popular addresses.
THO^ilAS STARR KING. 167
He warmed the coldest audience into enthusiasm. Some
said it was his musical voice ; some that it was his genial
manner ; some that it was his tact in feeling his audience
and humoring it until every fraction of it was '4n sym-
pathy" with him, when he boldly led off to the point he
had in view ; some, in more general terms, that it was his
commanding genius ; some that it was the merits of his
cause, which it was his gift to lift up and present in its
best light, that accounted for his sway over the multitude ;
but on this all agree, friends and opponents, that while
the matter was in his hands there was no gainsaying him.
Few public speakers were bold enough of choice to follow
with a speech after he had spoken ; and if he were an-
nounced, the audience was never satisfied till his turn
came.
Mr. King had grown immensely as a public speaker
since he left the East. He brought with him a most en-
viable reputation as a literary lecturer, a polished, bril-
liant writer and preacher. Those who knew him con-
gratulated California on his coming ; they said he would
do for our landscape and our land what he had done for
New Hampshire; for his White Hills^ their Legends^ Land-
scapes and Poetry^ had made the White Mountains classical,
and brought them within the circle of all Eastern sum-
mer tourists. The most sanguine never imagined that he
would become the power that he quickly proved himself
at the sterner, harder duties that engage men who lay the
foundations of States. He used to say, soon after he
arrived here, and when he found how much greater would
be his influence with this people if he could speak as well
extempore as he wrote, that he would give anything if he
had the ability to ^' think on his feet." ^'Beecher has it,"
said he ; ''his thoughts come trooping in never so swiftly,
so orderly, and in such force as while on his feet with a
great audience before him — every upturned face is his ally
in marshaling his grand thoughts ; but I can't." Few men
at the height of their fame venture the experiment of a
new style of address. He ventured, and every one who
has heard his later off-hand speeches will testify how
speedily he acquired the faculty which he coveted — of
168 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
thinking on his feet — his best things flashing into his own
mind apparently the instant that they flashed through it
into his audience. Mr. King introduced himself to the
San Francisco community by a course of lectures deliv-
ered one each week in the First Congregational Church,
which was crowded to its utmost capacity to hear them.
It is safe to say that fifteen minutes after he began the
delivery of the first one, his position as an incomparable
lecturer was established. That series had been delivered
at the East. Each one of them was a perfect gem in its
way. Not a sentence in one of them but gleamed with
beauty. The rare and dainty imagination of the lecturer
discovered itself in every phrase, and showed him a poet
in the disguise of prose. The skeptical said it was very
pretty writing certainly, but they doubted his depth. The
lectures that Mr. King wrote here were of altogether a
different order. He availed himself of that injunction
of the rhetoricians, not to be too evenly excellent in
your style. He polished his sentences less, he waited no
longer on fine fancies ; he argued more ; he dropped down
to good plain talk for minutes together in his addresses;
and then, when his hearers were rested, he blazed out
with passages that swept away all thoughts but of the one
topic that possessed him.
Thomas Starr King was born in New York, Decem-
ber 16th, 1824. His father was a Universalist minister,
settled in 1834 over a congregation in Charlestown, Mass.
At the time of his father's death, Mr. King was preparing
to enter Harvard College, but this event left the family
in a manner dependent upon him for support, and from
the age of twelve to twenty, he was employed either as
a clerk or school teacher. All this while he was an
ardent student; scarcely were the regular duties of the
day done, than the interregnum found him at his desk;
and midnight looked in upon him deep in books, theologi-
cal studies claiming his attention mainly. Following the
bent of his mind, he devoted himself to the ministry,
preaching his first sermon in the town of Woburn, in
September, 1845. He subsequently preached at Charles-
town to the congregation of which his father liad charge.
THOMAS STARR KING. 169
In 1848, at the age of twenty-four, he was called to pre-
side over the Hollis street Unitarian Church, in Boston.
The church at this time was very much divided, so much
so that it was feared that harmony could not be restored.
Under the ministry of the energetic young pastor, how-
ever, peace once more came to its councils; the church
grew rapidly in strength; and when Mr. King left, it en-
joyed a prosperity unprecedented in its history. The
same genial and sympathetic manners which won him
the affections of the whole people of this city, as well as
of his immediate congregation, endeared him to the con-
gregation of which he had charge in Boston ; and when
he announced to the latter his intention of changing his
residence and making this coast the scene of his future
labors, a storm of regrets and remonstrances arose which
would have made a weaker man change his purpose. He
received the call from the Unitarian Society of this city
early in the year of 1860, and sailed from Boston in the
month of April. In a letter to his Hollis street Church,
informing them of the call to San Francisco, he gave
two reasons for his acceptance of it. One was his failing
health, which made a change of climate necessary; the
other, and the principal one, a desire to do the will of
his Master.
He identified himself at once with California and its
people, urging their interests on all occasions with a zeal
and persistence which could not have been exceeded had
he been one of the first settlers of the country. He
looked beyond the pulpit, and mingled much with men —
touching life at nearly all points. The agricultural and
mineral resources of our State claimed a large share of
his attention, and his lectures, illustrated by quaint humor
as well as by deep and practical knowledge of his texts,
are fresh as the sound of words spoken yesterday in the
ears of our people. His was one of those lovable natures,
which warm to all men, and in consequence his circle of
friends was only bounded by his acquaintance — it is
questionable if he ever had an enemy among all who
knew him, even those who differed from him in theologi-
cal views yielding to the magnetic sway of his voice and
170 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
manner. He did not think that the pulpit, the prow of
the world, should be shut out from pointing the way in
politics when great principles are involved, and early in
the war he pronounced against the rebellion and the issues
upon which it was conducted. In this respect he has
wielded a powerful influence, lending his aid to the pre-
servation of harmony in a State which at the outset
seemed likely to be divided, carrying the masses with him
by that energy and eloquence which was given him as a
birthright, and of which only the hand of Death could
rob him.
Mr. King's energy has an eminent illustration in the
history of his pastoral labors. He found the Unitarian
Society some $20,000 in debt, small in numbers and fee-
ble in strength. In less than a year the whole debt was
paid, and the society was in a flourishing condition ; be-
fore four years had expired a new church was built for him^
costing $90,000 — to which he Iiimself was the largest
contributor, giving from his own pocket $7,000 to the
church and in furniture. Barely had the building been
completed when the pastor was taken away. This seems
irreconcilable with faith, but the ways of Providence are
often inscrutable. His physical health, never very robust,
suffered much from his arduous labors, and particularly
from the exertions which he put forth to insure the com-
pletion of this church and its freedom from debt. For
two or three months before his death, it was evident that
he was not so well as usual, and he had frequently spoken
of the necessity of giving up all literary labor. He
thought it would be impossible for him to endure another
year of work, and they were already agitating the ques-
tion of who should fill his pulpit while he took a year's
respite from labor in travel.
Just before his sickness he had a dream which he nar-
rated to a friend at the time, remarking that it made
more impression on him than he cared to confess. In
his dream he thought he was shaving himself, and the ra-
zor, slipping, gashed his throat. Physicians who were
called told him he could not live ten minutes. He ar-
gued the case with them — holding the edges of the wound
THOMAS STARR KING. I7l
together with his hand — telling them neither the windpipe
nor any of the arteries were severed, and that he could
recover if they would only stop the bleeding. They said
it was useless, however, and that he must prepare to die.
The dream was probably induced by the pain which had
already begun to settle in his throat.
About two weeks before his death he first complained
of not feeling well, and of some trouble with his throat.
His friends urged him to be more careful, and not expose
himself to the air ; but he thought it was only an ordi-
nary case of sore throat, and declined to confine himself
or call in the aid of a physician until Friday, Feb. 26th.
In the evening he had his regular reception, and between
10 and 11 o'clock went down to a social gathering at the
church, though still suffering. On Saturday evening he
had invited a number of friends to supper, but when even-
ing came he was unable to appear at table. While sup-
per was going on, however, a bridal-party came to be mar-
ried. Mr. King had received no previous intimation of
such a visit, and sent down asking to be excused, saying
that he was sick and confined to his bed. The party re-
plied that they had set their hearts on being married by
Mr. King, and would come up to his bedside sooner than
be defeated in their desire. With that spirit of self-sac-
rifice for which he was so remarkable, he then said he
would get up and go down into the parlor. He did so,
and went through the ceremony ; but though it was per-
formed in a very few minutes, he was so weak at its con-
clusion that he had to be assisted up to his room.
From the San Francisco Evening Bulletin^ March 7th, 1864.
Thomas Starr King dead had a larger congregation
than he ever had living. At 9 o'clock in the morning
the doors of the church were opened, and until noon-
time a congregation numbered by thousands and com-
prised of all religious denominations, poured through the
aisles, bending over the burial-case where the former
pastor lay with hands crossed in dumb prayer — listening
to the mute but eloquent sermon of the upturned face
172 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and lips set in eternal supplication. Loving hands had
festooned the church with wreaths of Egyptian lilies —
those flowers which with their single petal, waxen white,
suggest the tomb, and all the sad thoughts and ceremon-
ies that attend even the greenest grave — National banners,
their bright stars clouded with crape and their crimson
stripes veiled, draped the altar and threw their folds over
the coffin ; the mantle of patriotism which fell upon his
shoulders in life, enveloping and shrouding the form
wdthin in death. The apron of the Order of which he
was Grand Orator, and other signs and symbols of the
Masonic craft, were there ; flowers of the rarest odor shed
their perfume over the body, and on the breast lay a chap-
let of spring violets, placed there by the request of a lady
once a resident of this city, now dwelling at the East,*'^
who telegraphed on Saturday to one who, like her, loved
the deceased: ^^ Put violets for me on our dear friend who
rests." It was a kindly thought, prompted by the grace-
ful tenderness of a woman's heart ; the flowers will be
fragrant in the grave as the memory of the deceased is in
the hearts of his friends — and these are only numbered
by the city's population.
A military guard detailed for the duty was stationed
in and about the church, preserving order among the
dense crowd, which so early as noon-time began to throng
about the doors. The butts of muskets rang on the mar-
ble floors beneath which one was to sleep who believed
that Christians may wear armor when the cause is just,
and prayer be helmeted and mailed, if the vindication of
great human principles demands it. It is safe to say that
such an immense assemblage has not been seen before in
this city for many years. The congregation first passed
into the church, and found their accustomed pews; the
Governor and other State and Governmental dignitaries
were seated, and then the main doors were thrown open
for the reception of as many others as the church could
contain. Not a square inch of floor was left in body, or
aisle, that was not pressed by some foot. The gallery
* Mrs. Gen. J. C. Fremont.
THOMAS STARR KING. 173
groaned with its great human freight like a ship at sea,
on whose decks a mad weight of water has leaped; and so
crowded looked the faces in that great bracket of life
affixed to the walls, that the effect was stereoscopic and
all seemed to resolve themselves into one. So densely
were the audience packed that several ladies fainted
away, and even men struggled to the doors for air. But
there was no exit ; for lobby, vestibule, and even the
street for a block or more was packed with human wedges.
So thick was the crowd outside that the street was only
passed with difficulty after long and tedious urging. It
was like bees, swarming on the outside of a hive; while
through Stockton street, north and south, a tide of peo-
ple going and coming, flowed in one continuous wave.
The services began at 2 o'clock, with a voluntary on
the organ, by Mr. Trenkle. A most impressive scene was
afforded. The solemn notes swelled through the church
in a plaintive, mournful psalm ; the instrument seemed
for the moment to have a human heart within its walls,
wailing its grief in sounds that were like the falling of
tears. In the front pews of the church sat the Masons,
each wearing an acacia sprig, and the habiliments of the
Order. Through the stained glass of the ceiling and the
sides, and the great rose-window at the end of the church,
the afternoon sun sifted its mellow rays like a benedic-
tion, crowning the coffin and altar with a glory of light
and color. Minute guns from Alcatraz mingled their
heavy bass with the notes of the organ — soon a nearer
battery in Union Square took up the burden, and there
was an anthem of cannon swelling with its grand diapason
the solemnity of the services. This is said to be the
first time in the history of the country that minute guns
have been fired by order of the Government in honor of
a civilian who never held a public position.
The 39th Psalm was chanted by the choir, and follow-
ing this the Rev. Mr. Kittredge read the 23d Psalm —
the one which Mr. King repeated on his death-bed. The
Grand Master then commenced to read the impressive
burial service of the Masonic ritual, choir and organ
chanting the responses. The first prayer of the ritual
174 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
was offered by Mr. Kittredge; and the remainder of the
service, slightly varied in accordance with the unusual
burying-place, was read by the Grand Master. At the
proper interval in the service the vault beneath the altar
was opened, and amid a voluntary from the organ, the cof-
fin was lowered down to its last resting-place, the Secretary
of the Lodge dropping his roll upon it, and the Grand
Master his acacia branch. The last prayer of the ritual
was off*ered by the Rev. J. D. Blain, benediction was of-
fered by Mr. Kittredge, the Masonic Brotherhood filing
past the vault flung into it the acacia sprig emblem
which each wore on his breast, the ceremonies were
ended, and the great crowd went out into the streets and
to their homes.
Besides the anthems by the full choir, solos, ^^ Hcncyuj
that my Redeemer Uveth,'' and " Gome, ye disconsolate ,''
were sung, the former by Mrs. Grotjan, the latter by Mrs.
Leach. All through the city, during the day, with
scarcely an exception, at all the principal buildings, and
also at the forts, and army headquarters, national flags
were at half-mast; and colors at the residences of nearly
all the foreign Consuls were similarly lowered. Most of
the American shipping in harbor lowered its bunting, and
the foreign shipping, almost to a vessel, followed the ex-
ample, the flags of Hamburg, Columbia, Russia, France
and Great Britain being among the others thus displayed.
On board the only war vessel in port, the Russian steamer
BogatyrCj the Russian ensign, lowered from the peak,
stood at half-mast during the day. If anything can miti-
gate the grief of his friends for his death, some flowers of
consolation may surely be plucked from the fact that he
was thus universally mourned. The following telegram
was received from the Rev. Dr. Bellows :
New York, March 5th, 1864.
To the People of California, — The sad tidings of to-day
have broken our hearts. Thousands here will weep with
you over his bier. You have had our brightest, our
noblest, our best — and he has lived and died, in the full-
ness of his manhood, in your service. Who shall fill his
THOMAS STARR KING. 175
place on the platform, in the pulpit, in the hearts of a
million of friends ?
His full, quick, penetrative mind, winged with fancy
and with restlessness in the service of truth, liberty and
righteousness — his soul glowing with natural sympathy.
Christian patriotism, universal philanthropy ; his every
action made to utter and diffuse the noble, inspiring con-
victions of his pure, loving nature ; his eye the window
of an open, honest, fervent soul — his whole character
''made up of every creature's best ;" strong and gentle,
generous and prudent, aspiring and modest, controlling
and deferential, "the people's darling, yet unspoiled by
praise ;" knowing the world and its ways, yet clean of
its stains ; pious without sanctimony — what but his own
living, undying confidence in the absolute goodness of
God can enable us to sustain such a measureless loss ?
The mountains he loved and praised are henceforth his
monuments and his mourners. The White Hills and the
Sierra Nevada are, to-day, wrapped in his shroud. His
dirge will be perpetually heard in their forests.
Farewell, genial, generous, faithful and beloved friend!
Thou hast gone from those who loved thee well, to One
who loves thee best. God comfort thy family, thy flock,
thy broken-hearted friends on both sides of a continent.
At a meeting of the congregation of the First Unita-
rian Society held at their church on Geary Street, on the
evening of March 15th, 1864, the following resolutions
were offered, viz :
It having pleased the Most High God to draw closer
to His side His servant, our greatly beloved and honored
pastor, Thomas Starr King, and inasmuch as this requisi-
tion, coming to him in the plenitude of fame, intellect,
and usefulness, found him still "happy, resigned, trust-
ful," it becomes us as Christian brethren to restrain the
natural, but selfish impulses of grief, accepting the chalice
commended to our lips, and bowing humbly to the Om-
nipotent will. Therefore be it
176 REPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Resolved^ That in the sublime spectacle of the death-
bed of Thomas Starr King, we recognize a filll and tri-
umphant vindication of his faith as a teacher and his
works as a man.
Resolved^ That though it hath seemed fit to the Al-
mighty to remove his mortal presence from among us, the
subtle influence of his piety and genius still exists, and
continues to transfuse and possess us; and that although
the pulpit of the church he has adorned remains empty,
an emanation of his goodness still obtains in the pulpit
of each man's heart, swaying and controlling its impulses,
directing and guiding its promptings, and preaching '' with
the tongue of men and angels."
Resolved^ That his ministration of this Society has
been vital, creative and enduring ; that it has been uni-
formly characterized by ceaseless toil and unabated zeal,
even to the sacrifice of health and the precipitation of
death — by an eloquence earnest, truthful and convincing
— by erudition thorough, complete and reliable — by fervor,
boldness and originality that have attached the lukewarm
and indifferent — by a humanity that was broad, catholic,
all- sympathizing and tolerant — by a gentleness that was
winning without being weak — by a force that was decis-
ive in results, though unfelt in its processes — and by
those rare, indefinable social graces and courtesies which,
as they were not beneath the Guest of the bride of Cana,
are the attributes of a Christian gentleman.
Resolved^ That as citizens of this republic we deplore,
with the nation, the loss of a courageous heart and bril-
liant intellect ever ready to battle in its defense, and that
we deeply sympathize with the wounded soldiers in bat-
tle-fields and hospitals, who will miss the priceless aid of
him who yearned to them out of the brimming fullness
of his patriotism, charity, and love.
Resolved, That we tenderly sympathize with the deep
affliction of that family circle of which he was the life
and light — offering to the stricken widow what consola-
tion may be derived from the assurance, that a commu-
nity are partners in her sorrow ; to his widowed mother
and kindred in a distant part of our country, the expres-
THOMAS STARR KING. 177
sion of our unfeigned grief, that they are bereaved of the
wise counsels and affectionate solicitude of a noble son
and brother; and to the fatherless children, the undying
record of his fame as an inheritance and example to them
forever.
Previous to their passage, Mr. R. B. Swain rose and
said :
Before the resolutions are adopted, I cannot refrain
from bearing my testimony to the purity of Mr. King's
life, and offering to his memory the tribute of my pro-
found admiration of his character, his genius, and his tal-
ents. I was early brought in contact with him — first by
correspondence before his arrival, and afterwards as a co-
laborer, though comparatively a humble one, in the cause
of the church and of liberal Christianity. Knowing him
so intimately, I have taken some pains to reduce to writ-
ing the thoughts that have occurred to me in reference to
his lit'o and his early death, in order that I may present
them in a regular and consecutive form. For what re-
lates to our beloved pastor, should now be the property
of the Society over which he presided, and of which he
was the life and light. His sayings and doings — his acts
of mercy — his goodness of heart, constantly prompting
him to deeds of charity — his transcendent genius, which
shone forth most brilliantly in the privacy of social and
familiar relations — his innate purity of character — his
unsellishness, which made him ambitious to sacrifice his
own comfort to promote the comfort of others — his hu-
mility, which rendered him incapable of knowing his own
goodness and greatness, and oftentimes led him to esti-
mate too feebly his own powers — liis reverence, wliicl'
carried his soul above the transitory things of earth, and
gave him aspirations towards Heaven and his God ; — all
these constitute an endowment of priceless memories be-
queathed to the Society in whose service he so faitlifully
labored, and for which he died. In the few remarks I
have to offer upon the resolutions, I shall confine myself
12
178 REPRESENTATIVE MEls OP THE PACIFIC.
chiefly to narrative ; but I would not, if I could, with-
hold the repeated expression of my love of him as a man,
a patriot, and a Christian — the most pure in his thoughts,
the most unseliish in his character, with whom it has
been my good fortune to be associated.
I said I first knew Mr. King through correspondence.
After the departure of our former pastor, Mr. Cutler, and
during the temporary ministration of Mr. Buckingham,
the Board of Trustees negotiated, through friends at the
East, for a permanent pastor. We were slightly encour-
aged to believe that Mr. King, then presiding over the
Hollis Street Society in Boston, might be induced to come
here; and through a Committee of the Board, Mr. Brooks
and Mr. Lambert, who were fortunately in Boston at that
time, negotiations were opened with him upon the sub-
ject. I must confess that I had but little hope that he
could be secured for this Society — for I knew how he
was loved and prized by his own parishioners, for whom
he had done such essential service during a period of ten
years, and how his fame and reputation as a divine and
lecturer were as wide as the continent itself. But we be-
lieved that he would have a great field here ; and were
encouraged to hope that his comparative j^outh, his spirit
of self-sacrifice, and the necessity of seeking a new field
of labor to renew his i^hysical energies, vv^hich had been
much exhausted by study and over-exertion, would tempt
him to listen, at least, to our call, and perhaps to adopt
for a season this vigorous and prosperous State as the
field of his labors. Fortunate, indeed, was it for this So-
ciety, and fortunate for California, that he came. With-
out him, who can now. say what would, to-day, have been
our condition? Who can now say that we would not
have been hurled into the vortex of secession, or that
there would not have been inaugurated the scheme of a
Pacific Rc»)ublic, for which our delegation in Congress
were manoeuvering, and which would have made this hap-
py, peaceful State, a scene of fire and blood, between the
, contending fury of loyalty and treason ?
Mr. King's first communication, in answer to our call^
"was made in the month of September, 1859, to the Com-
THOMAS STARR KING. 179
mittee then in Boston. It is an admirable illustration of
his frankness and candor, and although a private letter,
there are no good reasons why the most of it should not
be read here. His peculiar sincerity and earnestness are
stamped in every line. Dr. Bellows, who, I am proud to
say, was my pastor for many years in New York, had been
commissioned, in conjunction with the Committee, to ob-
tain a pastor for us — but they had been enjoined to make
application to no man whose fame was not already secured,
and whose name was not eminent among the ministers of
our faith — for it was certain that with any feebler man,
our then tottering Society would become bankrupt and
ruined, perhaps forever. How well the task was per-
formed, let the present condition of our Society, and in-
deed, let the prosperity of our State, to-day, answer.
Aided by the powerful influence of Dr. Bellows, negotia-
tions were opened with Mr. King dired. At that time his
own Society, to which he had devotedly attached himself,
was claiming a continuation of his services, and a Com-
mittee from a strong Society in Cincinnati were clamor-
ing loudly for him to remove thither, and become their
pastor, offering inducements which no ordinary man — no
sdjish man — could have resisted. As Chairman of the
Board of Trustees, the correspondence fell to me. Facts
and figures as to our prospects were sent to Dr. Bellows.
Nothing very flattering as to the past could be present-
ed; but our prospects, with a strong man, were set forth
in brilliant colors. It seemed quite certain that there
was a large field for the growth of our faith in this State,
under the leadership of such a man as Mr. King proved
to be, and our claims were pushed with all possible zeal,
and even with audacity.
The letter which I now propose to read to you, con-
vinced us that Mr. King, of all n^en, was best adapted to
our wants ; and notwithstanding he was constrained to an-
swer our call in the negative, we refused to abide by his
decision. The letter is as follows : —
My Dear Sir: I was on the point of writing to you in
Brattleboro, when your letter of this morning came.
180 EEPKtSENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
It has been impossible for me to reply at an earlier
date. I have been very busy consulting intimate friends,
obtaining information, and forecasting the trouble, difficul-
ty, and losses of uprooting myself and family here, while
not a little time has been absorbed in studying my own
inclinations, heart, and resources, for such duties as the
post in San Francisco would demand.
The result of all my inquiries, consultations and re-
flections, stands thus: 1st. Very grave doubts as to the
ability of the parish to pay the salary named to me. Gen-
tlemen who know the Unitarian Society there pretty well,
have assured friends of mine that the parish is not unit-
ed — that there are a great many great draw-backs to the
popularity of a liberal faith in the city, and that with a
debt of $12,400 on which the Society pay 12 per cent,
interest, and a floating debt of $1000, no man with tal-
ents less electrical than Chapin's, Beecher's, or Dr. Bel-
lows', could put the parish in a condition to pay such a
salary. And I am assured that I could not live in San
Francisco — being myself a very poor economist — for less
than $5000, at least, with my family.
I fmd that I must sacrifice nearly $2000 on house and
furniture and books, if I uproot here. Then there is the
expense of removal with my wife and daughter; then the
cost of setting up anew out there, the return expenses,
and the new housekeeping costs, two or three years hence,
if I come back.
The risks are very great. I am a poor man ; I have
worked very hard for ten years, have had heavy extra
expenses, which still continue, and can not afford to
give up such certainties as are before me here, for the
ventures of so distant a field of labor. Every year my
lecture opportunities enlarge. I should abandon that
field in going to San Francisco, and might not be able to
reenter it so favorably.
Then beyond all this, I have misgivings as to my qual-
ification for such work as your Society needs, to fill the
Church with numbers and enthusiasm. I am not extem-
pore enough — electric enough — so I fear. You need a
temperament like Dr. Bellows', or a stirring preacher like
THOMAS STARR KING. 181
Chapin, to enable the parish to fulfill such promises as
Mr. Swain's note to me contained. From all that I have
heard and thought, therefore, I dare not trust to my power
of infusing ability enough in the parish to produce the
requisite receipts. I have too much at stake.
Yet I feel very strongly the attractions of the field.
If I could properly go to San Francisco on a smaller sal-
ary, I would gladly do so, and work to the best of my
pov/er for the good of your parish and our noble cause.
Or if I could have gone out to California on the invitation
of the Mercantile Library Association, last spring, inde-
pendently of the parish, and preached in the city and
surveyed the field for lecturing, I could possibly have
found firm ground for an affirmative reply to your call.
But as the whole subject has shaped itself, since my
inquiries and serious thought, and with the firm convic-
tion tliat many of the inducements must prove illusory,
nothing seems to be left to me, at present, but to decline
the call. Several of my own parishioners were disposed,
at first, to the movement; and would be still if they were
convinced that the basis is firm. But they cannot advise
me, otherwise than against it, as matters look to them
now. I have told you frankly my whole mind, and I can
only offer you, with sincere thanks for your kindness and
complimentary call, my cordial cooperation in obtaining
a man who can prudently go on a smaller salary than
would be necessary for me.
With cordial regards, believe me,
Faithfully 3^our&,
T. S. KING.
This letter contained one single paragraph upon which
we felt that we could hang a hope of success; and accord-
ingly, by return of mail, the Trustees dispatched to Dr.
Bellows such documents as removed from Mr. King's
mind all doubts as to his true duty. He accepted promptly
— as promptly as he did everything when convinced of the
path in which he should tread. By an early mail, a letter
was received from Mr. Lambert, one of our Committee,
enclosing a note to him from Mr. King, as follows: —
182 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Boston, January 2d, 1860.
My Dear Friend : I hasten to say that I have written
my resignation to the Hollis Street Parish, which will be
offered this evening. To-morrow, I shall write to the
Committee in San Francisco, so that the letter shall go
by the mail of the 6th. Probably I shall stay there, if
I live, two years. I have no time for further particulars
this morning.
I hope 1 have made no mistake in deciding to go so
far without going permanently. But trusting and pray-
ing that I may be of service to the noble brethren and
the good cause in San Francisco, and pledging to you all
my power to that end, during my stay there, I am, with
cordial thanks for all your kindness, sincerely yours,
T. S. KING.
The following steamer brought Mr. King's letter of
acceptance — so noble, so frank, that it should ever be
preserved in the archives of this Society as a memento of
his goodness, and an enduring monument of his liberal,
self-sacrificing spirit.
Boston, January 3d, 1860.
R. B. Swain, Chairman of Trustees
of Unitarian Parish San Francisco:
My Dear Sir: As I am now addressing you for the
first time, in my reply to many kind and important com-
munications, it is proper that I should explain to you my
long silence. When your letters and documents of Nov.
3d reached me, I had just received a very urgent call to
remove to Cincinnati, to take charge of a Society recently
organized there. I had not anticipated such a response
to my letter to Mr. Brooks, as your parish so generously
returned. I supposed that the correspondence had ceas-
ed. Mr. Lambert was in quest of another minister for
you, and as the movement in Cincinnati was backed by
strong letters from prominent Unitarian clergymen, I
found myself not a little embarrassed when your new call
came, by the confiicting claims of your city, Cincinnati,
and l^oston. To add to my perplexity, I had engaged to
lecture two weeks in December in the heart of New York
State, which time was practically lost to me.
THOMAS STARR KING. 183
On Saturday last, December 31st. I made my decision
to go to San Francisco, and on Sunday communicated it
to my Society here. Yesterday I wrote a letter of resig-
nation, which v/as read to a very full meeting of parish-
ioners last evening. A large Committee was chosen to
confer with me, and to ask me so to change the form of my
withdrawal, as to accept leave of absence for fifteen
months from the first of April, leaving it for the future
to determine whether or not my connection with the So-
ciety should be finally dissolved.
The reasons for requesting this were: that the parish
would be seriously shaken by an absolute withdrawal so
suddenly; that I could not be sure of liking a residence
in California more than a year; that my family might be
anxious to return ; that you might be dissatisfied with my
service and prefer not to continue the arrangement; that
if I should return so soon they would like to have the
first claim to a resettlement ; and that, if I should be
wanted in San Francisco, and decide to remain longer
with you, the devoted friends I leave in the Ilo^lis Street
Society could bear the separation better, if it should be
gradually made.
The tone of the large meeting w^as so kindly; — not a
voice or vote dissenting — and the reasons for my- leaving
at all for California were so generously appreciated, that
although the action of the parishioners was an entire
surprise to me, I could not refuse assent to their request.
But I beg you to understand that I am not pledged or
bound in the least, by the form in w^hich the separation
from Boston is made. I shall go to you with as much
freedom as if I had never been settled in the East. Your
generous guarantee offers me a salary for one, two, or three
years, at my option. I accept the call for a 3'ear, to be
your pastor during that period. If, before its cloce, I see
clearly that I ought to remain longer, a letter to Bor^on,
staling the fact, will release me from any obligation.
And if, during that time, the Society here desire to en-
gage another mmister, nothing but a letter to me is need-
ed to give them the moral right to do so.
I have been thus explicit that you may know in exact
184 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
terms, and in detail, the state of the case. I ought to say,
also, that Mr. Lambert wrote to me from New York, on
December 28th, that it would be advisable for me to go,
even if I should know beforehand that I could remain
only a year.
But now, my dear sir, let me speak through you to the
Trustees and the Society, unhampered by any details of
business. I thank you most cordially for your strong
and generous invitation. From the first moment when I
received the call, last September, I was attracted to ac-
cept it for a time, that I might try and be of service in
your fresh and promising field. My only regret is that
any pecuniary questions have intruded to disturb the
nobler considerations which should govern a clergyman's
choice. It was my necessities that dictated the particu-
lars in the letter to Mr. Brooks, and I did not deem that
the letter would be sent to your city. I shall go to you
in the hope of using all the powers that may be continu-
ed to me, for your permanent strength as a liberal Chris-
tian parish. My great ambition in life is, to serve the
cause of Christianity as represented by the noblest souls
of all the liberal Christian parties. I am not conscious
of any gifts, either of thought or speech, that can make
my presence with you so desirable as you seem to think ;
but, if I can be of service by cooperating with you, in
laying deeper the foundations and lifting higher the walls
of our faith in your city, whose civilization is weaving
out of the most various, and in many respects, the best
threads of the American character, I shall have reason
always to bless Providence for a rich privilege.
It is doubtful if I can leave here with my family be-
fore the 6th of April, but of this I shall know in a v/eek
or two; as soon as I can possibly go to you, ycA\ may be
sure of my presence, and before we meet on the Pacific
coast, let me ask you to accept a cordial general greeting,
as brethren and friends, invoking for all of you health,
prosperity, and every inward blessing of the perfect Pro-
vidence.
In Christian bonds, your servant and friend,
TH. STARR KING.
THOMAS STARR KING. 185
Accompanying this letter was a private note to my-
self, a portion of which belongs to the history of the
times.
Boston, January odj 1860.
My Dear AIr. Swain : I sent yesterday my official
answer to the generous call of your Society, with the
reasons for its delay.
You will see that I shall hardly be able to leave be-
fore the 5th April. I have many lecture engagements to
fulfill between this and March. I cannot relinquish them,
for I shall need the money they will furnish to pay the
expenses of removal and clear a few debts here. I am
sorry that I am not in a condition to start at once.
May I ask you to inform me if there is a room that
could be used as a minister's writing-room in your
church building.
I have not time to reply by this mail to the in-^atation
of the Mercantile Library Association, but will do so in a
few days. Of course I shall be glad to lecture for them
at the time best suited to their convenience, and as to
terms, will not fear that we shall disagree.
Cordially, yours, T. S. KING.
This letter electrified the Society and gladdened the
hearts of the community ; for the fame of Mr. King, as a
scholar and a divine, had long before reached this side of
the continent, and the public rejoiced that a great addi-
tion was to be made to our stock of talent and energy.
The future of our Society was no longer a question of
doubt, and weeks before the arrival of Mr. King, every
pew in our church was taken, and we were at once placed
upon a permanent and prosperous footing.
He left Boston on the 5th of April, 1860, but before
his arrival several letters were received from him, from
two of which I will make extracts.
Boston, March 4th, 1860.
My Dear Friend: Let me thank you cordially, though
it must be hurriedly, for your kind and most interesting
communications of the last mail. It gives me joy to
186 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
learn that the tidings of the acceptance were so gener-
ously echoed. You seem to be anxious that I shall not
doubt of the readiness of the Society to second all my
labors and confirm my hopes.
Be assured, my friend, that I have no fringe or thread
of skepticism on any such point. My only fear is lest
you should be disappointed when I arrive, and find that
your anticipations outrun any possible performance
from me.
Would that I could have made arrangements to leave
to-morrow. I had engaged my rooms in the Baltic for
April 5th, and now she and the Atlantic are withdrawn.
We must go in the Yanderbilt line, with prices raised to
$200 a ticket. This is reasonable enough — but I should
like to have had the advantage of the low fares, and es-
pecially of the better boats.
We cannot learn yet, either, whether or not April 5th
will be one of the leaving days, under the new arrange-
ment. Probably it will, but no advertisements are made,
and no tickets sold so far ahead. We hope that the
Northern Light will sail on that day. If I could have
foreknown the present combination, you would see we,
instead of this note, by the boat that takes this.
Dr. Bellows very kindly sent me your letter to him.
I read its passages with practical interest. I expect to
like California, and all of you, much better than you will
return the feeling.
I am troubled in spirit a little as to our friend Buck-
ingham. I hope that he can find preacliing occupation that
will be advantageous in the State, and shall be glad to as-
sist him in any enterprise that will open such opportunity.
You can hardly appreciate the pressure on my time
and thoaghts of the last few weeks. A pile of letters
now lies unanswered, for which I can get no leisure.
This will account for my delay in rcpl\ang formally to
the Mercantile Library invitation. They can choose
their own time for four lectures. Of course, T cannot
hear from you in reply to this note. The next mail will
probably gladden mo v/ith a commimication from you.
I am, gratefully, your friend, T. S. Kili G»
THOMAS STAER KING. 187
Boston, March 19th, 1850.
My Dear Friend: I send a word by this steamer, al-
though there is nothing of special moment that calls for
a letter.
It has not been in my power to arrange for leaving
earlier than April 5th. The Northern Light is announced
for that date.
Next Sunday I am to preach my farewell sermon in
Boston. The parish behave more nobly to me than I
could have dreamed it possible. Their conduct, so large-
minded and considerate, smooths my removal, while it
attaches me still stronger to such friends by the heart-
fibres.
Drs. Bellows and Osgood have arranged for a public
Unitarian breakfast-party for me in New York, the day
before we sail. This is in honor of the faithful breth-
ren in San Francisco, so I hope you will feel proud on
April 4th.
In the hope of finding you well when I reach you,
and not quite sick of your bargain, I am, cordially, yours,
T. S. KING.
What followed upon his arrival is familiar to every
person present. The Society gi^ew in numbers, strength
and enthusiasm. Mr. King at once ingratiated himself in
the affections of the people. Answering a call from the
Mercantile Library Association for a course of four lec-
tures, he drew around him crowds, the like of which had
never before been known in this city. Notwithstanding
he was paid liberally by the Association, the lectures
added largely to the treasury of that Institution, and he
was invited to deliver a second course, which he was com-
pelled to decline, from a sense of duty to this Society.
What has been the history of our Church since then, is a
matter of record. During the first year of his ministra-
tion, a debt of $20,000, which had been a halter about
our necks, and which had threatened to strangle us, was
extinguished. Not satisfied with this success, which
surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Society,
he pursued his labors unremittingly. Ilis active, ardent
ibo REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
spirit kii(jw no bounds, and he continued his efforts with-
out any thoughts of self, but with an eye single to the
best interests of those in whose cause he devoted the most
of his time and talents. It soon became apparent that his
field was too small, and that a larger church, more cen-
trally located, was essentially necessary. To the erection
of such a church, which should at once be an ornament
to the city, an honor to the Society, and a true represen-
tative of our strength, he devoted all his energies. He
started the call by a liberal subscription himself; he lent
to the cause all the momentum of his sanguine, ardent
nature ; he enlisted others in its support by his example
and his persuasive and convincing appeals. How well
he succeeded for ^^s•, let this magnificent edifice, so beau-
tiful, so tasteful, so grand, attest. What was the result
to Jmnselfj let that grave answer. For I solemnly believe,
that to his devoted care and anxiety and toil in the erec-
tion of this building, may be attributed much of that
physical debility which undermined his constitution and
shortened his days. He gave us the church with his life.
He gave us a temple, elegant in its proportions, ample in
its accommodations, and pleasing to the taste and refine-
ment of the people. But the organ he so liberally
donated to the Society w^as used to sound his requiem, the
pulpit he adorned is his mausoleum, and the Church is
his own enduring monument, consecrated forever to the
memory of his goodness, his affection to his Society, and
his undying name.
Mr. King, as if possessed of the gift of prescience, had
long entertained the belief that he would never reach the
age of forty. He said but little upon the subject — but a
short time after his arrival here, he addressed an interest-
ing communication to me upon the affairs of the Church,
in which this idea was constantly interwoven. It ap-
peared as if it were his desire to place his impressions
upon record — and so strong were these feelings, that he
was the more anxious to put the affairs of the Church
upon a safe foundation immediately, and complete the
work which he had begun. Some who did not know him,
attributed this anxiety to a determination on his part to
THOMAS STARR KING. 189
leave the State at an early da}^ I am sure he had no in-
tention of leaving us permanently. A few months ago,
he unfolded to me all his plans, and he then statii^d that
he was desirous of visiting Europe, and particularly Ger-
many, for purposes of education ; that if he could leave
here for a period of two years, for travel abroad, and im-
prove his mind and health, he would be glad to return
and remain. If the Liberal Christians thought best to
build him another and smaller Church, he would be quite
content to preach. If not, and they were satisfied with
the minister who should be installed during his absence,
he would devote himself to literary pursuits, to preaching
occasionally, and to advancing our cause and the cause of
public charities throughout the State. But I must read
the letter to which I have alluded.
San Francisco, August 16th, 1800.
My Dear Mr. Swain : I have thought very seriously
since Tuesday evening, of the objects and results of the
meeting of the Trustees at my house, and I venture to
trouble you with some lines, which had better be written
than spoken.
I regret to learn that the debt remaining against the
parish is so large as $8,000, and I cannot help feeling some
serious concern in relation to it. My special object in
sending you this note is to learn if any way can be opened
by me that will lead to the liquidation of it, or a large por-
tion of it, this fall.
What moves me more powerfully, is the apprehension
I have begun to feel as to my health.
Six or eight months before leaving Boston, I beran to
be conscious that my health was insecure. I could not
bear the thought of a long season of invalid-ism, rnd a
long experience of lying-upon-the-shelf-itiveness ; and so
I was more strongly impelled, to California, by the hope
and belief that I could help the brethren and the cause
here by labor that would not exhaust my lessened strength,
while the climate would repair the damage, and possibly
fill the fountain with an unusual store of vitality.
It is useless for me to shut my eyes to the fact that I
190 REPEESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
am not so well as I was when in Boston. I experience
strange debility, and singular pains and numbness in the
brain. For writing purposes I am nearly worthless- — and
the symptoms are the more serious from the fact, that my
father's constitution (which in most respects I seem to
have inherited) snapped at about thirty-six. He was
a very strong man till then, but broke thus earl}^, was
good for nothing for three or four years, and died at
forty- one.
ISTow, I desire to be of essential service to the parish
here, by my visit. I cannot be unless your debt is wiped
out. If I shall not grow stronger this fall aud winter, I
must return East next spring, to stop all ministerial work
— ^perhaps, to cease all work on this planet — and it would
be a very bad thing to leave you then, with four or five
thousand dollars of debt to be paid.
Can I not, think you, start some plan for paying off so
large a portion of it this fall, that there will certainly he
none remaining next spring? Then you would be on the safe
side ; and if my health should improve, and I can stay
with you longer, another period of service would bear the
more fruit. Would any proposition from me, in a sermon,
towards such a result, be out of place? Of course, I
should breathe no word of my real motive, as to my state
of health. I do not wish you to mention it. I have not
even told my wife these fears, and she does not know
that I write this letter. Yet I am so impressed with the
suspicion that my constitution is impaired, that I feel it
my duty to consult with some one as to this matter of the
debt, and the future of the parish — and with whom so
properly as with you ?
Do not allow yourself to be worried, or even seriously
alarmed, by what I say. Look at my fears, as I do for
the present, in a business light, and tell me what can be
done, and how best done to put the parish out of danger.
I am perfectly willing to take the matter out of the Trus-
tees' hands, if you say so, and try my luck from the
pulpit in reducing the debt.
In everything I say about my strength, I am under-
stating rather than overstating. Some days I do not
THOMAS STARR KING, 191
seem to have a thimble-full of vitality ; but with what I
have, I am wholly your friend, T. S. KING.
P. S.— Do not reply to this by peny we can talk as
well.
I seized an early opportunity to have an interview
upon the subject of the letter. His thoughts were alto-
gether with reference to the prosperity of the Society, and
the danger of his breaking down, and leaving us to carry
the heavy burden of a debt. I endeavored to dispel his
fears in regard to his health, and inquired why such a
presentiment had possessed him. He said it was no pre-
sentiment^ but an inwrought conviction; that the conviction
was well based on physiological grounds ; that he enter-
tained no fears of death ; that but for his anxiety in
regard to his family, he could hail the approach of death
with pleasure ; that his life had been one of great toil
from his earliest boyhood ; that he had looked forward
to each approaching year as a season when rest would be
vouchsafed to him, but it never came. Every year
brought new cares, new responsibilities, new labors, and
he had come to the conclusion that there was to be no
rest for him on this globe. He again said, that but for
his anxiety for his family, he would, therefore, be glad to
enjoy the perpetual rest which could only be found be-
yond the grave.
Mr. King's labors were immense. He never lost a
moment. He knew how to economize time. But his
time was much broken by constant demands upon his
chr.rity and kindness. Every claimant found a respectful
audience, however pressing his duties, and no deserving
one was turned awa}^ unsatisfied. His charities were en-
tirely unostentatious, and oftentimes stealthily bestowed ;
so stealthily that not even the members of his own house-
hold, nor his best friends were informed of them. I am
sure that he took a secret delight in unheralded acts of
kindness, and that he found sufficient commendation in
the silent approval of his own heart. One of our own
parishioners has informed me, since his death, that he
'nifiVBE:iT7,
192 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
has been paid hundreds of dollars by Mr. King for wood
that he has ordered for suffering families — and another
has also stated to me that he had sent large quantities of
the necessaries of life, such as flour, sugar, etc., to dif-
ferent sections of the cit}^, by direction of Mr. King, for
the poor and needy. These quiet deeds of charity had a
peculiar charm to him. But he was discreet in the be-
stowal of his favors. I know that Mr. King took much
time to inquire into the merits of each case, and that he
was seldom deceived. He took a hroad view of suffering.
When cases were presented to him, the sufferer lu^ged of
course only the selfish side. Mr. King saw all around and
through it, and took an intellectual as well as a Christian
view. The sufferer might seek to obtain relief from im-
mediate wants — Mr. King thought of his degradation, of
his wounded pride, the poverty-stricken spirit, and what
might be his usefulness to society if raised from the
'' Slough of Despond " to a position of prosperity. And
so he gauged the extent of his charities, for he seldom
stopped to reflect upon the amplitude of his own purse.
By reason of these constant drafts upon Mr. King's
attention, the execution of some of his most important
labors was impeded and sadly interrupted. While the
rest of the world was enjoying the repose of sleep, he was
laboring. He was compelled to use the midnight hours
for much of his literary work, and I have frequently
known him to flnish his morning sermon fifteen minutes
before the church services commenced. His most elo-
quent perorations have been written, watch in hand, but
a few minutes previous to the delivery of the exordiums.
In spite of these perpetual claims upon his time he
w^as, nevertheless, a thorough student ; not a library in
San Francisco, of any note, either public or private, th at
he had not consulted. His perceptions were so active,
his intuitions so keen, and his memory so retentive, that
he understood, appreciated and learned instantly. He
never ceased to study. Circumstances prevented him
from completing his college course, but he none the less
qualified himself for his degrees, which were bestowed
upon him, without solicitation, by Harvard University.
THOMAS STAER KING, 193
One. of the newspaper writers says that " Mr. King's
scholarship was not deep, nor extensive, not even in
theology." And another says: " Not favored with college
or university advantages, he was thoroughly and carefully
read in the literature of his own language." These
writers evidently did not know whereof they affirmed.
They have imbibed the error common to college gradu-
ates, of supposing that a man without an Alma Mater
cannot be a scholar. Mr. King was so much the more
deep and profovMd in his scholarship. He had no college
education to fall back upon, but he continued his re-
searches until he died. He was thoroughly conversant
with the Greek, Latin and Hebrew languages, and under-
stood well the French and German. But he hated
pedantry. He never obtruded his knowledge upon the
observation of others, and in conversation or public
speech, seldom, if ever, quoted from the classics.
No one who remembers his famous controversy, a few
years since, with a distinguished divine and an apostate
from the Unitarian faith, in Boston, can doubt his schol-
arship. No one who knew him intimately will deny that
he had mastered several of the modern languages. In
the case of the controversy to wdiich I have alluded, a
question arose as to the correct translation in the English
Bible of certain passages from the Greek and Hebrew.
His antagonist, than whom, it was supposed, no riper
scholar lived in Boston, under-estimated entirely the
powers of his opponent. So completely did Mr. King
annihilate him, that he sought the editor of the paper in
which the argunaent was conducted, on Sunday ; confessed
his error, and implored him, with tears in his eyes, to
spare him.
His acquaintance w^ith the French language was
perfect. He never used a translation when he could
procure the original ; and as to the depth of theology,
those may safely question it who never crossed swords
or measured lances with him. Probably a more thor-
oughly learned Biblical scholar never entered a pulpit.
And yet, Mr. King was modest in his pretensions ; he
underrated himself; his humility was so great, that he
13
194 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
never correctly appreciated his own abilities. If he was
praised, he thought himself undeserving ; if blamed, or
severely criticised, he was ready to believe that he was
justly open to criticism or censure. Singular as the state-
ment may seem to many here, he was extremely sensitive
to praise or blame; he enjoyed the first less, and suffered
from the second more, than most mortals.
Although Mr. King preferred to labor in the field of
literature, for which his tastes and habits best adapted
him, his sympathies for humanity were so broad, his love
of country so intense, and his patriotism so ardent, that
upon the breaking out of the rebellion he at once ar-
rayed himself against treason and traitors. At a time
when all the people were stunned by the development of
the designs of the enemies of our country, Mr. King
commenced to exhort from the pulpit and the forum.
He rose to the majesty of the occasion. His eloquence
was never more fervent, never more convincing. The
position to be taken by California among the States was
deemed doubtful. What was termed Southern chivalry
had, since her admission into the family of States, always
exercised political and social control. ]^ow it became
rampant. Loyalty was only a latent, not an active senti-
ment. It was uncertain whether Unionism, a Pacific Re-
public, or Secessionism would prevail. The masses were
undecided and wanted a leader. At this critical moment,
and as if by the direct interposition of the Almighty,
Mr. King stepped into the breach and became the cham-
f)ion of his country. Taking the Constitution and Wash-
ington for his texts, he went forth appealing to the peo-
ple. They had not before been taught their duty. They
had been waiting to be told what course to pursue. He
at once directed and controlled public sentiment. He
lost no opportunity to strike a blow at the rebellion.
Visiting different sections of the State, he kindled the
fires of patriotism wherever he went, by his matchless
eloquence and unanswerable arguments.
Not the least o^ Mr. King's efforts were his labors in
the cause of the United States Sanitary Commission. He
early understood and appreciated the vast good which
THOMAS STARR KING. 195
that organization was capable of doing. He considered
it the grandest and most magnificent scheme of charity
the world had ever known, and he labored faithfully to
promote its interests. Conceiving that the isolation of
California had deprived the people of the State of the
opportunity of assisting the Government in the suppres-
sion of the rebellion, he thought that no better channel
could be afforded to loyal citizens to manifest their devo-
tion to their countr} than by contributing their money to
the Treasury of the Commission. Who does not remem-
ber his magnetic speeches in Piatt's Hall, and the liber-
ality with which the people, within a few days, poured
out their hundreds of thousands? For the purpose of
keeping loyalty alive, and also for the purpose of advanc-
ing the cause of the Commission, he traveled through
nearly every section of the State. He visited Oregon,
N^evada and Washington Territories, and even extended
his journey to Vancouver. Wherever he went his in-
fluence was felt, and the people liberally and willingly
poured their money into the Treasury of that organiz-
ation. I would not detract from the generous and
well-timed efforts of those self-sacrificing gentlemen who
cooperated with him in his herculean labors, but I ex-
aggerate nothing when I say, that to him, more than to
all others, is due the glory of contributing so princely an
amount to the Treasury of the Commission, that Califor-
nia now stands foremost in the sisterhood of States, upon
the score of generosity. He was just preparing another
campaign in the interior, when he was stricken ill.
I have a large correspondence from him, written while
engaged in his patriotic travels. When absent from the
city, and relieved of the cares incident to the life of a
clergyman, he seemed to be particularly happy. He
would derive inspiration from nature. His spirits, al-
ways cheerful, were, on such occasions, exuberant, and
oftentimes rollicking. Although the tone of the letters
I now propose to present does not exactly accord with
the sadness that now pervades this congregation, I cannot
refrain from reading some of them here. They present a
phase of the character of our dear pastor, which you have
196 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
all enjoyedj and which was one element through which
he reached the heart of the people. His genial disposi-
tion, his love of humor, and his passionate fondness of
Nature, never failed to shine brightly when engaged in
correspondence.
Early in 1861, he traveled through the northern part
of the State, delivering patriotic lectures. From Yreka
he wrote me as follows : —
Yreka, May 29th, 1861.
Here I am, perched on the top of the State, where I
can almost toss a copper or a ''five-cent piece" over to
the Yankees in Oregon — but I shan't try it, for fear of
corrupting their Union principles.
My health is very good. The journey has been quite
fatiguing. From Shasta to Yreka we were twenty- seven
hours on the road, and I had an outside seat day and
night without a shawl. But I am all right, and my brain
has settled again right side up, I believe.
The weather was very cloudy from Monday, when I
started, till last Sunday. Then from Shasta town I caught
the first view of Shasta Butte; it was just after sunrise,
and the view was glorious indeed. I preached after the
vision for a Methodist minis -.er, and ought to have
preached well ; but am afraid I didn't.
To-night I am to speak in a village with the sweet
name of 'Dead Wood," and to-morrow I shall dine and
sleep at your brother's, in Scott Valley, and speak in the
evening at the very important and cultivated settlement
of "Hough and Ready." "Scott's Bar" wants me.
"Horsetown" is after me. " Mugginsville," bids high.
" Oro Fino," applies with a long petition of names. "Mad
Mule" has not yet sent in a request, nor "Piety Hill,"
nor "Modesty Gulch," but doubtless they will be heard
from in due time. The Union sentiment is strong, but the
seccessionists are watchful and not in despair.
Yesterday I devoted to a study of Mt. Shasta. I had
it in view for ton hours, and sucked it in as an anaconda
does a calf. It is glorious beyond expression — it far ex-
ceeds my conception of its probable grandeur. I am
glad that I called my book the "White Hills.'' To-day is
THOMAS STARR KING. 197
very cloudy, and this mountain is shrouded to the base.
Yesterday was the first perfect day that has been here
in a fortnight, so I was truly favored. You should by
all means see Shasta, and the Scott Yalley, where your
brothers live. The whole region is sublime. I shall have
lots to report to you on my return. I hope your preach-
ing has been good and well attended.
With cordial regards, believe me sincerely yours,
T. S. KING.
The following year he again visited the northern part
of the State. During the journey, he frequently addressed
me. I will read one characteristic letter.
Yreka, July 21st, 1862.
I have received your telegram to-day, for which, except
your paying for it, please accept my thanks. I ordered
the word to be sent to you — "Answer paid here." If
you received it and still paid, you did a mean thing,
which can't be settled till I return.
It is quite hot here to-day, but as it is not 100° no-
body calls it hot; anywhere in the nineties, even 99° is
moderate — a hundred is hot. We rode all night of Satur-
day through from Shasta here, making the trip in twenty-
eight hours. The journey from here will be terribly
hard, and I almost regret that I made the overland trial.
From Jacksonville, where we go to-morrow, to Salem,
will be as tough as it can be — it will take three or four
days. I doubt if I shall have time to see all I wish to
of Oregon and Puget Sound. It will take me another
week to reach Portland, and I begin to fear that I shall
have to abandon the whole Puget Sound and Yictoria ex-
pedition. And the expenses are simply frightful — it
cost me over eighty dollars for passage from Marysville to
Shasta town, and if I travel through part of Oregon by
extras, as I must, sixty dollars a day wdll be the low^est I
can do it for, and I have purchased through tickets
besides.
We have seen Mt. Shasta to-day. He is splendid, but
not so glorious as last year, for he has not so much snow
198 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
as then ; but it is a magnificent sight indeed. I shall drive
out again at sunset to see him, and then come in to lec-
ture here once more. In spite of secession and Great-
house they will have a lecture again. I didn't wish to,
and am sorry that I consented.
I hope the church plans are finished, and the working
near at hand. Good word to everybody. From your
friend. T. S. KING.
P. S.— Tell W. M. that it lifted a load from me to learn
that his father is brighter. Give my sincere sympathy
and greeting to the good Captain. T. S. K.
His last expedition to the country appeared to in-
vigorate him more than ever. His spirits ran unusually
exultant.
Lake Bigler, June 5th, 1863.
I arrived here this forenoon, about ten o'clock. The
stage ride from Folsom to Placerville was very hard ; but
we took an extra from Placerville on and found it delight-
ful. The scenery is nobler than I anticipated, and the
situation of the Lake is certainly one of the wonders and
masterpieces of scenery belonging to our insignificant
little globe. It is of no use to attempt to describe it — I
will tell you about it when I return. There should be a
law compelling all Californians to visit the Lake on pain
of — being transported to the East. It will be a great
benefit to me, I am sure, to breathe the keen invigorating
air for a few days, eat trout by the hundred weight, hear
the roar of the wind through the noble pines, and look
at the abundant snow on the superb peaks over the in-
land sea. I don't feel as though I ever had a head — and
this in two or three hours.
Yours, sincerely, T. S. K.
I will cull extracts from one more letter written while
on this tour, which illustrate not only his exultation of
spirits when relieved of professional duties, but also how
his best thoughts were always of his parish.
THOMAS STARR KING. 199
Lake Tahoe, June 25th^ 1863.
Ever since Eve ate the apple, clothing has been nec-
essary to the human race, and J. C. M. (admirable man)
became an indispensable element in civilization. I wore
my best clothes in Nevada, and my extreme hope now is
to induce them to hold together till I can get back. But
if I address the citizens Fourth of July, I must be de-
cently clad. So for a commission for J. C. M. If he has
my measure, let him make me at once a coat, vest and
pants — black. I would like to have the coat a JMth larger
than the former one, which was a little too short in the
waist and tightish under the arms. It fitted too wdl. I
hate to have a man give me Jits. When a secessionist
comes in, let M. do his best in that line. If Mr. M. can
make the clothes to be ready on the morning of July
Fourth, and will make them first rate^ I will wear a pla-
card during the delivery of the oration: "Buy all your
clothes of J. C. M., one of the best men on the Pacific."
Will you carry the message to him at once?
The weather is glorious here. A friend went out be-
fore sunrise and caught four large trout, one of which I
ate for breakfast. I have received a noble hymn from
Bartol for the dedication of the church.
I feel ashamed not to be home; for next Sunday, yet
cannot help feeling that it is wise to stay. The next four
months will try my constitution more than any similar
period of my life, and I believe the entire rest here will
be profit to the parish.
Tell Georgie there are three young eagles here which
were taken from a nest in a high tree last week. They
have great claws and splendid eyes. How he would like
to see them ! and I wish he could. If I could send one
of them to him in this letter I would, but I am afraid he
would stick his sharp bill through the paper before reach-
ing Sutter street.
Your friend always, T. S. KING.
I have no doubt that his constant studies and his
anxieties and unrest here undermined his constitution,
and, as the resolutions say, precipitated his death. I can
200 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
never forget the last time I saw him out of his own house,
the Friday before he died. He appeared much depressed
in spirits — complained of aching bones and a sore throat,
and said that he felt like a sponge squeezed dry. Not
being well, he was particularly seyisitive that day — was un-
usually thoughtful and sad. When we parted, he express-
ed a fear that he would not be able to preach on Sunday,
and felt deep regret at the thought, for he had made con-
siderable preparation for the vesper service, which he de-
clared would be the richest of all; and then, he said, he
had several important notices to give — particularly the
one in regard to the social gatherings on Wednesday, in
which he took so deep an interest, and of the success
of which he was so very proud. '^But," said he, as we
separated, ''come around in the morning, before you go
down." He returned to his home never to leave it, save
when his spirit took its flight to regions beyond the stars.
Morning came, and Mr. King was perceptibly worse. He
had changed materially, and I saw that he was a sick man.
I did not, however, appreciate the extent of his illness
until the following evening — Saturday. He had invited
two or three friends to his house to take a cup of tea and
pass the evening. Finding himself unable to be person-
ally present, he sent to me to request that I would join
them at the table. I knew that Mr. King must indeed
be very feeble to deprive himself of the pleasure of the
society of his own invited guests — and he was feeble.
While we were at supper, a bridal party came unexpect-
edly. Here his spirit of self-sacrifice shone out resplend-
ently, for although he was too much prostrated to see
his personal friends, he yielded to the urgent solicitations
of these strangers, who he begged would excuse him;
arose from what proved to be the bed of death, dressed
himself and came down the stairs to perform the mar-
riage ceremony.
The wedding ought to be doubly sanctified to the bride
and groom for the heroic spirit of kindness and generosity
which prompted him, under such circumstances, to per-
form the ceremony — the last professional act of his life.
After the ceremony, we met in the hall. He looked
THOMAS STARR KING. 201
wretchedly. He was on his way to his bed, from which
he was never to rise. Still he was cheerful, expressed his
regret that he could not remain longer with his friends,
and indulged in a few pleasantries before leaving.
From that time the disease "crept on with slow and
steady pace." On Wednesday, his physician, in view of
the great value of his life to his family and the country,
advised with some of his friends as to the propriety of a
consultation. It was then apparent that Mr. King's life
was in danger. On Thursday, there seemed to be a change
for the better, and it was evident the disease was mas-
tered ; but he was suffering from great physical prostra-
tion and exhaustion of the vital energies. If the usual
tone of his system could be restored and strength given
him,, there would be no doubt of his recovery. But this
was not to be. That evening, alarming symptoms mani-
fested themselves. He rallied, however, and passed a
tolerably comfortable night, sleeping well and breathing
with comparative ease. We were all much encouraged,
and believed the worst was passed. It was only the calm
that precedes the storm — a lull in the fury of the disease
preparatory to a last desperate onset. For, on Friday
morning, just before six o'clock, while I was standing by
the bed-side with the physician, who also had been with
him all the night, a perceptible change took place in his
appearance which told too plainly that the time for parting
had come — that the angel of death was there, and that
our dearly loved pastor and friend would soon pass "be-
yond the sightless verge of this land of tombs."
The scene that then followed no pen can desribe — no
imagination can conceive. Mr. King had achieved many
triumphs for us by his toil and genius. The time had
now come for him to achieve the crowning triumph of all
— a triumph of his religion — a triumph over death, and
a vindication of his life and character.
Dr. Eckel approached the bedside for the purpose of
informing him that he could not long survive. But Mr.
King, who had watched the progress of his disease with
all the precision of a scientific observer, and all the cool-
ness of a disinterested spectator, though not without
202 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
solicitude, had discovered the change, and anticipated him
by inquiring as to the character of this new synipton,
and whether he could survive it. When told that he
could not, there was not the slightest evidence of agita-
tion. He calmly and inquiringly looked in the doctor's
face, and asked how long he thought he could live ; as if
he desired to know as nearly as possible how much time
was allowed him on earth to make the necessary prepara-
tion. When told but a half an hour, he immediately
replied, ^'I wish to make my will." Remembering that
he had told me at some time that he had left a will in
Boston, I answered, ''Have you not a will already, Mr.
King?" He promptly replied that his '' little boy was not
then born."
Some little time was consumed in preparing to write
by his bed-side, during which he appeared to be sinking
rapidly. I feared his life would not be spared until he
could sign the document. But when the preparations
were made, the power of his will became manifest. Then
commenced a desperate struggle to sustain life until his
temporal arrangements were completed ; for although he
had not been able to speak louder than a whisper, he now,
by a strong effort, raised his voice to nearly its ordinary
pitch, and clearly and forcibly enunciated his wishes, say-
ing no more than was necessary, and leaving unsaid noth-
ing. Having finished this task, he seemed to be much
exhausted. I approaced his bed-side with the will in my
hand, that it might be read to him previous to signature.
He had then apparently relapsed into a comatose state.
I said, ''Mr. King, can you hear me?" He opened his
eyes with a smile and said, "Read on." Turning his
head slightly, in order to catch every word, he answered,
at the end of each paragraph, "all right." And when the
reading was concluded, and he was asked if anything more
was to be added, he replied, "No, it is just as I want it."
Waiting a moment as if in thought, he then said, "Add
that all other wills are hereby revoked ; you know I have
another will in Boston." We who had not death staring
us in the face, had failed to detect this omission of so
vital a clause. He was more calm than any of us. He
THOMAS STARR KING. 203
was raised in bed, in order that he might sign the docu-
ment. With a book for his desk, he took the pen with a
steady hand, deliberately dipped it in the ink, and, to the
astonishment of all around, wrote his name (which even
a well man could not easily write surrounded by such dif-
ficulties) with a firmness and rapidity and ease not sur-
passed even by himself. He looked carefully at the sig-
nature when finished, punctuated it as usual, reached the
pen to one who was standing by, and ''laid him down
to die."
Recovering in a minute from the exhaustion of the
effort, he began to bid farewell to those around him.
The scene was sublime beyond description. A cordial
smile played upon his features. As one by one ap-
proached the bedside of the dying man. he extended
his hand to them heartily. To one he said, ''Good-
bye, Colonel;" and, seizing him with both hands, he added
— "God bless you." To an attached domestic he said:
" Good bye, Sarah — I thank you for all you have done
for us." To the faithful nurse, " Good bye, Kathreen —
take good care of Fretzie."
He appeared to have no thoughts of self, but was
speaking words of cheerfulness and consolation to those
around him, to the last moment. He whispered to his
wife, "Be sure and tell Dr. Eckel I think that he has
done everything that a human agent could possibly do
for me." He expressed to her his wishes as to the dis-
position of his manuscripts, and spoke freely with her
upon all points in relation to the family. He said, "Do
not weep for me, I know it's right. I wish I could make
you feel so. I wish I could describe my feelings. It
is strange ! I feel all the privileges and greatness of the
future." To his friend, Mr. Low, he said: "I see a great
future before me. It already looks grand, beautiful. I
am passing away fast. My feelings are strange." It was
evident that Mr. King was watching with intellectual inter-
est the approach of death, and the passage beyond this
vale of tears. The condition and mysteries of the future
state had been a subject of passionate study and relig-
ious speculation for many years. He knew that they
204 KEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
were now all to be revealed to hiin in a few minutes, and
I am persuaded that his spirit soared exultant at the
thought. His wife asked him if he had any particular
message for friends at home. He replied: "Tell them I
went lovingly, trustfully, and peacefully. A few mo-
ments later he said, as if dating his own death: ''To-d^ly
is the fourth of March; sad news will go over the wires
to-day."
I approached his bedside — he extended his hand to
me, and said, with a sweet smile playing upon his features,
^'Good-bye, Swain; keep my memory green. I wish you
to say to my Society, that it is my earnest desire that
they pay the debt upon the Church, and not leave the
burden to be carried by my successor. I had rather they
would do this than erect a tomb- stone at my grave. Let
the Church, free of debt, be my monument. I want no
better. Tell them these were my last icords^ and say
^ Good-bye' to all of them for me."
After this he seemed to be quiet a moment, as if
sleeping. I spoke to him and said: ''Mr. King, are you
happy?" Turning his head slightly and looking at me
with his bright, full eyes, he answered: ''Yes; happy,
resigned, trustful."
"The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he
leadeth me beside the still waters.
"He restore th my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.
" Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy
rod, and thy staff, they comfort me.
"Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of
mine enemies ; thou anointest mine head with oil ; my cup
runneth over.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever."
If I had the tongue of an angel, I could not depict
the triumphant glory of this scene. His voice was raised
to a loud tone, and he lifted his hand and pointed his
5' '
17
THOMAS STAER KING. '^^''4^^205
^
finger with that peculiar gesture so characteristic of him
in the pulpit. He did not pronounce this Psalm in rhap-
sody — nothing of the kind — it was said calmly and delib-
erately and thoughtfully. The Psalm is an expression of
confidence in God's grace; and what more appropriate
reply could be made to the inquiry if he was happy ? It
was a spontaneous and incidental outpouring, and but
for such a question, would probably never have been
uttered.
His charming little boy, not quite two years of age,
was brought to his bedside. He saluted him by saying
^'Beautiful boy," and his last act was to throw a good-
bye kiss to him as he was taken from the room. In a
few moments he had passed away, like a child falling
asleep. He said he had no pain whatever, but continued
to breathe slower and slower, and without a pang or
a struggle closed his eyes, and ceased to live on earth.
In giving you this narrative, I have simply performed
what I consider to be a duty. I hope that I have not
tired the patience of this congregation. My relations
with Mr. King were at first professional, in the capacity
of Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Subsequently,
these relations were absorbed in the higher and more
sacred relations of one who loved and honored him.
During the whole of my intercourse with him, I never
knew him to utter a selfish thought, or do a selfish act,
or one, rightly interpreted, that could be tortured to mean
selfish. His language was always pure and refined, and
he never uttered a sentiment in my presence that would
be unfit for the most fastidious ear. He is now gone to
reap the reward of his works in Heaven. "Let us fondly
think of him, and aspire towards him, and pray for a purer
soul, that we may mount to his celestial circle at last."
In the faith that there is to be meeting and recognition
of friends hereafter, his friend Alger, whom he so loved
and honored, eloquently says : "The death of friends will
come as a message from the Great Father — a message
solemn, yet kind— laden, indeed, with natural sadness,
but heightened with sure promise, and followed by
Heavenly compensations. If tears flow, they flow not in
206 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
scalding bitterness from the Marah fountain of despair,
but in chastened joy from the smitten rock of faith."
The following Poem may very appropriately follow
the foregoing sketch of Thomas Starr King's life. It is
from the pen of his especial friend, John Gr. Whitier.
Gone to thy Heavenly Father's rest —
The flowers of Eien round thee blowing!
And, on thy ear, the murmurs blest
Of Shiloh's waters softly flowing!
Beneath that Tree of Life which gives
To all the earth its healing leaves —
In the white robe of angels clad.
And wandering by that sacred river,
"Whose streams of holiness make glad,
The City of our God forever!
Noblest of spirits ! not for thee
Our tears are shed — our sighs are given :
"Why mourn to know thou art a free
Partaker of the joys of Heaven ?
Finished thy work, and kept thy faith
In Christian firmness unto death:
And beautiful, as sky and earth,
When Autumn's sun is downward going.
The blessed memory of thy worth
Around thy place of slumber glowing!
But woe for us ! who linger still
With feebler strength and hearts less lowly
And minds less steadfast to the will
Of Him, whose every work is holy !
For not like thine is crucified
The spirit of our human pride :
And at the bondsman's tale of woe.
And for the outcast and forsaken,
Not warm like thine, but cold and slow.
Our weaker sympathies awaken.
Oh, for the death the righteous die !
An end like Autumn's day declining.
On human hearts as on the sky.
With holier, tenderer beauty shining:
As to the parting soul were given
The radiance of an opening Heaven !
As if that pure and blessed light,
From off the Eternal Altar flowing.
Were bathing in its upward flight,
The spirit to its worship going.
THOMAS STARR KING. 207
^^(tur^ 0i §a\ ^Itasi. ^tmx png,
Delivered before the -Dashaway Association of San
Francisco, July 10th, 1860.
I have always considered it a high privilege to address or speak
in behalf of so noble an association as the one before me, or of any-
subject connected with its condition and progress. It is not my
intention to speak of the great principle endorsed and honored by
the Dashaways, nor of the abstract and moral grounds of total ab-
stinence. I purpose attempting no panoramic sketch of dissipa-
tion — no grouping and massing of its unknown effects. I prefer to
address myself more to the fresh and practical effect — and it were
well, if in every phase of the social fabric we all did the same. I would
rejoice if in every village and hamlet of this State the gifted man of
eloquence could be heard cursing the spirit of Drink and Kuin, his
words a tissue of its woes, presenting in hideous aspect the unsat-
isfied cravings, the unquieted doubts and fears, the tottering pros-
perity, the undermined strength, the blighted hopes, the defeated
aspirations, the seared promise, the ruined happiness, and the fear-
ful woes engendered and fostered and quickened by that abhorrent
Spirit which has sapped the vigor of our great nation, whose his-
tory talks of so many prominent men whose minds have wavered
and their reason fled; of sages whose towering intellects have be-
come but as grand and imposing ruins before it; of the throne of
reason with its delicate nerve of conscience befogged and bewil-
dered; of war, and duelling, and lust, and murder; of the teeming
scaffold, the insidious disease, the frightful insanity, the drivelling
idiocy; of the wasted field, the dilapidated house, the scanty board,
the untenanted hall, and the husband-deserted hearih, with the
heart-weary wife sitting shivering beside it; of the forsaken child-
ren, so interesting in their very tenderness of helplessness — that
Spirit less scrupulous than the majesty of Denmark 1 But it re-
quires something more than the eloquence which vindicates and
sustains and fructifies an intangible principle to stay the evil —
something better than the most vigorous descriptions of all I have
imagined — something which wastes no influence that can possibly
be excited — something which shall do more than a score of the
most eloquent orators — organized action ! An organization is far
greater than an idea, for a principle is always connected with it;
but it is a corporeal idea — a principle in action ! and what is
grander in the domain of awful effects? Until thus clothed, an
idea is powerless, and bears about the same analogy to its active
operations as does a shadowy ghost to a sturdy man. To illustrate
the matter I will tell a short anecdote. Twenty years ago, in Bos-
ton, lived a man — an artist, a dear friend of mine — who was very
fond in his youth of talking to a most eloquent preacher, the fame
208 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of whose fiery genius was spread abroad throughout the continent.
One night they were sitting talking together in the luxuriantly
furnished parlor upon the Divine's favorite theme — the dignity of
human nature. He was discoursing more particularly of what a
true Christian spirit should do for the abandoned, the outcast and
the desolate. Suddenly, in the midst of his converse — in the
richest paths of the grand fields of philanthropy^ he had opened to
the entranced vision of the artist — the door-bell rang violently!
The servant came up hastily, and said a man had forced himself
into the house and demanded to see the preacher. Together, he
and the artist went out to see the strange visitor, who had forced
his way into the house in an intoxicated state. He said he was
starving, aud begged the preacher to give him wherewithal to sup-
port life. Here was a man drunken, shivering with cold, famished
with hunger, and begging sustenance — a rough worm to hide in
the rich cocoon of a preacher's elegant mansion. But his delicate
sensibilities shrank from this rude contact with the actual, and he
exclaimed, dolefully: "What shall I do with this man?" — then,
* ' I will send for an officer, to take him to the station-house. "
"Stay," cried my artist friend, who had been wondering at his
strange conduct and inconsistency; " I did not listen to your in-
terrupted discourse without becoming deeply impressed by the
sublimity of benevolence and good-fellowship between man and
man, so gorgeously developed by your glowing tongue. It taught
me my duty. I will take the man."
So, taking him by the hand, he led him from the imaginative
philanthropist, who had shrunk nervously back from this one atom
of degradation, took him to a restaurant, gave him a bowl of highly
prosaic clam soup, and gave him bed and board in his house till he
obtained work. Here was a bit of organizing power put in work-
ing order by an idea.
To drunkenness, a banded and fierce wordy opposition is not
enough. Society wants more. Neither can the evil be overthrown
by the strong force of social pressure, unaided. New forces must
start. A new corj)orate body is needed to act against the corporate
despotism of drunkenness. This barrier is the Dashaway Associa-
tion, which gives, in its Home for the Inebriate, protection and
nutriment, and thus holds out organic temptations to the drunk-
ard to forsake his career of excesses. A great many people are
contented with the recoil of their sensibilities from evil. From de-
grading companionships they shrink back. This is the natural
tendency of moral characters who separate themselves from the
worthless and depraved; and so we see streaks of good and bad in
all nature — in nations and in cities — like the stratifications of the
earth's geological formation. This tendency is governed by the
great law of retribution — of punishment and reward — of life and
death. Christianity works at right angles with these strata, and,
coming in contact with all, stakes the organic fibres of a better
nature to work against the bad, and she does it by the word lle-
demption, and by the method Grace. Every parish is composed of
THOMAS STARR KING. 209
an aggregated idea, differing from other parishes — and even **the
Word " is a stratified Revelation. But if this cold classification —
this sedimentary process — goes on the good and bad in associated
districts, diverging from the great centre, and rapidly separating
and keeping as thoroughl}^ apart from each other as do the Amer-
icans and Chinese, where will it end ? Redemption by sympathy
of classes — that is the binding link now being forged by the Dasha-
away, and that is eminently Christian. This Association is actu-
ated by the proper principle, and pursues the proper course. It
pledges itself, not others, and indulges in no denouncement of
others, but looks with the sacred eye of Pity at the debased of so-
ciety, and beaming with the bright purity of Benevolence, takes
him by the hand.
This Association is composed of all classes, and consequently
the silent appeals made by practical workings are responded to by
all grades. Its progress has been astonishing — like the great
Washingtonian movement, which, twenty years ago, swept like a
whirlwind through the country" — arousing from its lethargj', and
awaking from its latent inertness, the burning spirit of eloquence,
till now slumbering in the brains or closeted in the thick-tongued
and besotted victim of the hellish vice which his own voice was now
raised, trumpet-toned, to crush. Every here and there, through-
out the States, sprang up an intellectual and lire-endowed orator
— like a Lazarus bursting his own bonds, and going forth to preach
to others suasion and sympathy, rather than law. But the seasoii
of revival soon fled. And so it is ever, that the seasons when men
are used as pipes through which to blow the Divine breath of In-
spiration are short, and soon pass away. Extraordinary success
always brings extraordinary trials in its brilliant train which must
be met with becoming fortitude. From what I have seen and
heard and read of the operations of your society, since my anival
in this city, I should judge that the first excitement is over, and
the enthusiasm of principle may now be created to advantage.
The Twelve Apostles were each representatives of different charac-
ters, for Jesus knew that by choosing them he must, to accomplish
his aim of regenerating all, take types of the different classes. Else
he would fail to reach their sympathies. Peter, James and John,
the three most loved and favored of them all — how diverse in posi-
tion, character, style and temperament were they ! In their inter-
course with the people they touched three separate keys — initial
notes, which were no more alike than are the deep, hoarse tones of
the trombone to the silvery sweetness of the flute. If one tried to
be the other it would be as jarring as the note a on the piano in-
sisting on sounding e !
One thing you should be careful of. Be not too easily swayed
from your original plan by the evil whispering of those who would
prove your ruin. Some say you are not strict enough — others that
you have resolved to keep alive an uncompromising spirit. It is
impossible to please all. Keep on in your own way, (as originally
marked out by you) in that broad missionary spirit which has en-
14
210 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
nobled your association. The plan could not, I think, "be better.
You have steered clear of creeds, obtained the respect and admira-
tion of nearly all, and incurred the animosity of none. You keep
the common Sabbath, assembling to hear your preachers, and lend-
ing additional sanctity to the day by the confirmation of those who
have passed the period of their probationary trial. Your institu-
tion, as it now stands, is a great and splendid spectacle — a new and
magnificent effect ! Guard it, then, with most sedulous vigilance;
and if you do, the novel and glorious movement must prove a last-
ing impulse of practical results. Now is the time, if ever, to stand
firm.
The Home for the Inebriate, a part of your admirable organism,
must be carried on. State aid should be invoked. It is now in its
mere infancy, and must be raised to a vigorous maturity. It was
honor enough for any convention of brains to devise the plan, shown
by its excellent working to be perfect; and I think, by every con-
sideration of justice, of honor and of duty, (regardless of mercy)
the Legislature is bound to foster such an institution. The State
provides asylums for the insane, the deaf, dumb and blind. In-
sanity is a disease. Medical men agree that the appetite for liquor
is a disease, requiring medical treatment. How can the State re-
fuse that bounty which will foster an institution whose workings
will save the State expense in others ? You have long borne the
onerous burthen of its support. Eaise private subscriptions, ask
church collections to support it in the mean time — till you gain
State aid — and scarcely one, I trust, will refuse ; for crowd all the
godliest churches of the universe together, those walls which gleam
with the loftiest lustre of Christianity, and the supreme church — the
Home of the Inebriate — would burn with the richest tinge !
There is, too, it seems to me, a fine opportunity for your asso-
ciation to confer another immeasurable benefit upon society. Men-
tal culture is painfully neglected in our land. It makes me sad to
think of the feebleness of intellect exhibited by us. A well select-
ed library, free to all, would indeed be a boon to the masses. What
new and fascinating fields do libraries offer for intellectual rambles !
The young men of the present day, of all classes, are lamentably
ignorant. Their mental powers after their school days, are wofully
neglected. They are false and perilous traitors to themselves.
True, they do much newspaper reading, and there is much to ad-
mire and profit in many newspapers; but after all, it is mere desul-
tory reading. The period between youth and marriage is the
noblest time for reading and storing the mind with the riches of
literature — which can best be done by a properly systematized
course of pleasurable study — a path lifting the student out of the
consciousness of the mere animal, making him lose and forget his
taste for sensualities. Literary matter may not create character,
but it may influence it. Genius, a gift often connected with erratic
fire, is ever hungry for intellectual food; but because it has in some
cases floated down to depravity, is no argument against indulging
the mental appetite. Libraries open up to us the delicate organiza-
THOMAS STARR KING. 211
tion of the brain, the wonderful formation of the eye, and their
perfect connection ; the strange meaning of the hand, the scratches
upon the rocks, the marvelous beauties of the flower, the mysteries
of the ocean, the land, the clouds, the air, and the stany wonders
of the heavens ! We have some collections to be proud of— the
Mercantile Library, and Odd Fellows' Hall, and Mechanics' Insti-
tute — and I think every man as he passes those structures in his
street walk, should breathe a small prayer for the blessings con-
ferred by them. Your library rooms may be made a mossy foun-
tain of knowledge, so vastly greater than desultory addresses.
And then the long autumn and winter evenings are coming on
apace. Perilous times for the young men ! Tempt them with the
garnered mental treasures of astronomy, botany, chemistry, and all
the arts and sciences. It is written that oiu- first parents were
tempted by the Serpent with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge,
but alas, I fear that the men of now, would have to work hard to
reach the elevation of Adam's fall !
In the brawny chest and muscular arm of Heenan there is some-
thing to admire, something more than a mere idea; and the batter-
ing of a human face is not half so disfiguring as the traces of one
night's orgie. Milton has made fiends interesting, and even mur-
der and war may be woven into readable shape ; but there is no
room for so debased a form as the Demon of Alcohol in Mn^TON's
Pandemonium — a form more sickening than the grizzly terror which
guarded the portals of Hell.
#rat((Jtt by §tv, mn. ^im §m0.
Delivered before the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons of California, at its Annual Communication,
May, a. l. 5863.
Most Worshipful Grand' Master and Brethren of the Grand Lodge:
In offering salutation to you, witH cordial thanks for the honor
and privilege connected with the office and duty you have entrust-
ed to me, I shall only attempt briefly, in the discharge of that duty,
to note two or three points of harmony and correspondence between
the structure and working of our Order and the handiwork of the
Almighty in the external world.
We belong to the great Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons.
The implements of our Craft, however, are no longer for operative
toil. We do not now, as part of our covenant, set fast the Doric
pillar, nor release from marble the ornament of the Corinthian
capital. We no longer sketch the complications of Gothic piles,
and cement the buttresses of haughty towers, and carry up, course
by course, the aspiring stones of pinnacles. The tools of the Craft
212 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
are representative now of speculative truth, and speak to the inward
eye of laws and duties that make life noble and character symmet-
rical and strong. Yet, though we build no structures such as our
ancient brethren reared; though the temples in which we meet are
not the monuments of our own proficiency in the art whose instru-
ments we cherish; we are builders and preservers in a richer sense ;
for our Order itself grows stronger and more precious with years,
and its uses are more varied and beautiful with the lapse of time.
The Masonic organization is far more remarkable and wonderful
than the noblest edifice it ever added to the landscape of history.
Let us pause, brethren, on the word ''organization." That is
the great word of the world. The Almighty is the Oi^ganizer. He
creates elements in order to mingle and fraternize them in com-
position and products. In the original chaos, matter was unor-
ganized. The process of death is dis-organization. All the marvels
of beauty, all the victories of life, are exhibitions and triumphs
of organizing force. The most fascinating chapters of science are
those whch unveil to us the vast fields w4iich the forces traverse
that sustain the highest forms of life upon the globe.
A crystalized gem is the most attractive form of solid matter,
because more thought and skill are expended in its structure than
in any other stony combination of atoms. A flower is of a higher
order of charm, for more various and more subtile elements are
wrought into its composite loveliness ; and then the provisions for
the growth and support of the flower affect us more profoundly still
— the mixture of the air, the various powers hidden in the sun-ray,
the alternation of daylight and gloom, the laws of evaporation and
of clouds, and the currents in the air that carry moisture from zone
to zone for the nutriment of vegetation. "VVe soon find in nature
tJiat no element or force exists unrelated. It is in harness with
other elements for a common labor, and an interchange of service
for a common end. Organization is the idea which science impresses
upon us as the secret of life, health, power and beauty in her realm.
An organized product can appear only from forces of nature, which
are the movements of the Divine will. Man can arrange, manu-
facture, weave, forge, adjust, refine ; but he cannot organize as na-
ture does. He can make machines through which the forces of na-
ture will play for cunning ends ; but he cannot conjure the principle
of his life into any mould of his making. He can start shuttles
that will weave a carpet for the reception room of a palace in one
loom ; but he can build no mill, he can start no laboratory, where
the warp and woof of the banana leaf can be plaited. He can tell
how the sugar is secreted in the veins of a clover blossom ; but he
cannot make the clover seed. And you might as well ask the wisest
scientific man to fashion a world, as to create one of the green
needles which a pine tree produces by the million, or one of the
innumerable blades of grass.
But the great glory of organization is when it is revealed in hu-
man life. The highest structure of the creative art is the body of
man, representing in its complexity and the friendly partnership of
THOMAS STARR KING. 213
its powers, the system and coordination whicli society should attain;
and it is a marked epoch in histoiy when a new movement is made
which succeeds in organizing men widely and permanently for no-
ble and beneficent ends.
We are not intended to be separate, private persons, but rather
fibres, fingers, and limbs. The aim of religion is not to i^erfect us as
persons, looking at each of us apart from others. The Creator
does not propose to polish souls like so many pins, — each one
dropping off clean and shiny, with no more organic relations to
each other than pins have on a card. We are made to be rather
like the steel, the iron, and the brass, which are compacted into an
engine, where no modest bolt or rivet is placed so that it does not
somehow contribute to the motion, or increase the efficiency of the
organism.
In savage life, men are slightly organized. A savage tribe is
like a heap of sand ; the atoms are distinct ; they are aggregated,
not combined ; no beautiful product springs from them ; and the
first wind of disaster blows them away. A half-civilized nation is
but slightly organized, so far as noble purposes and high senti-
ments are concerned. Progress is marked by wider, higher, finer
developments, issuing from the combination and copartnership of
souls. There can be no such things as justice, until men, in large
masses, are rightly related to each other. There can be no pros-
perity in a community until the majority of its people are so or-
ganized that their minds receive training, and their energies are
unfettered. There can be no happiness except as the result of
proper relations permanently established between the different
classes or strata of the social world.
*'No man liveth to himself." "Whether one member suffer, all
the members suffer with it ; or one member be honored, all the
members rejoice with it." " How good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity !" When a compacted unity of
living beings is seen, one of the most precious objects for which
the world was built is attained. A large and well ordered family is
such a jewel. A neighborhood at peace, and free from scandal, is
— or, rather I should say, would be — a still more precious jewel
of the same quality. A State, a Nation, so constructed that the
forces of all ranks of its inhabitants should be brought into play,
and the rights of all ranks should be saved from pressure, would
be a more marvelous and a more inspiring structure than the ma-
terial order and harmony of our solid globe.
It is in the light of this principle that the value and nobleness
of Masonry appear. I say again, that no edifice which our ancient
brethren reared was equal to the living structure of which they and
we are portions. How often we read, or hear with pride, that in
the building of the first temple, the stones were made ready before
they were brought together; so that there was neither hammer, nor
ax, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was building- !
What is that to the growth of our Order itself? How quiet the
process, yet how constant ! Who hears the noise of it? Who sees,
214 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
or knows, when the sound timber and the approved stones are
brought together, and fitted, and lifted to their place amidst the
roar, and strife, and selfishness of the world? Yet, in thousands
of towns and cities of the world: in all its zones: in almost all
communities and tongues of men, this work, in substantial sameness
of method and pledge, is going on. The Temple of Solomon must
stand as it was built. It could not enlarge itself. It could not
bud with smaller temples, and then take them in under a widening
roof or a swelling dome. Neither, when some of its pillars decayed,
could it restore its own decrease, as the living cedars of Lebanon
repair their wastes and renew their leaves. But our conscious tem-
ple does all this, and noiselessly. It fills in its losses; it enlarges
its sweep and sway; it does it. through men of all conditions, and
classes, and races; and still it stands in its old proportions, though
in greater amplitude — symmetrical, mysterious, sublime.
This is the most remarkable social organization of the world.
None on the globe, with half so many elements in its composition,
is so old. We are told of late that excavations made under modern
Jerusalem disclose remnants of the old city in various periods of
its history. Portions of the massive masonry of the time of Solo-
mon are uncovered. Above these appear fragments of the work of
Zerubbabel. On a higher historic stratum are specimens of work-
manship from the age of Herod the Great; and still above these,
but below the level of the present city, are remains of the construc-
tive toil ordered by Justinian. We delight to feel, brethren, that
the past, measured by as many ages, is under us ; but it is not be-
neath us in a broken symmetry, and a dead grandeur, as under Jeru-
salem. It is rather beneath us as the roots are beneath a tree, and
as the central rings are hidden in the trunk. They give power and
pith to the structure still. They are part of its present majesty,
sources of its living vigor, prophecies of its future strength.
We should take satisfaction, brethren — nay, a noble pride — in
the consciousness of the age and vastness of our organization. If a
stone in St. Peter's could be conscious, or any portion of the wall,
or spire, of Strasburg Cathedral, do you not think that it would
rejoice in its position; that it would be exultant over its partnership
with other stones in rearing the grandeur of such a pile for such
worthy uses? If any fragment of such an edifice could be con-
scious, and did not feel any pride, or any privilege, in its position
and its call, would its indifference be a merit, or a shame rather?
How shall it be with us ? Shall we not feel that there is dignity,
that there is privilege, in being living fibres of an organization which
has passed from one era of the world to another; which is older
than the oldest empire of Christendom; which has on its roll names
that sparkle in history like the sovereign stars; and which exists,
not for purposes of private aggrandizement, or the selfish joy of its
members, but to give deeper root to good principles in the world,
and to diffuse the spirit of peace and order? If a Mason is not
grateful and glad over his fellowship, it is because he does not ap-
preciate the value in the world of the organization of good.
THOMAS BTARR KING. 215
The idea of organization is connected wdth the idea of order.
And here, also, Masoniy reflects to us, or rather illustrates in a
higher form, the wisdom breathed by the Great Architect through
nature. It is said that order is heaven's first law. It is no less
tiTie, brethren, that it is earth's first privilege. It is the condition
of beauty, of liberty, and of peace.
Think how the principle of order for all the orbs of the solar
system is hidden in the sun. The tremendous power of his gravi-
tation reaches thousands of millions of miles, and hampers the
self-will — the centrifugal force — of mighty Jui)iter; of Uranus with
his staff of moons; of cold, and distant, and invisible Neptune.
There's a Grand Lodge for you, in which these separate Masters
are held in check by the Most AVorshipful Grand Master's power !
Nay, they tell us now of a central sun around which all other suns,
those fixed stars of the firmanent, bend and sweep. If this sug-
gests p.n argument by analogy in favor of a World Congress of Ma-
sons, with a Grand Lodge of Nations, and a Sujoreme Master,
whose power runs over seas and across continents, girdling the
earth like a magnetic stream, I leave it to be discussed by the Com-
mittee on Correspondence, in the next volume of our Grand Secre-
tary's admirable reports. But in the case of our planetaiy system,
is it any hardship that our separate globes are so strictl}^ under
rule, and pay obeisance to the sun? Is it not their chief blessing,
their sovereign pidvilege ? What if the order were less strict and
punctual; what if the force in these globes, that chafes under the
central rein, and champs its curb, should be triumphant for a day?
What if the earth should gain liberty against the pull of the sun ?
Beauty from that moment would begin to wither; fertility would
begin to shrivel. The hour of seeming freedom would be the
dawn of anarchy; for the sun's rule and apparent despotism is only
the ctern and beneficent condition of perpetual harmony, bounty
and joy.
Everywhere, order is the great interest. What humanity needs is
the fulfillment of these indications of nature : freedom with order;
a proper consciousness of worth in every breast; a recognition by
each man of the worth and claims of every other; and an acknow-
ledgment by all of a common and controlling law. This idea of
order, fulfilled in the architecture of nature, is committed as a
trust to our fraternity, and the j)roper reverence for it is poured out
continually through the influence of our hallowed bonds.
For every country that influence is silently wholesome. In
lands where "the spirit of society doe.3 not recognize sufficiently the
worth of man, but pays too much homage to rank and name, our
Order quietly fosters the principle of the equality of privilege and
lesponsibiliLy under the laws of everlasting justice; and, without
being revolutionary, it upholds the honor of human nature, and
patiently rebukes desx^otic arrogance and aristocratic scorn. In
our own country, its service is of a difi'erent kind. We need more
respect for authority; less self-will; a deep sense of the sacredness
of law, and education in the habits, manners, and feeUng of defer-
216 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ence and loyalty. The rupture of our National Unity, for a time,
with its tremendous costs in treasure, blood and agony, is in part
the revelation, in part the penalty, in part, perhaps, through the
severe benelicence of God, the cure of our chronic insubordination
of character to the authority and sanctity of high principles, which
has unfitted us, all over the land, to handle the sacred responsibili-
ties and delicate trusts of imperial statesmanship and continental
government. Whatever will teach our people reverence, decorum,
respect for others in the utterance and defence of opinion, sub-
mission to constituted authority with dignity and grace, will be
medicine for our trouble, and will prepare for us a better future. I
believe that the Order of Masonry, the quiet efficiency of its or-
ganism, the regard for forms it fosters, the love of order it induces
and deepens, the graceful habits of submission it educates, and the
sacredness it pours around organic law and the seats of authority,
are a prominent portion of the bonds of civilization in our country,
and an immense blessing when we consider our natural perils.
Brethren, let us cherish the duties and trusts of our Fraternity
for this good influence that it so naturally and liberally expends.
Let us resolve as part of our duty to the Creator, the source of or-
der and law, to drink more deeply of the springs within our enclos-
ure, whose issue is healing and reviving. In the maintenance of
the bond and customs of our Order is the pledge of our prosperity, as
well as the assurance of our service. Order has limits. Let us con-
tinue to guard sacredly our limits; to suffer no transgression of
them. What a power is represented in the men who have gathered
within this temple, during the present week, to superintend our
general interests and interpret and apply our law ! What harmony
has prevailed here, what decorum of speech, what promj)tness in
duty, what efficiency in j^rotecting and guarding the common good !
A visitor from outside our fellowship, suddenly brought in here to
look, for a moment, at the representative men thus gathered from
all sections of our State domain, and to observe, by one glance,
the quiet power embodied in the assembly, might imagine, if sud-
denly taken out again, that there could be something perilous to the
i:)ublic welfare in the association, by secret ties, of so many men of
such varied abilit}^ working in seclusion from public criticism and
without passion. He would feel secure again by knowing that it is
only by keeping rigidly to the work of fostering the interests of the
Order, that the dignity, the calm, the freedom from passion, the effic-
iency, are manifest or possible. Let any other question be intruded
here, and there could be no detriment to public interests; for our
harmony would break. Volcanic flame and blackness would burst
through the lofty and snowy peace. By keeping within our limits
alone are we prosperous and orderly; and within our limits our pros-
perity is the welfare of the community, the good of the State, the
strengthening of civilization. Eejoice, brethren, in your privilege;
wall off from intrusion the garden of order you have received; and
guard the book of your Constitution with the Tyler's sword.
Organization and Order! In preserving these, we are in har-
THOMAS STARR KING. 217
mony with the will and work of the Sovereign Architect, published
in the harmony, dignity, and peace of nature. And one other word
must be spoken, so familiar, so precious, to the Masonic ear and
heart. You anticipate what it is — Char if y. In nature, which speaks
the wisdom and character of the Invisible Spirit, organization is
not for the sake of Avisdom and skill chiefly — order is not for the
sake of law and obedience chiefly — but all for the sake of Charity.
There is harmony and stability that there may be breadth of boun-
ty, constanc}^ in giving wherever there is need. Within every dis-
trict of nature there is beneficence to all the need within that
district, and then a pouring out of alms into a general fund of boun-
ty and cheer.
Every mountain upholds and supports the herbage on its slopes,
and sends off rills to carr^' down soil to the vales and plains, while
they feed herbage there. You cannot find a tree, or plant, or flower,
that lives for itself. The animal world breathes out gases for the
vegetable kingdom, and then the vegetable world exhales or stores
up some elements essential to animal health and vigor. The car-
bonic acid we breathe out here, and which is poison to us, blown
eastward by our west winds, may be greedily taken up, a few days
hence, by vineyards on the slopes of the Sierra, and returned to us
in the sweetness of the grape. The Equator "sends greeting" to
the Arctic zone by the warm Gulf stream that flows near the Polar
coasts to soften their winds. The Poles return a colder stream and
add an embassy of icebergs, too, to temper the fierce heats. Sel-
fishness is condemned by the still harmonies of the creation. Per-
fect order issues out of interwoven service.
Do we ever get tired of the toils and tax of charity ? Suppose
the sun did. What does he receive in homage or obedience from the
orbs that swing round him, in comparison with what he gives — all
his light, all his heat, all his vitality for the blessing of fourscore
worlds ? Shall we complain of the demand upon our treasuries, or
our private purses, for the sacred funds of the Masonic Board- of
Eelief ? What if the sea grumbled at the assessment which the
mighty sun — the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the system —
levies on his substance ! Every day the sun touches its stores with
its wand of light and says, give, give. And it obeys. Evaporation
is its tax constantly demanded, constantly given. Remember,
brethren, that every cloud you see, whether stretched in a beautiful
bar across the east at sunrise, or hanging in pomp over the gorgeous
pavilion of the retiring day, is part of the contribution for the
general relief of nature assessed by the lordly sun. The water
which the ocean keeps is salt. Pour a bucket of it on a hill of corn,
or a garden bed, and it kills it. The water which the ocean gives
is fresh, and descends in blessing, after it rides in beauty or majesty
on the viewless couriers of the air. Nature tells us that to "give is
to live."
Society is struggling up to reach the order which nature thus
indicates. Civilization is yet in its infancy. There is no town, no
village of Christendom yet, where the bounty of nature to all the
'ufi7Eb.,:;tt;
osr
218 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
needy is fulfilled. Let us be grateful, brethren, that within our
fellowship, charity is organized, as well as law and peace. Our
treasury has no avarice in it. The oil poured upon our head flows
to the end of the beard and the garment's hem.
How good and how precious it is for brethren to dwell in such
unity ! May it continue, brothers, and widen through our fidelity
and service and beneficence ! God preserve our organization, guard
our order, inspire our beneficence, and grant that, a centuiy hence,
our successors may meet here to enjoy in a larger fellowship the
result of our faithfulness, and with a Nation not sundered, but pre-
sided over by one Grand Master, heir of the virtues, the hope, and
the blessing of Washington !
CHARLES E. DE LONG
,pY THE pDITOR
THIS popular favorite of the Silver State was born at
Beekmansville, Dutchess county, N'ew York, August
13, 1832. His ancestors arrived in America from France
about the year 1780. It was his father's wish (himself
a farmer) that he should follow the noble pursuits of
husbandr}^; accordingly, Charles worked upon his father's
farm until his boyhood had almost passed, and he began
to think and act for himself. He received a common
school education. Before he had completed his studies,
or prepared himself for any profession or trade, he de-
termined to strike for an easily acquired fortune in the
far West.
. Though yet a boy, unacquainted with the world, un-
accustomed even to the harsh accents of a stranger's
voice, the love of adventure — natural attribute of youth —
was so strong in his breast, that the exciting reports from
the Pacific shores were sufficient to persuade him away
from the old homestead, and tempt him to new and
distant regions.
Mr. DeLong arrived in California June 5, 1850, and
settled in Yuba county; which county, in after years,
honored him with many trusts, and where he remained
until his final departure from the State, in 1863.
Immediately after his arrival in Yuba county, the
young man, then only eighteen years of age, went reso-
220 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
lutely to work. He was no stranger to manual exertion :
his father had taught him the true nobility of labor.
For years he followed the fortunes of mining life : being
not only young, but of diminutive stature, his childish
form w^as daily seen bending in arduous toil.
From 1850 to 1856, Mr. DeLong engaged in a variety
of occupations. As the writer has heard him say, in
conversation among his friends, ^'I followed mining,
store-keeping, bar-tending, and almost everything else,
for a livelihood, until, in 1856, having failed in a mer-
cantile business I was engaged in at Young's Hill, Yuba
county, California, I turned my attention to the study
and practice of the law."
Mr. DeLong did not attend any law lectures or law-
school, for such evidences of civilization were lacking in
his section of the country. He studied in the woods;
and being of quick perception, and possessed of a natural
aptitude for the ^'accumulating science," he progressed
rapidly, and when he thought he could pass a creditable
examination, he presented himself before the District
Court of Yuba county, and was admitted to practice as
an attorney and counselor-at-law. He then opened a
law office in Marysville, the principal town in northern
California, and entered upon the practice at a time when
litigation was rife, and when the Marysville bar embraced
many of the first legal minds of the State — Field, Mit-
chell, McQuade, Barbour, Reardon, Lindley, and others.
In the fall of 1857, Mr. DeLong was elected to the
lower branch of the State Legislature, from Yuba county,
on the Democratic ticket. He took his seat at the be-
ginning of the session, in January, 1858. During the
session of the Legislature in that year, he appeared before
the Supreme Court of California, sitting at Sacramento,
and was admitted to practice in all the courts of the State.
The next year, he was reelected to the Assembly, on the
Anti-Leconipton Democratic ticket — the Legislature con-
vening on the first Monday of January, 1859. In the fall
of 1859, he was nominated by the Douglas Democrats for
State Senator, for the term commencing in January, 1860,
but was defeated by Hon. H. P. Watkins. In the fall of
CHARLES E. DE LONG. 221
the latter year, he was again nominated for the State
Senate by the same party, and was elected, defeating
Hon. X. E. Whitesides, formerly Speaker of the Assem-
bly, and once his colleague in that body.
Mr. DeLong held this position two years. He entered
the Senate on the first Monday in January, 1861, and, on
the 18th day of that month, introduced into the Senate
resolutions in regard to the then troubled state of the
Union.
These resolutions were the first of a great many of
similar nature, sustaining the Federal Government, re-
pudiating the suggestion of a Pacific Republic, and
urging coercion on the part of the general government
against the seceding States. Messrs. Edgerton, Watson,
Burbank, and others, having offered substitutes, or addi-
tional resolutions, upon the subject, the entire file was
referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. Upon
the report of that committee, a lengthy and spirited
debate ensued, in which Mr. DeLong joined. His speech
upon the occasion was pronounced by the leading news-
paper of the State, ''well-considered and forcible;" and,
for argumentative power and eloquence, was equalled
only by the brilliant efforts of Edgerton and Thornton.
On the 23d of the same month, Mr. DeLong presented
in the Senate a petition from a large number of his con-
stituents, praying that the resolutions of censure against
Senator Broderick (for refusing to resign, in obedience
to the request of a previous Legislature) be expunged
from the journals of the two houses.
During his term as a senator, the " Corporation Act"
and other leading measures received Mr. DeLong' s serious
attention. The journals of the Senate and the files of
the Sacramento Union will attest his industry and his use-
fulness as a legislator.
In the fall of 1862, Mr. DeLong was again nominated
by his party as a candidate for the State Senate, but was
defeated, and in May, 1863, removed to "Washoe." The
great flood of the previous year had swept over the entire
valley of the Sacramento, and erected everywhere its
mournful monuments. The practice of law in Marysville
222 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
had declined to barrenness, and business of all kinds in
that once proud, thrifty, and beautiful city, was utterly
stagnant. The afficted populace were fleeing from the
wide-spread desolation, and seeking new homes and fresh
fields of enterprise. A silver star was rising in the east,
whose happy light refreshed the dejected multitudes.
Washoe was the word of hope and promise. The fab-
ulous wealth of the newly-discovered mines, and the
conflicting interests of the claim.ants, had called into
being a vast world of litigation, such as no diligent votary
of law had ever dreamed of beholding. The enormous
fees received by the pioneer lawyers of Washoe had ex-
cited the wonder and cupidity of attorneys throughout
California, and towards the beginning of the year 1864,
the bar of Virginia city numbered about one hundred
practitioners. Mr. DeLong arrived in that place before
the lawyers' silver harvest had been fully gathered, and
soon formed a partnership with Mr. D. W. Perley, now a
leading member of the profession at White Pine. He
found upon his arrival that he had been preceded by
many of his friends and former constituents, citizens of
Yuba county. Being an old miner, he was at home amid
the restless mass around him. His experience as a miner
and as a lawyer, his close application to business, his
fidelity to his clients, soon gave him a prominent place
and a lucrative practice at the Virginia bar.
In 1864, Mr. DeLong was elected a member (from
Storey county) of the Constitutional Convention which
framed the present Constitution of Nevada. At the
election of United States senators in that year, he was a
prominent candidate for that high position. The first
ballot stood: Stewart, 32; DeLong, 24; Nye, 23. On
the next day, Messrs. Stewart and Nye were chosen.
Mr. DeLong bore his defeat with patience, and continued
his practice in Virginia city.
In 1865, the law-firm of Perley & DeLong was dis-
solved, the latter entering into partnership with Judge
Lewis Aldrich, formerly of San Francisco.
In January, 1868, Mr. DeLong was again brought
forward as a candidate for the United States Senate.
CHARLES E. BELONG. 223
Messrs. Nj^e, Winters, and Fitch, were also candidates.
Twenty-nine votes were necessary to elect, and Mr.
DeLong received twenty-seven: then, by the withdrawal
of Messrs. Winters and Fitch in favor of Gov. Nye, the
latter was elected.
In the convention w^hich nominated Gen. Grant for
the Presidency, Mr. DeLong was chairman of the Nevada
delegation, and was placed on the Committee on Platform
and Resolutions. He was one of the sub-committee of
six that drafted the platform of the Union Republican
party of 1868. He is a member of the National Repub-
lican Committee, and one of the executive committee
from the Pacific coast. He has also for several years
been chairman of the Republican State Central Commit-
tee of Nevada, holding that position until shortly before
his departure for Japan as Minister Resident of the United
States. He took an active part in the election of Gen.
Grant, having been chosen one of the presidential electors
of the State of Nevada, and afterwards, by his associates,
selected as messenger to carry the vote of the State to
Washington.
In the fall of 1868, Mr. DeLong removed to the new
mining region of White Pine, establishing himself at
Treasure City, in partnership with Judge Lewis Aldrich,
Hon. J. S. Slauson, and Mr. Thomas Wren.
Gen. Grant, shortly after his inauguration as Presi-
dent, in 1869, tendered to our subject the appointment
of Minister Resident of the United States at Japan.
The appointment being confirmed by the United States
Senate, was accepted by Mr. DeLong, who, after devoting
several months to the proper arrangement of his business
affairs, departed upon his mission in September, 1869,
accompanied by his family.
In 1862, Mr. DeLong married Miss Elida F. Yineyard,
yoimgest daughter of Col. James F. Yineyard, then a
senator from Los Angeles, by whom he has several living
children.
Mr. DeLong is an indefatigable student, and a close
reader not only of legal but poetic and miscellaneous
writers. He is a man of genial temper, frank in his
224 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
manners, fond of humor, and gifted with the rare faculty
of attaching to himself sincere friends wherever he goes.
His tastes and active temperament especially fit him for
the practice of his profession in a mining community.
His fame as a lawyer is firmly established in iNevada.
He is a graceful speaker, is decidedly entertaining in
conversation, and delights to tell or listen to an
anecdote.
In Mr. DeLong's case, success has been the test of
merit. He has won fortune and position by solitary,
unaided study and effort. He came to California a boy,
vdthout friends, means, or experience. By patient in-
dustry, and the pursuit of an honest, straightforward
course, he has battled with the disadvantages and checks
of youth, poverty, and inexperience, and conquered
them. Few men have overcome greater obstacles —
none are more worthy of achieved success.
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO.
By pHAS. p. J^CKETT.
BEFORE proceeding to sketch a condensed biography
of the most distinguished of living Hispano-
Californians, a short allusion to his ancestry will be
of interest, as well as appropriate to the subject. The
Vallojo family — all claiming relationship — occupied for
many generations a most honorable position in Spain ;
and the branches of it which immigrated to America
were alike distinguished, chiefly, however, as church
dignitaries of the Jesuit Order. A genealogical state-
ment or table of these latter was filed in 1806 in the
Spanish archives of California. One of the name — Don
Alonzo Yallejo — commanded the troops on board the
vessel in which the royal commissioner, Bobadillo, came
over to take back Columbus a prisoner to Spain.
Another was with Cortez in making the conquest of
Mexico, and afterwards became Governor of the province
of Panuco. The grand-parents of the subject of our
history came from the province of Burgos, near the city
of Bilbao, in the northern part of Spain, sometime during
the early portion of the last century, and settled per-
manently in Gaudalajara, Mexico, where Don Ignacio
Yallejo, his father, was born. Like the most of the
members of the family (including a number of the
females) Don Ignacio was educated for holy orders; but
taking a dislike to that sober life, and his youthful ima-
15
226 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
gination being fired with the spirit of adventure, then so
animating the Castilian stock, he managed to quarrel
with the officiating clergyman upon the day of his or-
dination — threw off, in simulated anger, his sacerdotal
vestments, and fled for refuge to the royal standard.
The company he joined was upon the eve of departing
northward upon that famous propagandizing and ex-
ploring expedition which accompanied the historically
renowned Father Junipero Serro — founder of the Cali-
fornia Missions, and discoverer of the Bay of San Fran-
cisco. Landing with him at San Diego in 1769, Don
Ignacio traveled, in company with that daring and
zealous missionary and other members of the party, over
a large portion of the country, soon thereafter going as
far north as the valley of Petaluma. As military com-
missioner and engineer, he was employed for a number
of years in planning and superintending the building of
fortifications, laying out the various towns of the terri-
tory, and in directing the construction of irrigating canals
and the waterworks of the Missions.
General M. G. Yallejo was born in Monterey, upper
California, July, 1808, being the eighth of thirteen child-
ren. He was educated at the college there, and entered
the military service at the age of sixteen, as a cadet and
private secretary to Governor Arguello. Being rapidly
promoted, he reached the rank of Brigadier- General in
1840. In 1829, as Lieutenant commanding, he was
placed in charge of the Korthern Department, which in-
cluded all the country to the north of Santa Cruz, having
his headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco; in
which capacity he remained until 1837, exercising, until
1835, both civil and military functions for the section
north of San Jose, when, at his own suggestion, Governor
Figueroa ordered an election of civil officers for the
Partido or District of San Francisco, whose seat of gov-
ernment or cabem should be at the Mission of Dolores;
which was duly carried into execution, and dates the
foundation of the first organization of the character at
such important point.
In the fall of 1829, soon after assuming command of
MARIANO GUADALUPi<J YALLEJO. 227
his department, a man by the name of Solis inaugurated
a revolutionary movement against Gov. Echandea, chiefly
because the latter preferred to reside at San Diego,
instead of at the capital, Monterey. Yallejo was im-
portuned to join the revolutionists, and upon refusing,
was confined in the calaboose at Monterey, from which
he shortly managed to escape by sea: joined the Gover-
nor's forces at San Diego, and met the insurgents near
Santa Barbara, where Solis was defeated.
In 1831, he was elected a member of the Territorial
Deputation. At this period, Victoria was Governor, and
had rendered himself obnoxious to the Californians by
his arbitrary and cruel conduct. Yallejo having been
selected by his fellow-deputies to prepare and present
articles of impeachment against his Excellency, the lat-
ter, during a recess of the session, strove, by tendering
him a superior commission and making other friendly
overtures, to quash the indictment; but finding the
young Lieutenant too true to his California countrymen,
to accede to his propositions, he determined to arrest
him and the others engaged in the proceedings. This
precipitated a revolution in which Victoria was defeated
in a battle fought at the Cauenga Pass, near Los Angeles ;
after which, the Governor was sent out of the country in
an American vessel then lying in the port of San Diego.
In 1832, he was married to Francisca Benicia Carrillos,
by whom he has had seventeen children — ten now living,
five of them married — General John B. Frisbie, proprietor
of the City of Vallejo, etc., being his eldest son-in-law.
In 1834, he was, with Bandini, elected a delegate to the
Mexican Congress, but did not attend.
In 1836, Governor Chico got by the ears with the
leading Californians ; was deposed by them, and sent from
the country in an American vessel. Just before leaving,
he appointed Gutierez his provisional successor, which
arrangement was acceded to by the revolutionists. But
Gutierez, proceeding to carry into execution the ob-
jectionable measures of Chico, the whole country arose
in opposition, proclaimed Vallejo General-in-Chief and
revolutionary Governor ad interim, who immediately con-
228 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
vened the Territorial Deputation and turned over the
reins of civil government to Alvarado, President of that
body; retaining, however, the military and, de facto ^ all
power in his own hands. In 1838, the supreme govern-
ment of Mexico confirmed these revolutionary acts of
the jealous, belligerant, and semi-independant Califor-
nians; and sent out as Governor, Micheltoreno, clothed
with extraordinary prerogatives — being invested with
the full powers of the central government. In the ex-
ercise of these, he appointed Yallejo military commander
of all the territory lying north of the Santa Inez moun-
tain, who now had fixed his headquarters at Sonoma,
where he has ever since resided.
In 1844-5, occurred the last revolution of the Cali-
fornians among themselves, which ended in expelling
Governor Micheltoreno from the country. Yallejo was
the leading person in secretly planning the programme
and having the pronunciamentos issued to this effect.
Foreseeing the result, he wrote to Capt. John A. Sutter,
who was organizing the foreign residents in the northern
section and a body of Sacramento Indians, to go to the
assistance of the Governor, strongly advising him not to
take any part in the affair. At the same time, he ad-
dressed a communication to Micheltoreno, adjuring him
to send back immediately the obnoxious troops and
officers he had brought from Mexico with him, and whose
characters and conduct solely had arrayed the Califor-
nians against him. But his advice was unheeded by
both; and upon the surrender of Micheltoreno, Sutter
came near losing his life, which was only saved by the
joint interposition of the foreigners enlisted upon either
side. Vallejo, during the preparation for the conflict,
was placed in a very delicate and dangerous position.
Being ordered by the Governor to join him with the
forces under his command, he refused; alleging as a
reason, that he did not wish to make war upon his
friends and relations — Alvarado and Castro, the two
chief leaders of the revolutionists, being his nephews.
The troops stationed at Sonoma and San Francisco were,
through the agency of Lieut. Pico, Don Jasper O'Farrell,
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO. 229
Capt. Sutter, and others, induced to desert and join the
contingent forces of Sutter, then upon the march to
cooperate with those of Micheltoreno. Not wishing to
take issue with his American and other foreign -born
neighbors, Yallejo remained quietly at home, awaiting
the termination of the contest. And here, appropriately,
may be related the real or paramount inducement for
such conduct upon his part.
After the raising of the American flag at Monterey
in 1842, by Commodore Jones, Yallejo became impressed
with the conviction that the time was near at hand for
what he deemed to be the inevitable destiny of Cali-
fornia — annexation to the United States; and thence-
forward was shaping his actions so as to conform to that
which he was willing should come to pass as soon as
possible. In evidence of this, during the month of
March, 1846, at the call of Pio Pico — who, as President
of the Assembly, had assumed the Governorship upon
the expulsion of Micheltoreno — a convention of the
leading citizens assembled at Santa Barbara, to take into
consideration the future of California. The impression
prevailed generally that its loose connection with Mexico
was about to be severed; and the important question
arose, ''What will then become of us?" There were
three parties in this body: one (and the strongest) favor-
ing an English Protectorate. The next strongest ad-
vocated the erection of an independent Republic, to be
maintained under all contingencies; whilst the third — at
the head of which was Vallejo — favored the latter project
only so far as a temporary arrangement for the purpose
of negotiating their transfer into the American Union.
Through his machinations, the meeting at Santa Barbara,
where the English party prevailed, was unable to obtain
a quorum, and so adjourned to Monterey. Here the
friends of the various projects met and earnestly dis-
cussed this weighty question — the French Consul also
approaching various members to propose a French Pro-
tectorate, provided they would call upon his government
so to act. The leading part in the discussion was taken
by Vallejo. He warmly, logically, and ably laid before
230 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the body his views upon the subject. He said they all
agreed that Mexico must part with California ; and it was
impossible for them to maintain an independent status,
since both the United States and Great Britain had fully
manifested the intent to seize upon the country at a very^
early period. The only question, therefore, for them to
decide and act upon was, into the arms of which of these
two powerful nations they should conclude to throw
themselves. For his part, laying aside his individual
predilection — which had been often expressed — he ad-
vised them to make a virtue of necessity, by at once
taking steps towards opening negotiations with a view to
transferring themselves to the former. He stated that
Commodore Jones had assured him in 1842 that it was a
foregone conclusion of his country to have California
soon at all hazards ; and that his action in then so hastily
raising the stars and stripes upon their soil, under the
impression that war was waging between the two coun-
tries, was in accordance with secret orders to checkmate
any such movement that might be made upon the part
of the British naval commander. Thomas 0. Larkin,
the American Consul, residing then at Monterey, backed
up these views of Yallejo, by assuring the members of
the convention that so firmly resolved was his govern-
ment to possess California, that in the event Great
Britain should forestall them by first seizing it, or by
their voluntarily transferring themselves in such direc-
tion, the United States would eventually obtain the ter-
ritory, even though at the cost of a war with that mighty
power. The convention came to no definite conclusion,
resolving to adjourn for a season and observe the turn
of affairs. But the complicated and important events so
suddenly precipitated upon the land a few weeks sub-
sequently, prevented any further consultation. The long
existing jealousy between the northern and the southern
sections of the territory had just then bred anew enough
bad blood to induce General Castro to organize an armed
force in the former, and Governor Pico in the latter, to
settle the feud by an appeal to arms. The two armies
were marching to the scene of conflict, and about meet-
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO. 231
ing near San Luis Obispo, when the startling news arrived
that the foreigners had raised an independent banner
(the ^'Bear Flag") north of the bay of San Francisco;
taken Yallejo and other chief citizens prisoners; fought
a battle, defeating the natives, and threatened to carry
lire and sword throughout the length and breadth of
California, in retaliation for alleged threats made by
Castro to drive them all from the country. This at once
brought about a reconciliation between the opposing
parties, and a resolve to join their forces in order to pro-
ceed against the common enemy. But very soon came
the still more startling announcement that war existed
between the United States and Mexico ; that the fleet of
the former had arrived in the bay of Monterey and raised
the American flag ov^r the town; that Col. Fremont had
got back from the mountains in Oregon, whither Castro
had but recently compelled him to flee; that the ''Bear
Party" had hauled down their flag, joined their recruits
with Fremont, and that the command (rapidly augment-
ing) was on the march to cooperate with the navy in
effecting a conquest of the country. Castro — now at
the head of the Californians, though in sympathy with
the British party — was aware of the hopelessness of
further opposition, and admitted that the position taken
by Yallejo was correct. Encamping in the vicinity of
Monterey, he sent word to the Commodore that he was
prepared to enter into negotiations for laying down his
arms and surrendering the country. But being somewhat
cavalierly and most impolitely repulsed, and the near
approach of Fremont preventing a renewal of any over-
tures, by driving him farther southw^ard, then followed
the two wars of the conquest — so wholly and entirely
uncalled for, so expensive, and resulting in the loss of a
number of lives upon both sides, and the engendering of
much bitter feeling, all of which could easily have been
avoided, but for the extreme ignorance of the American
commanders as to the proper deference and conciliation
to be extended to Castilian pride and punctilio. Yallejo
remained a prisoner for a number of weeks at Sutter's
232 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Fort ill the Sacramento valley, when he was set at liberty
upon parole by the new naval commander.
Under the new regime^ and especially after the be-
ginning of the great influx of gold-seekers to the Pacific
shore, in 1849, Yallejo assumed a very prominent posi-
tion. He was appointed by Commodore Stockton, in
January, 1847, a member of a civil body titled the As-
sembly, designed to frame a code of laws for the tem-
porary governance of the territory. But the grand
imbroglio between Commodores Stockton and Shubrick,
General Kearney, and Colonels Mason and Fremont,
happening about this period, prevented the meeting of
such body. As an illustration of the complicated state
of affairs brought about by their jealousies and conflict
of authority, that even the famous Fremont court martial,
which aftervfards sat in Washington, was unable to un-
ravel, Yallejo received three communications dated upon
the same day, from Stockton, Kearney, and Fremont,
respectively, each signing himself ^' Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief of California."
Vallejo, however, acted for a time as Indian Agent
north of the Bay, by appointment of General Kearney.
Early in the year 1849 were inaugurated those ''Dis-
trict Legislatures" for affording some sort of temporary
civil governments for the country. Ex-Governor Boggs
from Missouri and General Yallejo took the leading part
in organizing this movement for the Sonoma section,
when, on motion of the Governor, and to save the labor
and expense of framing a new code, the Missouri statutes
were adopted entire, so far as applicable — Boggs, we
believe, then possessing the only copy of them in Cali-
fornia. But Governor-General Riley's proclamation soon
upset these independent movements, and called a general
convention for the territory. Yallejo was elected a mem-
ber of the body, which, upon assembling, resolved to
form a State Constitution. The following year, he was
elected a State Senator, and whilst a member, his mag-
nificently liberal propositions with reference to locating
the permanent seat of government upon his Suscol
MARIANO GUADxyLUPE YALLEJO. 233
Ranclio, at the site of the present city of Yallejo, were
accepted by the Legislature and confirmed by a vote of
the people. In compliance with the terms of the agree-
ment, he erected a State House or Capitol and various
other public buildings, as well as expending large sums
otherwise in connection therewith; expecting, besides
the great honor of the business (his chief incentive) to
reimburse himself from the sale of lots in the new city,
and the rise in value of the adjacent lands. The Legis-
lature twice met there, but the hotel accommodations
not being esteemed sufficient, and certain very strong in-
fluences being brought to bear to induce adjournment to
Sacramento, the place was finally abandoned as a capital,
and Vallejo induced to cancel, upon his part, the contract
made with the State, at a loss, as he alleges, of several
hundreds of thousands of dollars. And to this heavy
damage and the unexpected rejection by the Supreme
Court of the United States of his title to that most
valuable rancho, may be chiefly ascribed the downfall of
his fortunes.
In January, 1847, Yallejo and Dr. Robert Semple
(subsequently taking in T. 0. Larkin as a co-proprietor)
laid out upon the same rancho the town site of Benicia,
which was first christened Francisca, after the first name
of Sefiora Vallejo; but the title of Yerba Buena being
soon thereafter officially changed to that of San Fran-
cisco, the similarity of the two induced the proprietors —
after an angry protest by Semple, through the columns
of his paper, the Californian^ against such action upon
the part of the Alcalde at Yerba Buena — to adopt Benicia
(Yenitia) instead; being the second or middle name of
Mrs. Yallejo.
The General possesses- a handsome residence — "Lach-
rymoe Montis" — situated in the edge of the town of
Sonoma, built after the plan of Bonaparte's villa at Bor-
dentown, IST. J., but is unable to preserve it in proper
repair for the lack of sufficient income. Sonoma being
selected as the headquarters of the United States army
in the fall of 1849, his commodious mansion upon the
Plaza, fashioned in the old Hispano-Mexican style, was
234 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
long the almost homelike resort of all its officers, and
where many, besides, met with that open-hearted and
frank entertainment characteristic of its hospitable pro-
prietor. Being, during that period, a gentleman of ample
fortune — possessing near thirty leagues of choice land
lying immediately around the northern border of the
bay of San Francisco, and many thousands of horses and
horned cattle — he dispensed his hospitality, as well as
rendered much assistance to the newcomers, with a pro-
digal and generous hand. In 1865, he made his first
visit to the East, and was received with great considera-
tion in Washington by his old army and navy acquaint-
ances, whom he met there, as also by the leading officials
of the government.
As Mayor and also a Councilman of his home-town,
he sought to have its public grounds properly ornamented
and improved, proffering to 'bear the larger portion of
the expense; but such not being responded to by the
new citizens, his plan was only partially carried out. He
expended, however, large sums in setting out vineyards
and fruit-trees in the immediate vicinity, being the first
to start vine-culture and wine-making on the north side
of the bay. For several years, his wines and brandies
took the first premium at the State Fairs, and at the
Mechanics' Fairs in San Francisco.
Notwithstanding his vicissitudes of life — loss of for-
tune, inability to keep pace with the progressive ideas
and practices of Young America, and the many harassing
cares besides — the General (now over sixty) preserves
ir a remarkable manner his youthful appearance and
activity. This may be attributed, in part, to a well-
developed physique, and active, outdoor exercise all his
days, and to the strictly temperate habits he has con-
stantly adhered to, rarely partaking of wine or spirits,
and being a moderate and fastidious eater. In character
he is not alone a pure-blooded Spaniard of the Hidalgo
class, but true to many of the leading traits and like-
nesses of that grandly historic race; being generous,
hospitable, high-spirited, of courtly address and dis-
tinguished presence, and possessed with a happy ad-
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO. 235
mixture of dignified pride and condescending affability.
Like them, in general, his mind dwells much in the
regions of romance; is somewhat addicted to idealistic
fancies — air-castle building, or the concoction of mag-
nificent schemes and projects, difficult of being, or never
to be, realized. He is likewise addicted, at times, to
that hyperbolical style of phraseology so common to the
Spanish character, and which causes many, unacquainted
with such peculiar modes of expression, to impute in-
tentional want of veracity. And to these amiable quali-
ties, and the more materialistic natures of that throng
of ^' practically-minded," greedy, grabbing gold -seekers
flocking to the Pacific shore, who have so greatly wronged
the larger portion of the unsophisticated stock found
here, by despoiling them of their heritage, may be at-
tributed the^ passing away from his possession of that
vast estate once held by him. Proud of the past glories
and still prominent position of the Spanish race, the
General — who is a fine scholar, especially as an his-
torian — loves to dwell upon their close relationship with
ancient Rome, and the undeniable fact that Spain, more
than any nation of Europe, transmitted the wisdom and
the virtues of that august civilization down to and con-
nects herself with the modern. Excluded from taking
any olSicial or other influential part in American affairs,
(with which government he has become much disen-
chanted of late years,) he takes a deep interest in ob-
serving the revolutionary progress of events in Spain;
and is somewhat more than a mere beholder of those
transpiring in Mexico, being the trusted counselor and
assistant of certain military aspirants and Pronunciadores
of this latter perpetually revolutionized and revolution-
izing land.
ELIAS S. COOPER
^Y y. poOPER J^ANE, JA. p.
THE life of each illustrious man is a drama, of which
the various acts are subjects of the most live-
ly interest, when properly detailed by the faithful his-
torian. The task of the latter, however, is no easy
one, in case he attempts to trace those links which, as
fractional parts, unite and truly represent the original.
Every great man's life, if studied comprehensively,
reveals a purpose ; and the historic painter would fall far
short of what art claims from him, if, in the imagery of
his picture, he omitted the delineation of glimpses of
such a purpose, which, like a sunbeam in the background
of a painting, illumines and brings into view each point
and feature of the picture. Preeminently, in the life of
him whose name appears at the head of this sketch, do
we observe such an inspiring aim and continued purpose,
that, like glory following virtue as its shadow, ''lived
with and accompanied him as an ever present genius."
Besides the intellectual endowments with which he was
gifted, he possessed those of the heart no less unusual.
To depict these, with that simplicity of coloring which
comports with nature, is no ordinary undertaking.
Elias Samuel Cooper was born in the southern part
of Ohio, in the Miami Valley, one of the most beautiful
sections of that State. His father, Jacob Cooper, emi-
grated at an early period to the West, from South Caro-
lina.
Every mind, in its growth, finds the elements for its
development and ultimate shape, in intrinsic and extrin-
238 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
sic circumstances. A paternal and maternal influence,
each strongly defined in character, by precept and exam-
ple imparted to young Cooper the inceptive germs of
mentality, and added to the same that momentum and
accuracy of aim which went directly to the destined
point.
Of the extrinsic circumstances, which, in many cases,
far more than is known, gave shape and feature to the
youthful mind, may be mentioned the beautiful landscape
of hill and valley in which his early home was retired ;
these were yet half-covered with those majestic groves —
beach, walnut, maple and oak — for which the Ohio val-
ley is famous. During his rambles amidst the quiet se-
clusion of such scenery, armed with his rifle in quest of
game, he formed an attachment for all that pertains to
Nature. Amid such scenery and such life, no doubt,
were developed those primitive moldings of self-reliance,
those habits of independent thought, and power of living
within himself, which finally assumed a permanent shape
and became the distinguishing traits of his mind in his
mature years. Few men have exhibited so large a share
as he of that internal self-sustaining power, which enabled
him to live independently of those props and supports
which are indispensable to most men.
From the example of an older brother who had enter-
ed the medical profession, in which he has won and now
holds an enviable position, the younger brother was led
naturally to embrace the same calling. The selection of
this profession was his own choice, and having once
chosen it, he gave himself to its study with all the pas-
sionate ardor of youthful enthusiasm. The leading text-
books — especially those upon Anatomy — he almost com-
mitted to memory ; for this branch of medical science he
early exhibited a strong predilection, and its almost end-
less details, which are tiresome and difficult of acquire-
ment by most students, were mastered by him with that
pleasure and eagerness which love for a science always
lends to its study. A fondness for Human Anatomy can
scarcely exist alone — it naturally leads to Comparative
Anatomy, its kindred science ; hence, we find our young
ELIAS S. COOPER. 239
student soon pushing his investigations in the latter
quarter, and learning there those laws which, in the hum-
bler grades of animated nature, do not differ from those
existing in "the paragon of animals." With no other guide
than his own original and all but intuitive genius, he in-
stituted a series of most interesting and instructive ex-
periments in the ligation of veins and arteries; in refer-
ence to the mechanism and function of the various valves ;
and the observations then made by him, he found subse-
quently of great value in operative surgery.
The writer has been for several years a medical teacher,
and is familiar with the career of many medical students ;
yet never did he see such ardent devotion to study, and
untiring zeal to master the facts of medical science, as
were evinced by his subject. Whenever his mind caught
a glimpse of the magnificent array of fact and theory ; of
what had been already accomplished, or what remained
to be done ; of the list of immortal names which are en-
shrined in the archives of medical science ; it awakened
and kept aglow in his bosom an impulse of devotion which
only expired with the last vibration of his heart.
His medical collegiate course was commenced at Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, and was completed at St. Louis, Missouri.
His selection of medicine, as a profession, was not at
first sanctioned by parental consent; yet the opposition
he met with in that quarter never diverted him for a mo-
ment from the fond purpose of his heart. His successful
career was not long in convincing his father, to whom he
was strongly attached, that the young man had made no
error in his choice of a profession.
Dr. Cooper commenced the practice of medicine in a
small town in Carroll County, Indiana ; thence he moved
to Danville, Hlinois, where, though he had but recently
attained his majority, his youth did not prevent him from
acquiring a large and lucrative practice. During his stay
at Danville, he won his first surgical triumph, in tlie suc-
cessful removal of a large portion of the lower jaw of a
patient. The self-possession and nerve of which he dis-
covered himself the master on this occasion, made him at
once determine to adopt surgery as his specialty and
240 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
sphere of action. The field, however, which he occupied
was far too small to gratify his ambition ; and hence he
soon decided to move to Peoria, in the same State, a
place which gave promise of speedily growing into a large
city.
Upon his arrival at Peoria, he commenced a course of
private dissections, being convinced that the daily use of
the scalpel upon the dead body is the only way of honest-
ly and properly qualifying one's self for the practice of
surgery; and that, as the mariner can be a successful pi-
lot only when, with his own hand, he has dropped the
sounding line, and with his own eye noted each depth,
and the exact location of each reef and rock, so the sur-
geon, in order to avert danger, and shun shipwreck on the
strand of ^^ death by misapprehension," must be likewise
familiar with the topography of each muscle, nerve^
and blood-vessel in the human microcosm. Our subject
was fully alive to these facts; and in order to be amply
armed and equipped for each and every emergency which
might arise, he devoted himself to practical anatomy with
the same zeal and untiring enthusiasm which had charac-
terized his earlier studies. He already enjoyed a compe-
tency, the fruits of his previous practice, and was enabled
to give most of his time for nearlj?- four years to the pros-
ecution of his favorite tasks in dissecting. Plis motto
was that of the old painter, Apelles : Nulla dies sine li/iea.
He allowed no day to pass by, without using his scalpel.
His life was then one gala-day of the happiest enthusiasm
and devotion to the mastery of the details of the greatest
science, without doubt, which has ever interested the
human mind, viz: Anatomy, or a knowledge of the con-
stituents, form and relations of the parts composing the
human body. .Well might Galen, in his pardonable fer-
vor, call it '' the noblest hymn which man can chant to
the Divinity."
Some five years after Dr. Cooper's arrival in Peoria,
he established a surgical infirmary, where he received
and treated all classes of surgical diseases, including those
of the eye and ear. The success which attended his prac-
tice quickly spread his reputation far beyond his home,
ELIAS S. COOPER. 241
SO that within two years after the foundation of this insti-
tution, patients flocked to him from all portions of Illi-
nois, as well as from the adjacent portions of the neigh-
boring States of Kentucky, Indiana and Iowa. It was in
the treatment for the removal of deformities of the lower
limbs and of the defects of the eye, that he became espec-
ially famous.
It was not long, however, before he found that the
field which he had chosen was too limited in area; and
that, to fully gratify his desire for professional honors and
renown, he must select a new location. He debated in
his mind whether it were best for him to settle in New
York, or to seek one of the cities of the West, which
threatened, in a few years, to rival the Metropolis. In
the meantime, to more properly qualify himself, and espec-
ially, to compare his ideas with those of the masters of
the old world, he made a trip to Europe.
Upon his return to America, he decided to select the
Pacific Coast as his future home and sphere of action, and
soon afterwards he bade farewell to his Eastern friends
and the scenes of his many professional triumphs, and
departed for San Francisco, where, early in the year 1855,
he began the practice of surgery.
The profession of medicine was well represented in
San Francisco at that time. To illustrate the difficulties
under which a new member of the profession labored at
the time of Dr. Cooper's arrival, in order that the non-
professional reader may have a correct understanding of
the same, would be, perhaps, impossible. Suffice it to
say, that those who first came founded on the mere fact
of prior arrival and earlier residence a claim to prece-
dence almost equal to superior caste and prerogative;
whence sprung a feeling which viewed with cold distrust,
if not positive enmity, any attempt to enter the self-privi-
leged ranks. In such a professional circle, a position like
that which was due to Dr. Cooper could be attained by
no one who was unwilling or unable to meet, battle with,
and overcome a well-organized opposition. In our subject
were united those traits which most admirably adapted
him to wage such a contest, and carry it to a triumphant
16
242 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
issue. Few conquerors have known so well as he how
to turn to good account the fruits of their victories.
Conciliation, like an attending spirit, w^as ever present in
his heart, and, as it were, held the pen ready to blot
out the record and even the meniorj of each injury which
was done him. A most intimate acquaintance with him,
and with many incidents in his life, convinced the writer
that this trait of character was natural with him, and was
not the offspring of policy, which sometimes dictates such
a course. It is also true, though it may seem paradoxi-
cal, that this conciliatory spirit was coupled with a ready
courage for defense, and even for assuming the offensive,
when all other means failed ; in fact, nature had endowed
him most richly with all the resources of both peace and
war; yet it was a rule of his life never to resort to the
weapons of the latter until every overture of the former
had been rejected.
As said, he brought with him to this Coast a fine pro-
fessional reputation ; for in his western home public opin-
ion had long before crowned him with an imperishable
wreath of honors, in which were entwined unfading lau-
rels of brilliant surgical achievements. In ihis, his newly
adopted home, he quickly won new honors, equal to, if not
eclipsing, those already attained ; for with a heart which
never knew the impulse of fear, and a genius which was
only quickened to bolder and more successful effort the
greater the difficulties which it had to encounter, it was
not long ere his scalpel, guided by the unerring light of
superior anatomical knowledge, made for him a pathway
wide and straight to the front and head of the profession.
It is probable that no medical man in so brief a period
ever attained so wide a reputation; — within five years
after his arrival, his services were sought for by patients
from every valley and mountain town of tliis Coast.
Among his achievements may be cited several cases of
ovariotomy, an operation which had to this time never
been performed here ; also ligatures of all the larger ar-
teries, including that of the Arteria Innoininata^ in which
his essay proved more nearly a success than any previous-
ly recorded case ; also the Caesarian Section ; and a great
ELIAS S. COOPER. 243
number of operations for the union of disunited frac-
tures by silver ligatures, together with almost countless
cases of exsection of diseased bones. To the unprofes-
sional reader it may be remarked, that the older surgeons
have as a rule discountenanced all interference with the
larger joints; he, however, from a series of operations up-
on the lower animals, became convinced, that the ideas
which obtained in this domain of surgery were erroneous,
and at once, with that boldness which is the heirdom on-
ly of great minds, he leaped the barriers which old au-
thority had reared around these anatomical regions, and
learned with the highest satisfaction that art might safely
tread this hitherto consecrated ground ; and thus disease
be robbed of some of the trophies which previously,
without resistance, had been abandoned to it. In this
domain of surgical science, his genius had far outstripped
the medical world in general ; and had years been granted
to him to consummate the work which he had planned, he
would no doubt have been able to prove the truthfulness
of the ideas which he held upon this subject.
Besides the arduous labor which he accomplished in
his private practice, he found time to do much more.
For example: he was one of the prime founders of the
California State Medical Society, and it was in a great
measure due to his individual efforts that this society
was sustained during its existence. Besides this, he issu-
ed a medical journal, — the San Francisco Medical Press,
— the columns of which paper were mainly filled with
communications from his pen. An examination of this
periodical shows the editor to have been a bold and origi-
nal thinker, and endued Avith a candor which it would be
well if more of the medical profession possessed : — for he
was quite as ready to publish the failures as the triumphs
of his knife. Besides this publication, he was a contributor
to several medical journals published in other sections of
the Union. He also retained notes of all his more inter-
esting surgical cases, from which he contemplated draw-
ing material at some future day for a complete work upon
surgery.
Soon after settling in San Francisco, he conceived* the
244 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
design of founding a school for the education of young
men there, who might desire to fit themselves for the
medical profession. Aided by several medical gentlemen^
he was the foremost in the establishment of such an in-
stitution, viz: the Medical Department of the University
of the Pacific, which was organized and commenced opera-
tion early in 1859. In this school, he filled the chairs
of Anatomy and Surgery. At this institution were gra-
duated a number of young men, who have taken high
position in the medical fraternity of this Coast.
As a lecturer he was not endowed with great elo-
quence, yet his style was eminently impressive and calcu-
lated to fasten his ideas in the mind of the student. His
delivery was slow, deliberate, earnest; his sentences were
not marred or clouded with superfluous verbiage, but a
severe conciseness was the distinguishing characteristic of
his lectures; each sentence was keen and pomted, and of
axiom-like brevity.
It was, however, in his character as an operative sur-
geon, that he possessed talent superior to most other men.
The writer, who was present and assisted him in many of
his capital operations, can recall no occasion where diffi-
culty, danger or unforeseen complication threw him out
of the sphere of his accustomed self-possession ; but with
a bold heart, an anatomical knowledge that was never in
error, a fertility of invention that could turn to good ac-
count each unfavorable contingency, an eye that in a mo-
ment could compass the whole field, and a hand that was
never seen to tremble, he inspired all who saw him on
such occasions with the feeling that they were in the pres-
ence. of a great master. No one ever witnessed his oper-
ations, and marked the imperturbable self-reliance with
which he wielded the knife, but with a feeling of assur-
ance that he would accomplish the purpose at which he
aimed. Besides, a strongly marked and original person-
ality quickly brought his patients into sympathy with
him; by virtue of this, as well as the faculty of inspiring
his patients with an unwavering belief in their final re-
covery, he elfected cures which few others could have
done.
ELIAS S. COOPER. 245
The incessant mental and physical toil to which he
subjected himself, began, soon after his arrival in this city,
to make serious inroads upon his constitution. Yet the
enthusiasm with which he worked, and the deep pleasure
s which he derived from his labors, caused him to pass un-
I heeded the monitions, which frequent attacks of illness
' gave, that he was rapidly ruining his health. In fact, as
[ he told the writer during his last sickness, he had not
I passed a day entirely free from pain during the three pre-
ceding years. Pain, as the physician knows, if long con-
tinued, slowly saps the vital energies; and if to this be
added the wasting influence of the most severe, self-im-
posed tasks, we cannot wonder that our subject sank and
died in the prime of manhood.
On the 29th of May, 1862, Dr. Cooper was seized
with the illness which, with occasional interruptions,
marched slowly to the fatal issue, which occurred on the
13th of October, ere he had completed his fortieth year.
His disease was an extremely obscure and complicated
nervous affection. A few days after its commencement
he was attacked with amaurosis, or loss of power of the
optic nerve, whereby, in the course of one night he be-
came totally blind. Under these trying circumstances,
his fortitude never forsook him, and when it became ap-
parent that his disease must end fatally, with that cool
self-possession which had attended and guided him
through so many difficulties of his eventful professional
career — in fact, showing a genius quite as great for the
emergencies of death, as he had exhibibited for those of
life, — after the arrangement of his affairs, he turned from
the world with apparently as much ease as if he never
had here an aspiration or a hope.
Near the end of life, he was animated with a strong
hope of immortality, and on receiving a visit from a
friend to whom he was much attached, he said, though so
feeble as to be able to pronounce but a word at a time :
^'In ten, twenty, thirty or at most, forty years, you will
come too, when we will lay our breasts together in an
eternal friendship."
As his disease had presented so many curious and un-
246 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
usual complications, it was his request, a long time pre-
vious to his death, that in the event of his not recovering,
a post mortem examination should be held upon his body.
This request he repeated to the writer but a short period
before his death; he wished it done for two reasons:
''first, that you and my medical friends may discover the
cause of my death, which none of us now know; and
secondly, that I may not wake up in my grave."
The examination was made in the manner which he
had himself dictated, and the cause of death found to be
a wasting of the upper portion of the spinal marrow, and
a paucity or defeat of blood ; and was evidently attril3uta-
ble to overwork, to which for years he had subjected
himself.
His death awakened everywhere the profoundest feel-
ings of sorrow, and his premature departure from this
life was a public loss which is still felt; for though the
profession is well represented in San Francisco, yet no
one has since proved himself by both natural and acquir-
ed talents, so truly deserving of the name of the Great
Physician, *' by Nature's own right hand anointed."
Of the numerous obituary notices which at the time
of his death appeared in the daily press, the following
poem from the pen of T. Gr. Spear, Esq., of San Francisco,
is a beautiful and appropriate tribute to his memory and
genius.
"When grief is sobbing o'er life's withered flower
To which the perfume can no more return,
"Words ne'er avail in that o'erwhelming hour,
Nor stay the soul from its eternal bourn;
Yet nature speaks a language from the dust,
Bevealing friendly oracles sublime,
That tell us peace awaits a dying trust
In the supernal life transcending time.
Where art thou, son of science ! bom with zeal
To cope with ills in life's corporeal sphere?
Where is thy soul benignant, prone to heal
Or soothe the pangs of prostrate mortals here?
No answer greets us from the stars or waves,
Nor echo back the mountains in reply,
Nor the green garden-valleys, nor their graves —
But, lo! it comes from voiced humanity!
ELI AS S. COOPER. 247
The form you seek is with its withered clay —
Inanimate the good physician lies;
He who recovered lives has passed away —
A shining light in men's admiring eyes.
His name is on the starry scroll of time,
Enrolled benignly with exsective lore:
Ah ! lost too soon to learning, race and clime.
His skillful hand shall touch to heal no more !
He found a mission that the angels seek —
To walk 'midst suffering with the power to cheer —
Recalling health to many a sallow cheek,
And winning back to courage failing fear.
His was the skill of genius, rare and just.
The enthusiast's fervor with the sage's sense—
And science whispers from his pregnant dust,
How much she owes his life's art-love intense.
No snow-crowned peak of knowledge, cold and stem,
With narrovved defiles and an icy heart,
"Was he — repelling those who loved to learn
From the broad realms of educated art;
But a fair mountain in a genial sky,
With wooded sides and grassy slopes between.
And mossy springs at which the passer.fi-by
Drank, wiser for the grateful Hii^pocrene.
Brief and brave life ! the warm, high, ample soul,
Poised for new efforts, seeing far and clear,
Has dropped the scalpel, leaving care and dole
For sweet transition to a higher sphere.
Look for his eulogy in work well done.
In truth subserved by a researchful mind.
That fame may spread the triumphs Cooper won
While science is progressive with mankind. "
He was interred in Lone Mountain Cemetery, where
his ashes repose beneath a tomb of granite which has the
form of an ellipse, surmounted by an obelisk, — the whole
being aptly adapted by its durability, severe simplicity of
form, and brevity of inscription, to perpetually material-
ize the leading features of his mind and character; and at
the same time, to express by a single word the fond hope
of his life, — for on it the passer-by whose eye turns from
one of the most sublime landscapes to the resting-place of
the illustrious dead, reads onlj^ this epitaph:
Sacred to the Memory of Elias S. Cooper, Surgeon.
^C^ at THS -^
JOSEPH W. WINANS
j3y the Editoi^
JOSEPH W. WiNANSJ a pioneer of 1849, and a leading
and successful inember of the San Francisco bar,
was born in the city of New York, July 18th, 1820, the
second of nine children. His ancestors were English
and German, but it is necessary to go very far into the
past in order to trace them to a European origin. They
came to America many years before the Revolutionary
war, in which Joseph's grandfather was a soldier in the
American army. His son (father of Joseph W.) was a
prominent merchant of New York city for forty years.
He long since retired from business, having amassed a
large fortune. The old gentleman and his wife are still
living in that city. Time has dealt leniently with the
aged couple, who celebrated their golden wedding some
years ago.
Joseph W. Winans spent his youth in a course of
continuous study. Having entered Columbia College at
the age of sixteen, he graduated from that worthy in-
stitution of learning at the age of twenty. In the same
class with him were Hon. A. C. Monson, formerly Judge
of the Sixth Judicial District of California, and Hon.
Ogden Hoffman, the distinguished Judge of the U. S.
District Court for this State. Not resting from his labors,
nor pausing in the pursuit of knowledge, young Winans
entered immediately on the study of law, to which he
250 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
applied himself for three years. At the end of that
time he received his license to practice, and also the
degree of A.M., from Columbia College, in the year 1843.
Armed with this license and this endorsement, Mr.
Winans at once devoted himself to his chosen calling.
At that time, the ranks of the legal profession in IS^ew
York were divided into two classes, attorneys and coun-
selors. After practicing for three years ^s an attorney,
with satisfactory success, Mr. Winans received his license
as a counselor-at-law the year before the adoption of the
new constitution of the State of ^^ew York, which
abolished the distinction between the two grades. For
three years more, he practiced as an attorney and coun-
selor at the New York bar. The success which rewarded
his labors, in the morning of his life, demonstrated that
he had not been unwise in the choice of his profession.
With all his love of study and his application to
business, our subject was not without the natural ardor
of youth. He wished to behold new fields. At the age
of twenty-nine, in conjunction with a few friends, he
purchased a vessel, manned and fitted her for the voyage,
and set sail for California, by way of Cape Horn. The
vessel landed the party at San Francisco on the 30th day
of August, 1849. Resting for a few days in the sand-
hills of the Bay City, they turned the prow of their little
craft towards the north, and after a few days' sail, ar-
rived at Sacramento. The City of the Plains, at that
early day, was a vast encampment of tents and rude huts,
thronged by a rough and restless multitude, hailing from
all parts of the globe — the grand headquarters of the
miners of northern and central California. Crowded
with the trampling, rushing, struggling mass of adven-
turers who filled her streets and her dens of dissipation
and crime, the city presented a scene which cannot even
be imagined by those who never beheld the motley
picture.
Here Mr. Winans pitched his tent. His journey was
at an end. Only a few days were devoted to observation
and repose, when he opened a law office and commenced
the practice of a science unknown and unrecognized by
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 251
the lawless throng which surrounded hhn. His course
was in striking contrast to that of his fellow-pioneers.
The community was mostly composed of miners and
gamblers, ^"early every eager immigrant who. in the
hot pursuit of the hidden treasure, was content to keep
within the bounds of honesty and propriety, upon his
arrival sought the mines and went to work as a miner;
while a rapidly increasing multitude, not over-scrupulous
as to the means or manner of acquiring fortune, attached
themselves to the second class or division of the com-
munity. This latter class embraced many (a sad, yet
curious fact) who had been above suspicion in older and
sober communities. In the more laborious, 3^et not much
larger, class of miners, could be seen the pale student,
the prim shop-clerk, the emaciated teacher, and the deli-
cate professional man, grappling with the earth and rocks,
side by side with laborers of heavy build and brawny
arm. ^orval, when he had come to do *' the happy deed
that gilded his humble name," did not look upon the
" shepherd's slothful life" with greater disdain than did
the doctor and lawyer of '49 feel towards the profession
to which his youth was bred, and which had been ac-
quired at the cost of so much time, care, and labor.
Bent only upon the rapid acquisition of wealth, where-
with to return to the old home, the land where profes-
sions flourished, this class of men cared only for the
mineral riches, and gave no thought to the grand future,
of California. To their restless spirits, this fair and
fertile region offered no inducements for permanent
abode, but was nothing more than a temporary abiding-
place for fortune-seekers.
Our subject, however, be it said to his enduring credit,
was not a victim to the general hallucination. He had
faith in his new home. That faith assured him that the
existing dissolute state of society must ere long give place
to law and order, and at times gave him glimpses of a new
and mighty empire, which would rear its power upon the
Paoific slope, blessed by the influence of American civil-
ization, protected by the American arms and the American
flag.
252 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
A few months after he commenced practice, Mr.
Winans formed a partnership with John G. Hyer, which
continued for ten years, and up to the time of Mr.
Winans' s removal to San Francisco. The firm of Winans
& Hyer was for many years acknowledged as the lead-
ing law-firm of the capital. When that city was visited
by the most terrible of her many afflictions, the great
flood of 1860-'61, Mr. Winans removed with his family to
the metropolis. There he soon formed a partnership with
Mr. D. P. Belknap, the compiler of the valuable work
upon Probate Practice in California. This partnership
still continues.
In politics, Mr. Winans was formerly a Whig. He
cherished a deep-seated devotion to the principles of the
Whig party. Through the columns of the press, as the
editor of several influential journals, and on the stump,
as a speaker in many exciting campaigns, he was always
ready to do battle for the old party which has passed
away. Since the fall of that party, he has uniformly
acted with the Republicans. He has never been a seeker
after office. He has held many honorable and responsible
positions in Sacramento and San Francisco, but has been
before the people on only two occasions as a candidate
for office; first, in Sacramento, in 1850, when his Whig
principles led him to defeat, as the candidate of his party
for Recorder or Criminal Judge; second, in San Francisco,
in 1865, when he was elected as the Union candidate for
School Director of the sixth ward of that city. In 1852,
he was elected by the Board of Aldermen of Sacramento,
to the position of City Attorney or Corporation Counsel,
which he held for several j^ears.
In 1853, he was elected President of the Pioneer
Society of Sacramento, and twice reelected to that place.
In 1858, he was chosen President of the Sacramento
Library Association. For many years he has been a
delegate to the General Convention of the Protestant
Episcopal Church for the Diocese of California, and in
1859 attended the session of that body held at Rich-
mond, Virginia, on which occasion he took frequent part
in their debates. In 1861, he was appointed by the
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 253
Legislature one of the trustees of the State Library,
and was subsequently chosen by his associates President
of the Board. He still occupies this position. In 1864,
he was elected President of the Society of California
Pioneers of San Francisco; and in 1865, President of the
Board of Education of that city. He has been one of
the regularly retained counsel for the Union League since
its organization in California.
Mr. Winans wields a vigorous and facile pen. During
his residence at Sacramento, notwithstanding his large
law practice, he found time to indulge his literary taste.
For many years, he edited the Index and TimeSj both
papert^ published in Sacramento. He was also for years a
frequent contributor to the Sacramento Union. Some of
the ablest editorials in that popular journal, which, from
time to time, have attracted public attention, are the pro-
ductions of his pen. In the columns of that paper have
been first submitted to the public eye a great many of his
essays and poems, most of them appearing under the nom
de plume of '' Glycus." Over this name, and in the edit-
orial columns of the leading journals of the State, he
has talked so often and familiarly to the reading public,
that it is unnecessary here to even refer to his qualities as
a writer.
Mr. Winans is a finished classical scholar. In the
course of his life, he has been called upon to deliver
lectures and orations before political, benevolent, and
other associations of men. He is a fluent speaker, and
his manner and gesticulation graceful and earnest. His
voice, though not harsh or unpleasant, does injustice to
his rich and glowing diction. His power is in his prolific
pen, w^hich never tires. A collection of his miscellaneous
productions would show him to be one of the most
voluminous writers on the Pacific coast.
In 1864, Mr. Winans married the second daughter of
Alexander Badlam, Sr., of Sacramento. He has three
living children.
In his office, he is a hard worker and close student.
His firm attachment to the practice of law and his
close application to business have secured him at all times
254 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
a handsome business. He is eminently a successful
lawyer. Kor has his success been the result of accident:
it has been the legitimate fruit of patient toil, and a judi-
cious use of his talents.
To his profession he has ever been loyal, and beneath
her banner he has walked for over twenty -five years.
His constancy and fidelity to the noblest of sciences, fur-
nish a bright example to the army of young men in
California who are about entering upon the practice of
law.
THE GOLDEN WEDDING.
BY JOSEPH W. WINANS.
From mountain springs far, far apart, out in the frozen north,
Two tender rills, in infant glee, to life and light burst forth;
And gathering volume as they flowed from their primeval source,
'Midst constant change of scene and soil held their appointed course.
Through channels formed by nature's law their destined routes to run.
They glided on to meet at last and mingle into one.
Then seaward on its broadening path the shining river sped.
To gladden every clime through which its fruitful waters spread;
And further as it swept along, remoter lands to lave,
Like human progi-ess, it diffused a more enriching wave.
While through the densely peopled realms it opulently rolled,
Upon its breast, whose broad expanse the sunlight tinged with gold,
From ship to shallop many a craft to many a distant shore,
With life and commerce freighted full, that lordly river bore;
Down drifting through the dusty land, with fertilizing tide.
It grew amain a cherished source of luxury and pride;
Until, where at the marge of earth the sounding sm-ges roar,
Deep into ocean's dense abyss it plunged for evermore.
'Twas thus in the good olden time — the time of long ago —
From separate springs, my parents dear, your lives began to flow;
Through flowery scenes they coursed along, with ceaseless verdure bright,
Till, ere youth's halcyon days had fled, love bade them to unite.
Adown the wide domain of time — that fempire broad and free —
Your blended lives have flowed along, as river flows to sea.
Through fifty fluctuating years — a century half told —
Not like Pactolus' wave, of eld, which ran o'er sands of gold,
But rather like that grander stream whose waters, as they glide
From State to State, still stretching on, a continent divide;
Your mingled destinies, beloved, expanding as they roll.
Have scattered blessings far and wide while speeding to their goaL
Full many a gallant argosy, upon its glowing breast,
The river of your nuptial life has tenderly caressed;
Down through the baiTcn years has poured its renovating stream,
Till what were drear and dead before, with life and beauty teem.
The motley, yet imposing fleet, upon that river borne.
Is gliding to the happy land whence none shall o'er return;
With high resolves, and virtues rare, and deeds of noble worth,
With precious souls which from your own took their immortal birth.
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 255
All richly freighted for yon shore which lies beyond the main,
Whose radiant harbor, when attained, yields everlasting gain.
Majestic river! still flow on, and — in thy widening scope —
Stiil promise to the futmre give and to the present hope ;
Nor haste, until thy bright career of usefulness is o'er,
To plunge into that mighty void, upon whose further shore
No mortal eye hath ever gazed since being first began,
And sorrow-laden earth was made the heritage of man.
Avv-hile on thy prohfic course along the sunny land
Yet linger ere thy billows seek the dim and misty strand
Where ocean waits thy coming with its wierd and solemn song:
How short, Time! how short thy reign — Eternity, how long!
THE DIGOTTY OF LABOR,
A Lecture delivered before the Mercantile Library Association of San Francisco,
on Friday evening, December 28th, 1855.
BY JOSEPH W. WINANS.
The world is awakening from its long sleep of ages. The people
are shaking off their lethargy, as the lion shakes the dew-drops from
his mane. Low, muttering thunders give portent of an earthquake,
whose coming shall shake terribly the nations. Thrones are tottering,
dynasties downfalling, kingdoms crumbling into dust. The wave of
Revolution is sweeping onward, over the wrecks of empire. Earth's
millions soon shall own no despot's sway. The people are the rulers.
Labor is king ! Mark the world-wonders that were wrought in earlier
days, when labor was the serf, and not the lord. Gaze through the
earth and down the ages. What girded Babylon, with its tremendous
walls ? What reared the pyramids ? What struck a sphynx forth from
the solid rock? What built the Parthenon? WTiat stormed the walls
of ocean-circled Tyre, the IVIistress of the Seas, and left the billows
sporting in her place ? What brought out Jupiter Olympus from the
marble, and formed Rhodian Colossus from the brass ? Labor — labor
of the arm in him who wrought, labor of the head in him who planned.
But though these achievements were the trophies of labor's earlier day,
won by the energy and efforts of a few, prouder, far prouder triumphs
greet it now, when all mankind acknowledge its supremacy — when
every tongue is vocal with its praise — when millions prove its power
with the thought and hand. Although the ancient world regarded
labor as the instrimient of great designs, yet was it ever stigmatised
by low associations and invidious conceptions. Even the Mantuan,
who tells us, "Labor conquers all things," calls it " improhus" or
base. It Avas reserved for a later age; an age of energy and toil; an
age in which the ploughshare overcomes the sword, and the spear is
forsaken for the hammer ; an age whose wondrous spread of intelli-
gence and freedom has taught man the grandeur of his power and
the mightiness of his ambition; an age of which progress is the law,
266 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and development the consequence; it was reserved for suclian age
to trample down the prejudices of the olden time and vindicate the
majesty of labor. If the lightning's spark, touched to the trembling
wires, athwart the continents flings thoughts, like rockets, burning
as they fall, so labor strikes from man those powerful displays of
physical and mental prowess which electrify the world.
Contrasted by prominent but individual examples, the present, it
is true, has slight advantage over ancient times. AVould you point
to the creations of manual contrivance? What later structures over-
come in vastness and elaboration the massive masonry of Trajan's
bridge, or the stupendous causeway of the Yia Appia? Would you
move amid the realms of Art, or scan the works of Intellect? Who
but the ancients fashioned and contrived the rich designs of archi-
tecture, or brought its forms to such a rare perfection? How many
an art of which they were the masters has been lost for ever to the
world ! What fabric vies in splendor with the Etruscan vase ? What
sybarite novr sleeps on j)urple gorgeous as the Tyrian dye ? What
combination of ingredients can reproduce or rival the Corinthian
brass? Though Michael Angelo mounts to sublimity and Claude
excels in softness, jet did not Zeuxis by his art beguile the very birds
of heaven? Is not Parrhasius reputed the Correggio, and Apelles
the Raphael of antiquity? Who ventures to contend that the superb
creations of Canova or Thorwalsden shame the chiseled splendors of
Praxiteles or Phidias ? If England has her Garrick and France her
Talma, did not Rome glory in a Roscius? If listening senates hung
spell-bound upon the eloquence of Burke and crowded auditories
thrilled at the exhortations of Bossuet, did not Isocrates surpass
them in refinement, Lysias in elegance, Demosthenes in burning
vehemence and force ? What though Shakspeare rules the minds of
men vath undisputed sway, has Homer been forgotten? Hath Pin-
dar's lyric lost its fire, or Virgil's strain its sweetness, because Milton
clothed his song in thunders and Tennyson caught up the music of
the spheres? Onward, with measured pomp, in grand battalions,
moves the columned language of Macaulay, while the contrasted
periods of Cicero sv/ell like an organ on the ear. And so the paral-
lel might be prolonged. But herein lies the difference. The ancient
world is brilliant in its instances of high preeminence, yet these
were isolated and individual, while the mass lay altogether dormant,
sunken in ignorance or degradation; but now, the people, prompted
by the strong incentives of intelligence and freedom, have begun
to v7ork. What a startling change has human progress vvTought!
Beforctime the nation was a force, and acted through ifcs chief. The
people were the atom-cloments, which, in their combination, made
that force, and the earth contained so many moral forces only as it
numbered nations.
Now man, the individual, is in himself a force, an independent
force, and the earth has just so many forces as it numbers living,
thinking, acting men : for even in this day of unexampled elTort many
exist who do not live, many are sentient v^^ho do not think, many con-
cern themselves with manifold affairs who do not act! Beforetime
JOSEPH W. WINANS.
257
men were thought for by their rulers, and thus became mere agents
of a despot's will; now, in the general heritage of independence,
man has discerned his right — nay, his divine prerogative — of thinking
for himself. No longer moping in the thrall of tyranny or reft of
the free franchise of opinion, he has risen into the full stature of
his manhood, realised the magnitude of his capacity, and in that
knovv'ledgc verified the true nobility of labor; of labor, in its highest
form, the union of the physical and mental; labor of the sinewy arm,
labor of the burning brain ! So he whose vocation is mechanical is
prompted to employ his hours of leisure in the cultivation of the
mind; he whose pursuits are mental, to inrigorate his frame by
frequent action. And thus, while mind and body act, react upon
each other with reciprocal intensity, man, the lord of creation,
though " fallen from his high state," without a fetter on his tireless
wing, is rising higher, higher, in his Ihght towards the stars. In
the deeds of labor are involved the destinies of human nature. It
is the source of all excellence, of all attainment; the instrument of
progress, the parent of invention; the universal, absolute, all-
conqueror, omnipotent in prowess, like Achilles, but with no vul-
nerable spot upon the heel. In the language of an eminent econo-
mist, ' ' Labor is the talisman that has raised man from the condition
of the savage; that has changed the desert and the forest into cul-
tivated fields; that has covered the earth with cities and the ocean
with ships; that has given us abundance, comfort, and elegance
instead of want, misery, and barbarism:
"All is the gift of industry, whate'er
Exalts, embellislies, and renders life
Delightful!' "
±>eiore mortal man was fashioned from this globe on which he
treads, the Divine hand had by its own operations proclaimed the
dignity of labor. That Grand Architect who set a universe in mo-
tion; who called forth order out of chaos; at whose bidding sprung
from realms of darkness those refulgent orbs v/hich move upon their
courses through the unmeasured track of space, and down the march
of ages; who disclosed the sublime harmonies of nature, and stamped
beauty in living radiance upon the features of creation; through six
primeval days wrought out His wondrous plan, and the morning
stars when they sang together at the earliest dawn of being were
jubilant of praise over the consummated work of Deity. Man, the
noblest of created things, was designed for perfect happiness in
continuous repose, and, but for his wanton disobedience, v/ould still
have wandered through the scented groves of Eden and by the
margins of its pleasant streams, amidst the ceaseless bloom of
flowers and the lulHng melody of fountains — unvext with toil, un-
clouded with a care, his every sense pervaded with delight, " all
nature beauty to his eye or music to his ear."
But man fell, and forth went the Divine fiat, " cursed is the
ground for thy sake," " in the sweat of thy face shalt thou cat bread
until thou return unto the ground." Yet what was thus visited, in
17
258 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
long entail, on him and his posterity for ever as a seeming curse, was
converted instantly by the Supreme Benevolence into a blessing,
and labor was ennobled by Omnipotence, the punishment trans-
muted to reward through " the dear alchemy of mercy," because it
was the lot of that being whom He had created in His image. Thus
honored with the sanction and enjoined by the command of Deity,
made from the first the destiny of human nature, labor is and ever
must be honorable; honorable in all its forms, material or mental;
honorable in all its achievements, whether of the hand or brain. It
matters not in what department of duty you may act. The very
diversity of occupations and pursuits becomes the most efficient
means for the advancement of the common good. One, by the aid
of microscopes, constructs the most minute contrivances of mech-
anism; another, by the strength of brawny arms, shapes to his will
the rigid iron. One, delving amid darkness, tears the bright gold
from the bowels of the earth; another opens up the globe in smiling
furrows, teeming with increase. In the lone midnight, far above
the city's murmur, twinkles the scholar's solitary lamp.
By painful calculation, the astronomer traces out new bodies in
the fields of space, which have shone unseen for .centuries; by
elaborate experiment, the chemist detects new affinities, and estab-
lishes new principles in matter. While the investigations of science
are disclosing the abstruse mysteries of nature, the labors of the
closet are adding to the sum of human knowledge. If Bacon, by
profound analysis, improved the discipline, enlarged the scope of
mind, and revealed the subtler forms of intellectual philosophy,
Kepler and Leibnitz and D'Alembert achieved results no less im-
l^ortant by their researches into the hidden arcana of the universe.
Thus the great stream of labor floweth on, bearing the works and
treasures of all ages on its breast in rudest crafts and stateliest
argosies, hoarding up boundless wealth within its depths, wafting
the voyager upon its heaving tides to fame and fortune ! Who is it
that thrives among his fellows, and mounts to eminence, and rules
the meaner throng? Who but him of the iron will and ceaseless
hand; whose mind is eager for the conquest of his purpose; whose
frame demands no respite from its toil; who bends him firmly to his
"task, while the common eye is hid in slumber, and flinches not for
obstacle or opposition; he whose
" keen spirit
Seizes the prompt occasion — makes the thoughts
Start into instant action, and at once
Plans and performs, resolves and executes."
Truly saith the Edstem proverb: '*In proportion to one's labor
eminence is gained, and he who seeketh eminence passeth sleepless
nights. He diveth into the sea who searcheth for pearls, and suc-
ceedeth in acquiring lordship. Whoso seeketh eminence without
laboring for it, loseth his life in the search of vanity." In every
rank of life, in each department of action, labor is indispensable to
the attainment of success. Would you speak of the triumphs of
genius? What is genius without labor? A meteoric glare that
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 259
gleams athwart the skies one fitful moment, then vanishes in gloom.
What is labor without genius ? The agent and contriver of all that
is useful, all that is enduring amongst men. Between labor and
genius the contrast is as the fable of the race between the tortoise
and the hare — vv^hile one sleeps by the way, the other gains the
goal. This dazzles the world with the brilliance of an ineffectual
flame, that toileth on unseen, unnoted, and — like the toilings of the
coral-line artificers in the secret depths of ocean — rears by minute
but constant efforts its stupendous work. Genius is as a crystal
cavern pictured on the stage, blazing with scenic decorations, gor-
geous with display, yet transient and illusive; a grand effect, wrought
by the trickery of meretricious art, magnificent with gaud and tinsel;
to enter in and gaze on which the senses are allured by the blandish-
ments of music and illumination. But labor is as a cavern in the
earth, repulsive and forbidding in its entrance, winding far through
narrow, dark, and tortuous paths, yet bursting forth at last into a
vast expanse of fretted architraves and glittering stalactites; a bright
reality, superbly splendid in the torch's ray, whose slow construc-
tion was the work of time, yet whose duration is unending.
But from the combination of genius with labor, this blended
usefulness and brilliance, emanate the loftiest achievements of man-
kind; for labor is to genius what the lapidary's skill is to the gem.
From the dull, clouded, and distorted mass it shapes a thing of
light, whose polished foiTQ blazes with lustre, and emits imperish-
able splendor. It is this combination which rears those material
and mental fabrics that fill the ages with their praise. It is this
which scales the dizzy heights of fame, which penetrates with ships
" informed by fire" to oceans' farthest realms, which lights ambition's
flaming torch. It is this which gave the vast learning of Aristotle
to the world; gave forth those grand old tomes evoked from their
literary grave at Scepsis, after a sepulture of three score years. It
is this which carved a pathway to the heights of glory with the
sword of Austerhtz. It is this which made the earth a race-course
for the iron steed, and belted it with the thought-communicating
wires. It is this which calls forth intellect from its obscure abode
and sends its powers flaming, like the fabled coursers of the sun,
through space and time. The myth informs us that ^olus confined
the winds within a narrow cave, but when he loosed their chains,
they rushed hnpetuously forth and filled the earth with uproar,
madly careering over land and sea, sweeping whole navies into
wreck, and scourging continents. So in the cavern of the brain
man's thought lies darkly hid, but, wrested thence, it seizes earth
and vastest realms of space within its grasp. And yet this gift of
genius is a far rarer faculty than men suppose. It may be said that
what is commonly reputed genius — not the faculty itself, but its
mere simulacrum — is but another name for labor, indefatigable, all-
contriving labor. Between man and man the powers of mind are
nearly on a level. And yet he who cultivates those powers gTOws
prominent, perhaps preeminent — nay, oftentimes controls the world,
while thousands of his fellows, not less gifted than himself, corrode
260 REPEESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
their talents in the rust of indolence, or stifle them within the coils
of pleasure. It is this j)erversion of his nature from its law of
labor that deprives man of self-knowledge. Unless disclosed by
accident or circumstance, he rarely knows his powers or the reach
of his capacity.
Had not a revolution reddened France with blood, no Robespierre
would ever have been thrust upon mankind; had not another revolu-
tion wrenched America from England, the Father of his country
would have been unknown to fame. Had Danton been a patriot in
the cause of American independence, and Lafayette a Eed Republi-
can, how different the history of each. Until stung and goaded into
vehemence by the scorpion lash of the reviewers, Byron never wrote
a genuine poetic line. If Waverly, sent forth as an experiment,
had proved a failure, the superb romances of Sir Walter Scott would
have been lost unto the world. What rendered Hampden glorious
and gave to Sydney deathless immortality, but the tyranny of an
oppressive throne? To these, and myriad others of the mighty or
renowned, it was the magic wand of circumstance revealed, by an
external spark, the fire within, and the spell of labor caused that
fire to glow before the nations. True it is, that men have but little
knowledge of themselves. The " Gnothiseauton" is as great a
problem now as in the days of Thales of Miletus. AVanting the
development of labor, the great man lives in ignorance of great-
ness, and the mighty man unconscious of his might, and after an
inglorious career they both go down into the tomb, as units of the
common throng, unhonored and unsung. In the multitudinous
congregations of mankind, there is many an undiscovered Pericles
or Plato, Wellington or W^ebster, Leverrier or Luther. So thought
Gray, when he gazed in fancy on the quiet churchyard, and thus
mused :
** Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed.
Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre:
Some village Hampden that, with dauntless breast,
The pettj'- tyrants of his fields withstood;
Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest;
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood!"
There is far less difference between the capacity than the industry
of men. Place all mankind from infancy in a similar career of dis-
cipline and training, give them the same facilities, inspire them
with a common zeal, and history, no longer dealing with the in-
dividual, would grow to be generic in her records. Those splendid
instances of greatness which even now shine forth at times in iso-
lated grandeur, would lose their prominence were all men conscious
of the latent force within them, and by that consciousness impelled
to act. The people have begun to realize this mighty truth, and
the spirit of the age is prompting them to universal action. Hence
the deeds of labor, in all their vast diversity of form and conse-
quence, are growing sacred in the popular regard, diffusing know-
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 261
ledge, leveling disparity, filling the earth with miracles of art and
beauty. Thus, as the mass becomes more active and intelligent,
those instances decrease where genius mounts to lofty heights above
the general level. A single star upon the night is brightly promi-
nent, but when the skies are gemmed with myriad orbs, although
the brightness is increased, the individuality is lost.
From the grave of the past ages, whose multitudes were ignorant
and servile, the names of the departed great shine singly out,
through the surrounding gloom, like torches in a cemetery. But
now this princijjle of greatness is diffusive. The people grow gen-
erically greats-great through the agency of labor — great in illus-
trious deeds — great in the work of handicraft and craft of thought.
The world is full of books, the channels of improvement broaden;
invention racks herself for new discoveries, and science rises on a
bolder wing, until, at last, by the general absorption of individual
distinction in the fusion of the mass, is produced an aggregated
splendor which illuminates the world, just as particles of light,
though separately brilliant, mingle and produce the all-pervading
radiance of day. And thus, though fewer instances of isolated
greatness stand forth from the throng than in the olden time, the
world is far more luminous with energy, intelligence, and action.
This general development and cultivation of the human powers con-
firms the proposition that the diversity between the abilities of in-
dividuals is comparatively limited in its extent. Though the sea
mounts up in lofty waves, and sinks in deep abysses, yet these sur-
face inequalities cause little variation in its common depth; though
the earth rears itself in the grand magnificence of mountains, and
bows down in the low humilities of vales, yet, if you stood where
Archimedes sought to plant his lever, and gazed upon the glorious
orb entire, each mountain would be as the grain of sand, and each
valley as the pin-j)oint scratch upon the surface of a school-house
globe. So, though human nature in its degeneracy dwindles down
into the driveling idiot, and in its elevation soars into the genius,
whose lofty frontlet strikes the stars, yet these disparities in their
variation from its true measure of equality, are but what billows and
abysses are unto the ocean, what vales and mountains are unto the
land. For the great princi^Dle of humanity, which underlies man's
universal nature, is a world within itself, as perfect as the material
orb on which we tread, and the casual deviations from the common
standard of capacity, which here and there exist, are but its in-
equalities. It is the inactivity of the slothful, the ignorance of the
unlearned — not the want of natural endowments — that creates the
seeming inequality between man and man.
Again : labor is needful to invigorate the frame and display the
inexliaustible resources of the mind. The idler is a burthen to
society. Without aim or purpose in the scale of being, he becomes
entirely useless, wretched and degraded. Apply a styptic to the
wound, and blood no longer flows; subject the rivers to the north
wind's breath, and their currents cease to run. So Indolence con-
geals and stagnates all the impulses and energies of human nature.
262 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Beneath its blighting touch the emotions of the heart are stifled, the
aspirations of the spirit quenched, afiection withers, and hope
ceases to incite. What bitter fruits are gathered from the tree
which indolence has planted! AVhat melancholy ivy crowns the
walls and hollow echoes murmur through the corridors of its di-
lapidated castle ! How stealthily decay creeps into the enclosure,
and thorns and brambles overgrow the garden of the sluggard!
Idleness has been termed the parent of many vices. It is more : it
is the j^rolific sire of all iniquity. Dreary is the doom and dark the
pathway of the son of sloth. Mark you the conventional idler, that
prominent feature of society, who lounges in saloons, and haunts
the dens of dissipation, and prowls around the purlieus of de-
pravity; who spends his time in doing nothing, like some scurvy
politician, and quarters on the provender of others — what a miser-
able thing he stands amid the din and turmoil of this busy world !
There was grandeur in the fall of Lucifer, but his decline calls forth
no sentiment of admiration or compassion. It matters not that one
be high in station or of gentle blood, for rank gives no immunity
from labor. "What right has yonder lordling to riot in indulgence
while his humbler fellow toileth on? "Was it for this that God made
labor blessed and its burthen sweet to all his creatures; made it
their duty and their honor, while he drones through unprofitable
years, consuming the industry of others, producing nothing for
himself; making vaunt of his gentility, yet leaving not his mark
upon the age ?
*' "When Adam delved and Eve span,
Where was then the gentleman?"
Without labor, youth is degraded to the basest uses, until a
career of reckless dissipation and unscrupulous depravity plunges
its victim in an early grave; without labor, manhood is precipitated
upon crimes and shames, from which its better impulses recoil, and,
like a wandering star, strays into the darkness of eternal night;
without labor, age itself is oftentimes disquieted and tossed upon a
thorny pillow. " Nevertheless," saith the moralist, "to the diligent,
labor bringeth blessing; the thought of duty sweeteneth toil, and
travail is as pleasure; and the spirit in doing good hath a comfort
that is not for the idle; the hardship is transmuted into joy by the
dear alchemy of mercy. Labor is good for a man, bracing up his
energies to conquest; and without it life is dull, the man perceiving
himself useless; for wearily the body groaneth, like a door on rusty
hinges, and the grasp of the mind is weakened as the talons of a
caged vulture."
The opulent merchant who retires from a long life of toil to
enjoy his affluence amid the voluptuous indulgence of luxury and
ease, soon wearies with satiety, and longs again to mingle in the
stir and tumult of the mart, and to that longing clings while life
endures. So the worn war-horse, in the last extreme Of life, moves
languid through his pastures, parted from the trumpet's sound, but
when the notes of distant war are borne upon the breeze, he rallies
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 2^
all his energies, and bounding madly forward, in that effort dies.
Each noble longing in our nature craves, each physical propensity
demands, activity. The curse of idleness is a sharper stigma than
the brand of Cain. Go to the ant, thou sluggard! AVhile Hannibal
toiled on, the gates of Rome were powerless before the whii'lwind
of his coming. Lui'ed from his hot pursuit by the seductive bland-
ishments of Capua, he lost the empire of the world. Before the
resistless march of Alexander everything gave w^ay, until he wept at
having nothing left to conquer; yet, suddenly, in the very vigor of
his years and the meridian of his glor}% the fatal revelries of Baby-
lon swept him into an untimely, ignominious grave. Thus, while
idleness is the bane of life, labor is the antidote. For labor is pro-
motive of longevity. The great men of the world live on through
many years. How venerable are its philosophers, its statesmen, its
artificers, its scholars, and its sages! Nestor ruled over three gene-
rations of his countrymen. Solon, the great lawgiver of old, and
those distinguished jurists of the modern school, Grotius, Mans-
field, Marshall, were veterans, whose labors lasted with their lives.
Socrates was the wisest of the Greeks, Varro the most learned of
the Romans. GoOthe rises stalwart like an Ajax in the ranks of
German mind, and Brougham shines the intellectual demi-god of
Britain. These all outran in their allotted span the term of three-
score years, and will realize their well-earned tribute through the
deathless ages of renown.
Look to the lives and exploits of the sons of toil for labor's
grandest eulogy. With indurated frames and spirits energized by
action, serene in cheerfulness, suj)reme in health, they fill the func-
tions of a high humanity, however lowly or exalted be their station,
and pass away at the close of a long life steeped in the glory of
their own bright deeds, as the sun goes down in luminous effulgence
'neath the w^estern wave. They find no hardship in endurance, but
realize that labor is its own reward. Every hour of application is
sweetened by the consciousness of what it will produce, and in the
thought of toil endured there is abundant recompense. The artisan
who rears a stately edifice out of the rude, misshapen heaps of wood
and stone around him, transforming them by the spell of labor into
a thing of usefulness and beauty, is nobler than a conqueror. As
he Avho fashioned it stands gazing on a glorious work perfected, an
emanation iixna himself, the creature of his hand, his heart throbs
with a livelier emotion of delight than Caesar when a crown was
woven for his kingly brow. The sculptor, when he forces out his
living thought from the reluctant marble, though his hand be heavy
with its toil and his brow humid with its travail, thrills with a
prouder joy than he, lord of a thousand statues, who moves
superbly through his galleries and contemplates them in the pride
of conscious affluence.
It is this divine propensity of labor which prompts men to per-
severe in their designs. A weak or faltering spirit is disconcerted
by impediments. But perseverance overcomes all obstacles. It is
the application of intense determination to unceasing effort. It
264 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
makes tlie niountain come unto Mahomet. Fixed in resolve, it
strag-gles on, though " hills on hills and Alps on Alps arise" before
it, and higher, higher mounts aloft unto its purpose, scaling the
dizzy pinnacles until it grasps the very skies. When Tamerlane,
despoiled and routed, his mighty host dispersed, stole to the shelter
of a solitary ruin in the wilderness, and crouching there in abject
fear, for one trembling moment gave up all for lost, he chanced to
see a spider striving to connect its web with the adjacent wall. For
nine and fifty times the patient insect struggled vdth its vain attempt,
yet each successive failure proved but the incentive to renewed exer-
tion. Such fearful resolution in a creature destitute of reason roused
the torjoid warrior from his stupor, and v/hen, with its sixtieth at-
tempt, that insect realized success, the giant rose into his loftiest
stature, and with his nerves intensely strung to action, swore never
again to falter in a purpose or to know a fear. And forth he strode
from that gray ruin and that quaint monitor within it, a conqueror
in prov/ess and in soul a king. Asia soon trembled with the shock
of his resounding arms, and nations owned him lord.
Such are the triumphs of perseverance, such the lessons it ad-
ministers from feeblest agencies. Our daily life is pregnant ynch
examples of what can be achieved by those who, though endowed
with limited capacities, devote themselves to unremitting toil and
flinch not from their purpose; who yearn for no indulgence, yield to
no discouragement, but, heedless of the claims of appetite, the long-
ings of desire, cling fixedly, like Sinbad's old man of the mountain,
unto their pursuit, and bend the force of circumstance unto the
rigor of an iron will. Such men accomplish more, far more, than
he who flames across the world's horizon, whose name rings, trumpet-
toned, upon the voice of fame. The great deeds of the earth are
wrought by humble agents, working out obscurely the designs of
Providence, v/hile history confines her feeble and imperfect records
to the doings of the j)rominent and mighty. Hov»^ seldom are her
jDortraitures of nations national, how rarely do her records realize
the verity which records should impart! But the triumphs of labor,
in this enlightened era, are not restrained to things material and
mental : they gather other trophies from the broad fields of religion
and philanthropy. In every quarter of the globe the missionaries
of the gospel are proclaiming messages of mercy to benighted men.
Through seemingly insufferable hardships and insurmountable im-
pediments, never faltering in resolve nor flinching from the face of
danger, at the sacrifice of all things, oftentimes of life itself, they
force their v^ray among barbarous or hostile nations, over rugged
mountains and through burning deserts, piercing into climes in-
hospitable with malaria and pestilence, or the deadlier scourge of
man's unhallowed rage, bearing aloft in their consecrated hands
the high commission of their Master, and millions of ever}'
lineage and tongue, the scattered descendants of one great pro-
genitor, among the continents and through the islands of the sea,
are now learning the glad tidings of salvation; while the sacred
fire expires upon the altar, the idol tumbles from its shrine, and
JOSEPH W. WINANS. 265
the impious rites of sacrifice and maceration cease to be performed
bj pagan hands.
In this grand pageant Xavier led the way. His iron nerve
flinched not, his firm lip never quivered, nor faltered his inexorable
will: he did not shrink from toilings superhuman, from dangers un-
exampled, from abasements such as mortal man has never borne
before, but dead to every yearning of his nature, crushing under
foot all passion and emotion, forced his path through self-imposed
privations and imimaginable sufferings, amid every vicissitude of
foruune, at one time the idol, at another the scoff of the multitude
around him, until seven hundred thousand converts sanctified the
name and perpetuated the glory of the great Apostle of the Indies.
Nor are the labors of i:hilanthroj)y much less conspicuous. Apostles
of humanity are traversing the earth and piercing every zone wherever
affliction is in need of solace, ignorance is pining for instruction, or
destitution clamors for rehef ; seeking, through the promptings of
an unselfish and enlightened charity, to establish the universal
brotherhood of man and ameliorate the condition of the race. Trace
Howard through his pilgiimage. See him shunning the haunts of
luxury, spurning the halls of nobles, to visit the prisoner in his
dungeon, the plague-stricken in his lazaretto — rearing cottages for
peasants and school-houses for gratuitous instruction; seconding the
impulses of a heart keenly alive to every human impulse with the
ofierings of a hand abundantly enriched. He went on his high
mission to relievo the sufferings and soothe the sorrows of mankind.
He made liis bed with the wretched and degi'aded, and paused not
in his luminous but melancholy path through the squalor of the
prison-house and the infection of the pestilence, until contagion
struck him with its blighting fang, and stilled the pulse of that
noble heart for ever.
And she, the gloiy of her sex, who still skirts the lurid track of
war, a ministering angel on her chosen errand of benevolence and
good, displaying in her character the lofty rirtue, and in her con-
duct the generous devotion, of a woman's nature, beaming with
tenderness and love, she whose song of life, like that of the night-
ingale, whoso name she bears, is sad but full of wondrous music —
honored be her work and green her memory for ever! What shall
be said of those relief expeditions which have wrought so much for
the benefit of man and the extension of discovery; which have
opened nevv^ pathways of the sea and found an ever-heaving ocean
beyond the realms of circumpolar ice ? What of those bold navi-
gators vv^ho have made the circuit of the earth in their adventurous
course, at one time lagging with an idle sail beneath the burning
sun of torrid climes, at another locked up in dense masses of im-
penetrable ice, or buried in the darkness of protracted night; who
pursue their journeyings through perils and privations into un-
known regions, to explore what still continues undiscovered in the
formation and phenomena of this material globe?
We have thus wandered through the labors of the ancient era
266 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and down the modern time. We have, as it were, strayed through
an arbor dense at first with foliage and oppressed with shade, but
continually brightening as yre journeyed down its vista towards the
clear persj)ective at its end. Into that perspective have vv^e now
emerged. It is the glorious, all-pervading, all-achieving present.
Now, labor is indeed the king! Drawn from the skies by Franklin's
promethean touch the lightning has been yoked by Morse, like a
tamed courser, to the thought-conducting car. Upon one continent,
the genius of Arkwright played to comfort millions with it3 useful
skill; upon another, Whitney wrought his great invention to augment
beyond compute its w^ealth and welfare. Up through the realms of
air bounds the balloon, down through the ocean depths descends the
bell. What Watts devised, Fulton and his successors have applied
to subtlest uses, until distant empires clasp each other, and the earth
is circled and the cea is knitted to the land by the strange mystery
of steam. Through the Atlantic depths a submarine chain cable is
advancing to unite the shores of America and Europe. Across v/ide
oceans the affiliated nations stretch their hands to mingle in the
grasp of fellowship, as the colossal forms of Miriam and the Wan-
dering Jew appeared to clasp each other in the gloaming, although
parted by a sea.
The very currents of the air and ocean have been jointly made
subservient to the will of man in shortening the routes of naviga-
tion; and the stars that blase upon his breast, and the emulous dis-
tinctions v/on from royal hands, attest the genius of Lieut. Maury.
In shapelier fabrics than of old, looms the architecture of the sea,
traced in new forms of speed and beauty by the shij)vmght's nicer
skill, and statelier structures rise upon the land, and loftier spires
point out the v/ay to Heaven, wrought by the myriad sons of toil.
The press wearies with its efforts for the spread of knowledge, the
heart pants with its throbbings for the welfare of humanity.
Throughout the ranks of universal man, where he still darkles in
•the savage and v/hero he shines refulgent in the sage, the work of
regeneration goeth on. In the language of a cotemporary: "With-
in the last twenty-five years all the principal features of the geo-
graphy of our vast interior regions have been accurately determined;
the great fields of Central Asia have been traversed in various direc-
tions, from Bokhara and Oxus to the Chinese Wall; the half -known
river systems of South America have been surveyed; the icy con-
tinent around the southern pole has been discovered; the North-
west passage, the igniis fatiais of nearly two centuries, is at last
found; the Dead Sea is stripped of its fabulous terrors; the course
of the Niger is no longer a myth, and the sublime secret of the Nile
is about wrested from his keeping; the mountains of the moon,
sought for through two thousand years, have been beheld by a
Caucasian eye; an English steamer has ascended the Chadda to the
frontiers of the great kingdom of Borneo; Leichart and Stuart have
penetrated the wilderness of Australia; the Russians have descended
from Irkoutsch to the mouth of the Amoor; the antiquated walls of
JOSEPH W. WINANS. ' 267
Chinese prejudice have cracked and are fast tumbling down; and
the canvas screens which surrounded Japan have been cut bj the
sharp edge of American enterprise."
Behold this lordly pile, the city of your home, rich in its fretted
domes, its gorgeous palaces and many chambered mansions, rising
like an exhalation from the deep, and looming gTandly in the amber
air! Evoked as if by magic, like the Palace of xiladdin; its marts
crowded with the merchandise of every clime, its harbor den3e with
the navies of all nations, rivaling old Tyre in the magnitude of its
commerce, and illumining the western continent with the luster of
its arts; a vast community, wherein are mingled the motley denizens
of every zone, and from which emanate financial influences that per-
vade the globe; what a stupendous monument it is, and will be to
all future time of the omnipotence of labor! A spiritual world is
bursting on the sense, and though its revelations are steeped in the
marvellous and the incredible, yet human foresight dares not proph-
esy what wonders of the unseen void are yet to be explored by man.
If Newton, while he lived, believed himself a mere gatherer of shells
upon the shore of the ocean of intelligence, a bolder generation has
arisen which quits that shore, and fearlessly sails forth upon that
sea, and 'mid the widely opening wonders of the view, scans with
a clearer eye the mysteries of being, as it speeds along to its eternal
bourne. But here our task must close. The word of God, the voice
of nature, and the monitor within us, all unite in uttering this man-
date unto man: "VYork while you may, with all your energies, "for
the night cometh soon in which no man can work." In whatever
sphere youi* lot is cast, see to it that you do your duty faithfully and
well. However subordinate your station, it is honorable if you dig-
nify it by the application of your industry, and adorn it with the
luster of your virtues.
" Honor and shame from no condition rise,
Act well your part, in that the honor lies."
There is no condition so subsendent, none so exalted, as to be
exempt from its responsibilities, which can no more be shunned
with honor than the sentinel in the hour of danger can desert his
post, or the monarch sacrifice the welfare of his people. Action is
the watchword, and progress the destiny of man. The more stren-
uously you labor, the more you magnify your powers and exalt your
station. No object in nature is so insignificant as to be without a
function. And shall man, the grandest v/ork of all, degenerate into
the meanest; become a useless thing, v^^hereall ^ras piu-posed to be
useful, and mar the harmony of order by the discord of inaction ?
No ! It were as easy to suspend the motion of a planet, without
hurling it in ruin from its sphere, as for man without continuous
effort to achieve his destiny. This truth has burst like a meteor
upon the nations. It startles and illumines. Everywhere, through
every channel, among every people, far and wide over the surface
of this ponderous globe, are the claims of labor vindicated and en-
nobled. A stupendous exposition, convened in annual succession,
2G8 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
at London and New York, and Paris, has brought together, from
every land, the industry, resources, and invention of the world.
There, at that grand high carnival of labor, the nations mingle
in a common throng to bend the suppliant knee before its throne.
Labor is king! The multitude are shaking off the sloth of ages.
The song of labor hath more fascination than the strain the syren
sung. This glorious millenium is working out redemption for man-
kind, from the thrall of degradation and oppression. The Ishmael-
ite shall soon be rescued from the curse of Hagar's offspring. No
longer shall the Tartar roam his boundless steppes inactive, nor the
Arab prosecute his roving and nomadic life. The tawny Indian on
the banks of the Euphrates, and the burnished Ethiop, shall burst
the fetters of their mental bondage, and human nature everywhere,
through all its ranks and ranges of condition, its varieties of hue
and shade, its grades of elevation and debasement, its diversity of
tribes and races, shall stand forth redeemed in the golden effulgence
of that morn which is dawning on the world's long night of lethargy
and error. For this grand consummation be it ours to strive with
unremitting toil, and haply even we may have our names emblazoned
on the scroll of fame.
MUNDUS.
BY JOSEPH W. WINANS.
Quid rides?— mutato nomine, de te fdbula narratur.
"When Juvenal forsook his pen;
That stern, satiric teacher
Left half untold the crimes of men—
The guilt of human nature.
From shores by Behring's waters wet,
To Ind's remotest nation,
A soulless, sordid, selfish set,
Make up Earth's population.
The troublous tribes of men wiE cease
From rapine, rage, and riot;
When Hyrcan tigers covet peace,
And Russian wolves are quiet.
Gigantic wi'ongs, long unrestrained,
Have grown completely chronic;
As Sardian herbs the features trained
Into a scowl sardonic
War spreads its desolating glare
From columns densely serried;
Fierce as the flame that flashes where
Euceladus lies buried.
JOSEPH W. WINANS.
Intestine fetids, with horror nfe,
Holil bloody saturnalia ;
Till Freedom yields to Civil strife,
As Pompey to Pharsaha.
The code of morals that prevails
Amid the social chaos,
■Would shame the conscious Paphian vales,
And flush the cheek of Lais.
Unhallowed lust drew Villiers' sword —
And gallants still are ready
To hie from duel with the lord,
To duet with the hidy.
Though Virtue, with bold deeds and words,
Strives good from ill to sever;
The poisoned robe of Nessus girds
Her generous endeavor.
'T would need a fancy quaint in style,
\ct gloomier than Dante's,
To r>aint the orgies that beguile
Our now-a-day Bacchantes.
Contention, schism, and turmoil,
Arc everywhere in fashion;
For Geysers' springs less madly boil,
Than boiling human passion.
'T were easier task to curb misnile
From tyranny and duress.
Than change the rigid Zeno's school
To that of Epicurus.
Lean penury, by bloated wealth
Is rudely spurned and thvrarted:
While Lazarus creeps on by stealth,
Proud Dives' nod is courted.
Corruption glimmers through the damp
Of pride, and place, and station;
Like false lights through the Dismal Swampr
In fetid exhalation.
Midst revel, rout, and festal glee,
All manhood is Ibrgotten;
As midst the train of Omphule
Great Hercules spun cotton.
The Car of State, through check and clog,
Ghdes with as free a motion.
As ships through the Sirbonian bog.
Or Pharoah's hosts through ocean.
Those waters in which statesmen slake
Their thirst for greed and glory.
Are fouler than the Stygian Lake,
Or Pontine Marsh of story.
How dearly valued matters not;
The friendships that we cherish —
?also as the perjured Sinon's plot —
In disappointment perish.
269
270 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Where faith and truth should greenly gi'ow,
The heart yields, from its stubble,
Such harvests only as did flow
From England's South Sea Bubble.
Unstinted bounties still inspire
A gratitude as glowing,
As when fond Scylla slew her sire
To speed her dainty wooing.
More victims to the crime of Cain,
Give desperate solution,
Thau gi-aced the tumbril and the wain
Of Danton's revolution.
Like Joseph's brethren, brothers strive
The ties of blood to foster:
So once the mild Cambyses strove;
So strove the gentle Gloster.
A wanton age is ''Christian'' claimed,
By catachrese as glaring.
As erst the Fates were " Sparers'' named,
Because they were unsparing.
What though a meed of fame is due
To Man's exalted mission;
The blandishments of sense subdue
His loftiest ambition.
Thus Babylon, with festive charms.
Entangled Alexander;
Thus Capuau arts, not Roman arms,
Made Hannibal surrender.
Pale Justice sits, in ermined state,
With not a stain upon her;
Impartial, and immaculate
As Jeffreys' spotless honor.
Without delay the Law moves on
To its completed issue :
Penelope thus nimbly spun
Her web of varied tissue.
While dissolute desires encroach
On habits more primeval;
What once was Noah's grave reproach,
Is now a sanctioned evil.
From farthest East to utmost West;
From dwarf to giant's stature,
Cinme curdles in the human breast;
Vice venoms human nature.
GEORGE L. WOODS.
JBY pALVIN p yVlcpONALD.
GOVERNOR Woods is one of the most distinctive repre-
sentative men in the rising commonwealth of
Oregon. Indeed, he may be regarded as the most noted
and conspicuous among the many really brilliant and
able men who give character to that State, possessing
that wonderful sorcery of speech which Nature bestows
on but few of her children, and w^hich can so easily ad-
vance its possessor to renown. Whatever be his other
qualifications, Governor Woods is unquestionably the
most eloquent orator now living in the Pacific States,
and as such is entitled to a conspicuous place among the
representative men of the nation.
George Lemuel Woods, the present Governor of
Oregon, was born in Boone county, Missouri, July 30th,
1832. He is of Scottish descent, his ancestors having come
over to this country in the latter part of the seventeenth
century and settled in Virginia. His father was born in
Kentucky ; his mother in Tennessee : the former removed
to Missouri, and settled there in 1808. The subject of
these remarks is the second of four sons, two of whom are
dead. He removed from Missouri to the Territory of
Oregon in 1847, w^ien only fifteen years old, and has re-
sided there ever since, much of the time in w4iat is known
as Eastern Oregon, that portion of the State lying east of
the Cascade mountains. In April, 1852, he was married,
272 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and began life without means, relying wholly upon his
own exertions; taking a homestead upon unimproved
Government lands, which he cultivated by his own labor,
building houses and barns, fencing and plowing, after the
manner of settlers on the border.
In 1856, having determined to enter a different sphere
in life, with a family to be supported, and only a limited
common-school education, young Woods sold his property
and entered school, intending to prepare himself for the
study of the law. and continued his earnest and successful
studies until his means were exhausted. Having thus
prosecuted his preparatory studies under difficulties, he
purchased a small law library : paid for it by working at a
carpenter's bench during the day; and studied its con-
tents by night, until ready to be admitted to practice. Ilis
success at the bar corresponded with his indomitable
resolution, and he soon rose to distinction in his district.
In July, 1863, Gov. Woods' public life commenced
by his appointment to the Judgeship of Wasco county,
in which capacity he served a year with satisfaction to the
community and honor to himself. In March, 1864, he
was nominated on the Union Presidential Electoral ticket,
and took an active part in that campaign, making known
the remarkable powers as a popular orator and stump
speaker which have since given him a national distinction.
His boldness and eloquence of speech made him the
particular mark for his political adversaries in that State,
where election campaigns are conducted with great vigor
and in the true Western style. In Oregon, opponents,
whether candidates or campaigners, travel together, meet
face to face, and discuss the issues from hand to hand,
sometimes before vast throngs ; and for that sort of discus-
sion Woods was admirably prepared through his rapid flow
of language, ready wit, and graceful conduct as a speaker.
In that memorable campaign, the Democracy selected the
Hon. Aaron E. Wait, late Chief Justice of the State, and
a gentleman of commanding abilities, while the Union
party chose the young and then unknown George L. Woods
as their champion. The conflict was fierce and exciting,
and Wait was vanquished at every encounter.
GEORGE L. WOODS. 273
Two years after, Woods was appointed, by the Presi-
dent, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Idaho ;
but before the arrival of his commission, he was nominated
for Governor by the Union State convention of Oregon.
The opposing candidate on the Democratic side was the
Hon. James L. Kelly, an old and experienced politician,
and an eminent lawyer. Again young Woods had a
foeman worthy of his steel; the struggle was the most
exciting in the history of Oregon politics, and occurred
just at the time of President Johnson's rupture with
his party, and when the whole country was in a state of
unusual excitement. The conflict between the rival
champions was resolute and deadly beyond all precedent ;
but, as in the previous campaign, and notwithstanding
the formidable character of his adversary, Woods was
equal to the great occasion, discomfited his opponent at
every turn, and was elected.
During the gubernatorial campaign in California, in
1867, the Republican State Central Committee invited
Gov. Woods to come to their assistance ; and although in
feeble health, he responded at once, traveled and labored
incessantly, making thirty speeches in thirty-five consecu-
tive nights, of which twenty-six were in the open air and
before immense audiences. His popularity was every-
where established; no public speaker in that State ever
created greater enthusiasm, or won brighter laurels. His
speech in the great Union Hall in San Francisco was con-
sidered one of the most excellent and powerful ever
heard in that city. It is true that on account of an
unfortunate division, his party was defeated; but it is
believed that the enthusiasm created by the eloquent
Oregonian, as much as any other cause, saved the Re-
publican party of California from utter demoralization
through division and disaster.
In the winter of 1868, at the solicitation of the
Republican State Central Committees of Kew Hampshire
and Connecticut, Gov. Woods went to the East and as-
sisted in canvassing those States. His success and popu-
larity were as great in classic New England as they had
been in the distant west of Oregon and California. While
18
274 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
more than fifty of the most distinguished orators and
stump-speakers of the nation took part in that exciting
and desperate canvass, the leading journals of those
States referred to the Oregonian as being the most elo-
quent and brilliant of them all ; and through such grave
testimony, and in the presence of such competition, it was
there demonstrated that his fame and popularity are not
things belonging only in the Far West.
In person, Gov. Woods is tall, graceful, and command-
ing, with a handsome, cheerful face, which is set off by a
full, flowing beard, and manifesting the utmost mental
activity. He is one of those positive and magnetic men
who draw around them a great number of intimate and
devoted friends, and possess about an equal mumber of
very decided enemies; but, in his case, these last are the
result of political antagonism. His political adversaries
in Oregon regard him as their most dangerous and de-
structive foe, and on the other hand, his political friends
consider him their most steadfast and indomitable cham-
pion, who never loses a battle. His manner of speaking
is rapid, but distinct and impressive, never using long or
high-sounding words or indulging in any extravagance or
impropriety of metaphor. He seems to depend on the
natural forces of ideas rather than upon the sonorous-
ness of words ; and although never written, unless by some
very swift reporter at the time of their delivery, his
speeches would be considered well adapted to the most
refined of lecture-rooms. Although they may be at times
insupportably severe, his remarks are never coarse or
personally offensive. Perhaps no American orator is
capable of a quicker or keener retort, but it is a cut from
a rapier, rather than a stroke with a bludgeon. This
peculiar style of political fence is one of Woods' strongest
points, and is an essential of popular stump speaking in
Oregon, where political meetings are actually debates
before both sides, of the question, and where the orator
is subject to frequent interruptions by his opponent or by
some questioner in the audience. Such a thing as a set
speech at a political meeting in that State would be one
of the most grotesque of absurdities, and an orator with-
GEORGE L. WOODS. 275
out presence of mind and the capacity to turn an unex-
pected question to good account, would be a gentleman
to be pitied and a person suitable for immediate emigra-
tion. Notwithstanding his rapid utterance, and their
sometimes great length, Woods' speeches cannot be called
dijffuse in style; on the contrary, they seem to be each
an exhaustive argument — an oration complete in all its
parts, with a beginning, a middle and an ending, and often
containing passages of lofty and surprising beauty, but
never extending to empty declamation or the transgres-
sion of rhetorical laws.
The writer of this has heard Gov. Woods many times
both in California and Oregon, and is of opinion that as
a popular orator, he is the most brilliant and effective now
living in either of those States. As an orator, as a patriot,
citizen, and man, he is entitled to a high place, not only
among the representative men of the Pacific, but of the
whole country. The distinction which he has attained
under great disadvantages at home, he is capable of main-
taing anywhere in the Republic ; and if life and circum-
stances permit, his friends may hope to see him in a
position as nationally distinctive as that is individual and
distinguished which he now bears to his own State.
FRANK TILFORD,
^Y THE pDITOR
FRANK TiLFORD is of Scotch-Irish descent, and a native of
Lexington, Kentucky. In the year 1745, a remote
ancestor, John Tilford, emigrated with his family from the
North of Ireland and settled in the valley of the Shenan-
doah. The descendants of this family are now scattered
through the Western States. They belong to that hardy
race of pioneers, who, after driving the Indian tribes
from their hunting grounds in the Mississippi Valley,
laid well and deep in their wilderness homes the founda-
tions of a free government.
In the spring of the year 1849, Frank Tilford, then
twenty- seven years of age, with a small party of youthful
adventurers, started overland for the Pacific. He arrived
in California in August of that year , and from that time
until now has resided on the Pacific coast.
In the early days of San Francisco, when the place was
a Pueblo, Mr. Tilford was a member of the Ayuntami-
ENTO, and in that capacity contributed largely and bene-
ficially to the development of the future city. The cause
of education received from him earnest attention, and
to his exertions we owe the first endowment ever bestow-
ed upon a public school in San Francisco. He endeavored,
although ineffectually, to procure an appropriation of
some of the public lands belonging to the corporation to
the establishment of a College of the Pacific. Had the
scheme succeeded, we might, years ago, have had on this
coast a University richly endowed and ranking with the
278 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
noblest educational institutions of the land. At that
time, unfortunately, a large majority of our people lived
only for and in the immediate present ; few either appre-
ciated or cared for the magnificent future which awaited
their adopted State ; and the inevitable result of such in-
difference was the failure of all propositions of a public
character, which did not promise a speedy remunerative
return to the community.
In May, 1850, Mr. Tilford was elected Recorder, or
Criminal Judge, of San Francisco. He held the position
for one year. During his term of office, San Francisco
was noted for the fierce controversies which prevailed in
regard to the title and possession of the lands within her
limits. These conflicts, commencing in acts of lawless-
ness, ended, too often, in sanguinary violence, and became,
therefore, the subjects of investigation in the criminal
courts. In all such cases the sympathies of the Judge
were with the actual and honest occupant, and the law
was administered to protect him against the aggressions
of trespassers who sought to obtain possession without
the shadow of legal title or equitable claim. The firm
yet just course pursued by Recorder Tilford in these
troublesome disputes, won for him the esteem and regard
of all well-disposed citizens. His re-election to the
same position, it was conceded, was certain, had he been
a candidate. It so happened, however, that the Demo-
cratic party placed Judge Tilford before the people as their
candidate for Mayor at the municipal election in April,
1851. The nomination was made against the earnest,
openly-expressed wishes of the candidate, and finally ac-
cepted with great reluctance. The contest was animated,
and rendered more interesting as being the first to occur
in California on strict partisan issues. The Whig party,
then, for the first time, organized, and under the leader-
ship of T. Butler King, collector of the port, achieved the
most brilliant, and almost the only victory, which ever
rewarded its expiring efforts in California. The average
majority against the Democratic ticket was not less than
one thousand, while the candidate for the mayoralty was
defeated by only four hundred votes.
FRANK TILFORD. 2Y9
Shortly after the election, Judge Tilford formed a
law partnership with R. A. Lockwood and Edmund Ran-
dolph, two gentlemen of commanding abilities, now de-
ceased. This firm instituted a suit which created intense
and general excitement — Metcalf vs. Argenti and others —
the cause cMre of that day. The plaintiff complained of
a trespass committed by the defendants in entering his
house and searching the premises. They (the defend-
ants) were members of the Vigilance Committee of 1851.
The whole case involved the legality and propriety of the
action of the Committee. Plaintiff laid his damages at
fifty thousand dollars. There were two trials of this cause,
but the jury, on both occasions, were unable to agree
upon a verdict.
In the summer of 1851, Judge Tilford visited Oregon
and remained some five months in Portland, where he
practiced law with considerable success. Feeling, at the
end of that short period, that he was out of the pale of
civilization — Oregon being but a dreary abiding place
eighteen years ago — he returned to San Francisco early
in 1852, and resumed the practice. He obtained a high
reputation at the bar, but principally as a criminal lawyer.
From 1852 to 1856, during which time Judge Tilford
was practicing law, the San Francisco bar numbered among
its criminal lawyers, Col. Baker, Gov. Smith of Virginia,
Bailie Peyton, Gov. Foote, Edward F. Marshall, Col.
James, and Harry Byrne, now, as then, District Attorney
of San Francisco.
In 1854, he was nominated by the Democracy for
Judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco. In that
3'ear the Native American party first appeared in Califor-
nia as a distinct political organization. '^Towering in its
pride of place," it swept all before it and succeeded in
electing every one of its nominees. The Whig party was
crushed out of existence. The Democracy held together,
and although defeated, were not demoralized.
In 1855, Judge Tilford received the compliment of
the nomination, unanimously tendered him by the county
convention of his party, for State Senator. He took the
field a§[ainst the enemy, before whose power he had fallen
280 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the previous year, and at the fall election was chosen by
a majority of twenty-five hundred votes.
The seventh session of the California legislature was
one of unusual interest to the political parties of the
State. The Native American party had been successful
at the State election and returned a majority of the legis-
lature. In the assembly they had the decided control,
and in the senate, one majority. The first question which
arose was in reference to a joint convention to elect a
United States Senator to succeed Wm. M. Gwin, whose
term had expired. The Democrats opposed the conven-
tion and favored the postponement of the election. Sen-
ator Tilford made the only speech on the Democratic
side ; taking the ground that the State election had turned
on local and personal issues; was no just indication of
the popular judgment, and that it would be impolitic,
if not disastrous to the public interests, to place in the
Senate of the United States the representative of a fac-
tion which had no national existence, and whose career
was destined to a speedy termination. This speech was
published in all the Democratic journals of the State, and
was generally accepted as defining the attitude of the
Democracy.
The vote was taken on the motion to indefinitely post-
pone the assembly resolution in favor of a joint conven-
tion, and the motion was carried — Hon. Wilson Flint
acting with the Democratic members. The people of the
State, at the election which took place in the fall of 1856,
sustained the course pursued by a majority of the senate.
Another debate of a political character occurred in the
senate, important as, in part, the cause and precursor of
the fall of the Native American party in California. The
assembly, in which that party had a large majority, as
stated, had passed a resolution condemning the election
of Hon. N. P. Banks to the position of Speaker of the
House of Representatives at Washington, for the reason,
as alleged, that he was 'Hhe exponent of sectional ideas
and principles diametrically opposed to the spirit of the
Constitution of the United States." When this resolu-
tion came to the senate, the Native American members.
FRANK TILFORD. 281
after caucus held, unwilling to pass, yet hardly prepared
to oppose, resolved on tabling it. The discussion which
arose was the most interesting and exciting which, up to
that period, had occurred in the California Legislature.
Hawks, Senator from San Francisco, and the eloquent
Ferguson of Sacramento, favored the tabling of the reso-
lution. Senators Mandeville and Tilford urged its pas-
sage. The motion to table the resolution was carried by a
clear vote ; but in the discussion which preceded the final
vote, were sown the seeds of the ultimate dissolution of
the Native American party in the State. Upon the fall
of that party, a large number transferred allegiance to
the victorious enemy, while another very considerable
element united with the N'ational Republican party, then
about organizing. The speech of Judge Tilford on this
resolution was ordered to be published by the Demo-
cratic members of the legislature. A comparison will
show that this speech embodied the views, in almost the
identical language, afterwards set forth in the platform
adopted by the convention which at Cincinnati nomina-
ted James Buchanan for the Presidency.
While a senator from San Francisco, Mr. Tilford was
a member of the judiciary committee, and during the lat-
ter portion of his term was chairman of the same — a po-
sition which gave him considerable control in the passage
and defeat of bills. No little credit is due to him for re-
vising and preparing amendments to the criminal law of
the State. He reported two bills for that prupose. which
passed the senate, and, with some slight alteration from
the assembly, became law. Among other features in these
bills, whipping for petit larceny, and the death penalty at
the discretion of the jury in cases of robbery and grand
larceny, were abolished; the attempt to commit a crime
was made punishable, and degrees in murder and other
offences were introduced and defined. The views of the
author of these measures were set forth in a speech on
crimes and punishments, and the argument made that the
certainty, not the sefverity of punishment, deterred from the
commission of crimes. This speech was printed and ex-
tensively circulated, the leading ideas receiving the gen-
eral approval of the press and bar.
282 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Judge Tilford often recalls with pride his advocacy of
a bill which became a law, to enable aliens to inherit real
and personal estate as fully as native born citizens — a
measure which, just in itself, has exercised a beneficial
influence on the prosperity of the State. He also advo-
cated, with zeal and deep interest, a confirmation of
the celebrated Yan N^ess Ordinance by the legislature.
The measure then failed, but in 1858 was adopted, and is
now universally admitted to have been one of the most
salutary measures ever passed by a California legislature.
To Horace Hawes, then a member of the assembly,
is undoubtedly due the credit of the Consolidation Bill.
It originated with him. Yet, when it came to the senate,
it met with a violent opposition, and but for the cordial
and active support which it received from Senators Til-
ford and Shaw, must have miscarried.
The property owners of San Francisco at that time
will always gratefully remember the constant, persistent
opposition which Mr. Tilford made to any and all schemes
for the control by individuals or corporations of the har-
bor and water front of the city.
In 1856, Judge Tilford was a candidate before the
Democratic State Convention for Congress. His oppo-
nent was the Hon. Charles L. Scott, who received the
nomination by a small majority. The party in California
was then divided into two very distinct elements — the
chivalry, or Southern wing, and the more conservative
portion, composed of men from all sections of the coun-
try and opposed to radicalism in any shape. Judge Til-
ford belonged to the latter division. The Federal office-
holders acted generally with the chivalry wing; and gave
an almost unanimous support to the successful candidate.
The Legislature which convened on the first Monday
in January, 1857, was charged with the duty of electing
two United States Senators, in place of Willliam M. Gwin
and John B. Weller. The Hon. David C. Broderick was
nominated by the Democratic caucus, and elected in joint
convention, on the first ballot, to succeed John B. Weller.
Judge Tilford was an active, zealous, untiring supporter
of Mr. Broderick. He was selected to make the nomina-
FRANK TILFORD. 283
tion, which he did, accompanying it with a speech which
was published and warmly aj)plauded by the friends of
the new Senator.
In 1857, Judge Tilford received from the President
the appointment of Naval Officer of the Port of San
Francisco, which position he held for the full term of
four years. This appointment was made in acknowledg-
ment of the many and faithful services rendered by the
appointee in behalf of his party.
Upon retiring from office, and on a final accounting
with the Treasury Department, he received not only an
acquittance, but an order for money found to be due him
— a practical endorsement of double value.
During his stay in the Naval Office, he participated
in every political canvass which occurred in the State.
When, in 1860, the memorable division took place in
the ranks of the Democratic party resulting in the nomi-
nation of Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckenridge,
Judge Tilford' s earnest wish and efforts were for a reiin-
ion of the party in California. He endeavored to pre-
vail upon the party leaders to j^resent but one electoral
ticket to the people. The candidates for presidential
electors were to cast the vote of the State as a majority
of the ballots they received might indicate the preference
of the masses of the party. This plan failing. Judge
Tilford then gave his support to Breckenridge. He can-
vassed the State with unflagging spirit, although his views
did not entirely coincide with those of either wing of the
party. He had always opposed secession as unconstitu-
tional, wrong in theory and pernicious in practice. On
the other hand, in common with a large number of the
leading statesmen and journals of the North, he believed
coercion a dangerous remedy, liable to terminate in the
subversion of States' rights and the centralization of
power — that, while the Federal government had the un-
doubted right to maintain and defend its own existence,
imminent danger to popular liberty was to be appre-
hended from standing armies and military dictatorship.
When it became apparent that an amicable adjustment of
our national difficulties was impossible, that the- issue was
284 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
to be presented to the arbitrament of the sword — he felt
it his duty to sustain the government under which he
lived and to which he owed allegiance.
In the same year, a committee was appointed by the
San Francisco leaders of the Breckenridge branch of the
Democracy, to prepare an Address to the people of the
State, vindicating the course of the Baltimore Convention
in nominating Breckenridge, and the claims of their can-
didate to popular support. This committee consisted of
Hon. 0. C. Pratt, since Judge of the 12th Judicial Dis-
trict, Hon. R,. Augustus Thompson, formerly a member
of Congress from Virginia, and Mr. Tilford. The address
prepared and published by these gentlemen, set forth very
ably and eloquently all the positions which the press and
speakers of the Breckenridge wing afterwards sustained.
From 1861 to 1863, Judge Tilford was not engaged in
the practice of his profession; and, although feeling a
profound interest iu the events progressing in the Atlan-
tic States, abstained from any active participation in
politics.
In the fall of the latter year he removed to the then
Territory of I^evada, and entered again on his professional
labors.
In 1864, he was elected Superintendent of Public In-
struction in Storey County, and acted in that capacity
until the adoption of the State Constitution placed the
control of the public schools in other hands. Shortly
afterwards he was appointed City Attorney of Virginia
City, and retained by a Board of Aldermen politically
opposed to him. One incident in his career in Nevada is
particularly worthy of mention. It occurred in the sum-
mer of 1864. In August of that year, a concerted and
general uprising of the miners of the Virginia District
took place, caused by an attempt to reduce their wages.
Labor was suspended. Threats of violence were freely
made against the Superintendent of the Gould & Curry
mine. At one time there appeared serious danger of a
wide destruction of property by the multitude. The
procession, numbering three to four thousand strong,
marched through the streets of Virginia, and finally as-
FRANK TILFORD. 285
sembled in front of the International Hotel. At the earn-
est request of Mr. Stewart; now United States Senator,
and other prominent citizens, Judge Tilford consented
to address the exasperated crowd. His remarks were
well-timed, well-received, and had a very happy effect.
The people gradually dispersed, and the whole proceed-
ing ended harmlessly.
In the spring of 1866, Mr. Tilford, feeling satisfied
that there was no prospect of a revival of prosperity in
Virginia City, sought a new and more promising locality.
At that time, the Excelsior Mining District, in Ne-
vada county, California, engrossed a considerable share
of public attention, and was believed to be one of the
richest mineral regions on the Pacific Coast. He was
then, and for some time past had been, largely interested
in the mines of that section. Thither he removed in
May, and opened a law office in the town of Meadow
Lake, in connection with J. C. Foster, Esq. The district
proved a runious failure. The character and peculiar
formation of the ledges, the vast amount of rebellious
sulphurets in the metalliferous lodes, and more than all,
the length of the winter, which, in this mountainous re-
gion, extends over eight months, united to disappoint the
expectations of thousands, who had invested their means
in the mines of the locality. While residing at '^ Meadow
Lake," Mr. Tilford edited the ^'/Swri," an independent
newspaper. He also prepared an elaborate description of
the mines, and history of mining operations, in Excelsior ;
giving an account of the discovery, settlement, resources,
scenery and prospects of this romantic section of country.
This interesting narrative first appeared in Bean's Direc-
tory of Nevada county, (1866) and also, in a condensed
form, in the California Scrap Book (1869). It is replete
with valuable knowledge concerning an extensive and al-
most unknown region, (remarkable for its mineral rich-
ness as well as the beauty and grandeur of its scenery)
and being written in very attractive style, will repay
attentive perusal.
In the summer of 1866, the Democratic convention
of Nevada county met at Grass Valley. Hearing that an
286 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
effort would be made to give him some place on the ticket,
and having abandoned the field of politics, Judge Tilford
addressed a letter to the convention, declining any nomi-
nation. The convention, however, aware of his popu-
larity and abilities as a public speaker, unanimously nomi-
nated him for State Senator. At the urgent request of
some of the most prominent Democrats of the county, he
accepted the nomination. No one supposed his election
was possible. Nevada county had been, and was stil]
claimed as, the banner county of the Republican party.
Mr. Lincoln's majority in 1864, was over twelve hundred.
At the judicial election in 1865, the Republican nominee
for Supreme Judge received one thousand majority.
Judge Tilford entered the canvass, and addressed the
people almost every night in the months of July and Au-
gust, visiting nearly every town, village and mining camp
in that populous county — from the summit of the Sierras
where the reign of winter is unbroken, to the valleys
where flowers are in continual bloom. His meetings were
large — the people never stayed at home when Tilford was
announced to speak. His political enemies confess, that,
in the conduct of this campaign, he made the most gal-
lant fight ever witnessed in Nevada county, while his
friends were enthusiastic in their expressions of admira-
tion. His opponent was Hon. E. W. Roberts, who, on
the official count, was shown to be elected by a majority
of ninety-one out of a total vote exceeding ^V6 thousand.
When the legislature met at Sacramento in Decem-
ber, 1867, Judge Tilford' s name was brought forward by
many of his friends as a candidate for United States Sena-
tor, and submitted to the Democratic legislative caucus.
The universal esteem in which he was held by the people
of his county was shown in the fact that, before the Dem-
ocratic caucus had agreed upon a candidate for Senator,
all the Democratic and Republican papers of Nevada
county advocated his nomination and election.
In November, 1867, he returned to his first home
on the Pacific Coast, San Francisco, where he formed a
partnership with Tully R. Wise, formerly United States
District Attorney, and applied himself diligently to his
FRANK TILFORD- 287
profession. In the Presidential election of 1868, he
supported Seymour and Blair. He retains firmly the
principles cherished through his entire political career.
Judge Tilford occupied a prominent place in the
gifted band of orators whose appeals were wont, in the
olden times, to thrill and electrify the hearts of the multi-
tude; whose contests have become famous and whose
achievements have passed into the history of the State.
The voices of Baker, Ferguson, Hawks and Griffith, in
life so eloquent, have long been hushed. Tilford remains
among the few who not only w^itnessed their triumphs,
but gathered laurels with them on the field of debate.
He often recurs, with proud emotion, to his old compan-
ionship with those gallant spirits. As a political debater
and popular speaker he has few equals in California. His
prepared addresses to literary and benevolent^ associa-
tions, of which he has delivered many, are ripe and artis-
tic productions. His command of language is remarka-
ble and he is always effective in addressing a jury.
At this time Mr. Tilford is in the White Pine district,
actively, and we trust, profitably, engaged in conducting
litigation. His home is, however, still in San Francisco,
and thither he expects, at no distant day, to return and
spend the remainder of his life.
Frank Tilford has retired from the political arena.
The conflicts of party and the contests of politicians pos-
sess no attractions for him. Hereafter, he will devote
his talents and energies to professional pursuits, which,
if less exciting, are in their results more satisfactory than
the toils or triumphs of a partisan. In one respect he
has been ever consistent, and to one aspiration always
true — his devotion to the advancement, and confidence
in the grand destinies, of the Pacific Coast.
A glorious commonwealth of States, extending along
the shores of the Pacific, from the Arctic circle to Pana-
ma, united by a common interest, with free institutions,
a homogeneous population, and in the enjoyment of a
degree of prosperity unparalleled in history, is now, and
has been for the last twenty years, the cherished hope
and day-dream of his existence.
288 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
#«ati0tt % |. MiUmA,
At the Metropolitan Theatre, San Francisco, March
17th, 1863, ON the History, Resources and Genius
of Ireland.
More than fourteen centuries have passed since the Saint whose
venerated memory endears to our hearts the day we celebrate, car-
ried the Cross of our Redeemer to the shores of Ireland. Never
had heaven ordained a nobler Apostle, or sublimer mission. Thirty
years before, the Saint had escaped by flight from servitude in the
Island he was now revisiting. He returns to the scene of his youth-
ful captivity, with no recollection of wrongs unavenged — ^with no
purpose of signalizing by fire and sword the triumphs of a Con-
queror. No martial music awakens the echoes of the lonely coast —
no army with banners salute him as their Chieftain — no retinue of
steel-clad warriors draw their glittering blades at his command.
Twenty men, eminent for their wisdom and sanctity, and armed
only with the insignia of their priestly office, accompanied the holy
man. Attended by these faithful disciples, and inspired by the
power which had so often illumined his spirit in the sleepless vigils
of the night, the Apostle of God went forth with unfaltering step,
to encounter the Pagan host. The contest was soon decided ; nor
was the result doubtful. Wherever the voice of the Sainted Sage
was heard, the temples of Idolatry were deserted, and their priests
fled in dismay from the ensanguined altars. It is not my purpose
to comment on the life of the Apostle; learned divines have alrea-
dy on this day, and on other occasions, eloquently performed that
duty. Permit me, however, to dwell for a moment on one trait in
the character of the revolution that St. Patrick inaugurated, which
excites our special wonder, and deserves to be inscribed in golden
letters on the pages of the world's history. It is the truth that dur-
ing his entire mission, from the day he arrived in Leinster until
the hour of his death, more than sixty years afterwards, not a life
was sacrificed, nor a pang inflicted, to secure the imperishable, yet
peaceful victories of the Cross. For thirteen centuries the Irish
people have observed this day as a national anniversary. At the
present hour the representatives of that race, in almost every coun-
try on the inhabitable globe, are celebrating the occasion with sol-
emn rites or joyous festivities.
On the banks of the Shannon, in the mines of Australia, amid
the orange groves of the Tropics, in the ruined cities of the Orient,
and under the shade of the primeval forests which fringe the waters
of the Mississippi, thousands of eyes will beam with rapture as they
behold unfurled to the breeze, and radiant in the bright light of
heaven, that symbol of nationality and emblem of freedom, the
ancient banner of the "Harp and Sunburst." Thousands of gen-
FRANK TILFORD. 289
erous hearts will throb with exultation, as thej recall the glorious
memories of the Emerald Isle; memories, musical and immortal as
the leaves of the Tooba tree which blooms only in the garden of
Paradise, and "whose scent is the breath of eternity." The his-
tory of Ireland ! — the very words awaken feelings unutterable in
the heart of the exile. What intellect can do justice to the theme?
As the rainbow is formed by the tears of the clouds and the rays of
the sun, so are the annals of Erin colored and varied; now by the
tears of sorrow, now by the flashes of wit and sunshine of joy.
But we have assembled not merely to jDlease the imagination
with visions of national renown, or glowing images of a cloudless
future. Eeality and truth exact other duties. The occasion irre-
sistibly suggests to the reflective mind, thoughts and inquiries of a
more serious character. Ireland was once not only independent,
but one of the most powerful governments of Europe. Will she
regain her ancient position ? History teaches the melancholy truth
that nations often rise like stars on the horizon of time, glitter
awhile in the zenith of their glory, pass away and disappear in the
gloom of darkling centuries. On the shores and in the deserts of
Asia, and amid the forests of America, empires have flourished
whose names have perished from the earth, and whose tombs are
the only monuments which the hand of remorseless time has spared.
The renown of Greece and Rome suiwives only in the pages of
the historian. Florence, Venice and Genoa, were once gems in the
diadem of modern Europe; they are now subjugated dependencies
of Austria. Is Ireland doomed to be the Pleiad lost among the
nations of our era? Canada, Australia, and the West Indies have
their colonial parliaments, are exempt from Imperial taxes, and in-
dependent in all but the name; while Ireland is a province of Eng-
land: — a mere appendage of the British crown. Regarding alone
her present situation, it is difficult to realize that she has been a
Kingdom, potent in arms and munificently endowed with all the
elements of national prosperity. Yet it is true, that during the
first twelve centuries of the Christian era, the Island was famous
throughout the civilized world, for its treasures of gold and silver,
its manufactures, institutions of learning, and advancements in the
arts and sciences. In the sixth century, missionaries from Ireland
traversed France, Switzerland and Germany, establishing churches
and monasteries in every country they visited. When the legions
of Rome carried the standard of the empire in triumph from the
Euphrates to the Atlantic, and from the Mediterranean to the North
Sea, the land of Erin maintained its liberties, and alone defied the
armies of Caesar and his successors. In the tenth century, while
the remainder of Europe was enveloped in a night of profound ig-
norance, the Island was regarded and has been happily styled, "A
beacon of learning in the West. " Without pausing at present to
investigate the causes which have reduced a brave and chivalrous
peoj^le to a condition of vassalage, let us inquire: Has Ireland the
resources, physical, moral and intellectual, to support in this age
the rank of an independent nation? In the first place, her insular
19
290 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC .
position is no ordinary advantage for defensive purposes. England
in her wars witli various Continental Powers, for the last four hun-
dred years, has experienced the benefit of this isolation. The At-
lantic, as a barrier of defense between the States of America and
the sovereignties of Euro23e, is worth to the former, millions of
bayonets. The population of Ireland, twenty years ago, was some
eight millions, two hundred thousand souls; and this number, (since
reduced by emigration and other causes) we may reasonably as-
sume she can always maintain. The Island contains an area of
thirty -five thousand, five hundred and twelve square miles; of which
there are fourteen millions, five hundred thousand acres of excellent
arable land. The fruits and cereals of the temperate zone reward
the labors of the husbandman more certainly and plenteously than
in any other country on the Eastern Hemisphere. The fertility of
the soil, like the beauty of the scenery, is proverbial, and has won
for the Emerald Isle the proud appellation of the Eden of the west
of Europe. Extensive coal formations abound in each of the four
provinces. Mines of lead, copper, and iron — indeed, of all the met-
als required in manufactures and the useful arts — are found in
almost every part of the Island. More than a hundred streams, ris-
ing in the mountains of the interior, intersect the land, expanding
at places into magnificent lakes, enriching the soil by annual over-
flows, and affording an amount of power for manufacturing purposes
greater than that of England and Scotland combined. Beneficent
nature has completed her favors to Ireland, by bestowing on it a
mild and salubrious climate; the vapory winds from the Atlantic,
the music of whose surging billows forever resounds from its
shores, temper equally the vigor of winter, and the fervor of the
summer solstice : so many and varied are the resources of this fa-
vored land, that it would require hours to recite them. The view
suggested is all that the occasion j^ermits. Other nations, vvith
material advantages incomparably less, have achieved independ-
ence, and an honorable name among the powers of the earth. In
our own age Belgium has separated from Holland; Greece has been
rescued from the Ottoman Empire ; Mexico and the States of South
America have carved with their swords the way to freedom. Por-
tugal, in the sixteenth century, was for a time subjugated by
Spain : a few determined sj)irits at Lisbon initiated a revolt which
overthrew the Spanish domination, and secured the liberties of
their country. Switzerland, with less than half the territory of
Ireland, with no treasures and without an army, valiantly and suc-
cessfuly warred with Austria for her independence. In vain the
Imperial hordes invaded the indomitable Cantons: swifter than the
mountain torrent leaps to the plains; more terrible than the Alpine
avalanche; the brave Swiss dashed upon the legions of tyranny and
drove them, reeling and shattered, from the sacred soil of Switzer-
land. Noble Switzerland ! home of Tell : land of song, of art, and
literature : the spirit of liberty reigns amid the snows of thy eter-
nal glaciers, and looks down with brow serene, and undaunted
eye, on the frowning despotisms which surround her. With ex-
FRANK TILFORD. 291
amples so encouraging, why need we despair of the ultimate destiny
of Ireland? With means so ample at her command, what shall
prevent her from assuming that proud station among the powers of
the world, which she held for more than a thousand years, under
heV ancient monarchs? It may be asked, has the spirit of her peo-
ple declined? have ages of oppression withered the energy, tal-
ent, and indomitable valor of former days? Lord Bacon wisely
observes: "Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories, goodly
races of horses, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artillery,
and the like; all this is but a sheep in the lion's skin, except the
breed and disposition of the people be stout and warlike." No
one familiar with the annals and literature of Ireland for the last
two centuries; no one who has followed, by the light of impartial
history, the course of her people since their dispersion over the
earth, can doubt the moral worth or intellectual vigor of her sons
and daughters, their love of country, and devotion to freedom.
No one can doubt that, animated by such principles, they are capa-
ble of performing deeds of heroic daring, and of suffering with
uncomplaining fortitude all the ills of life, or terrors of death.
There are many who affect to believe the heartless sentiment of a
celebrated writer, that "Nations deserve their fate whatever it may
be"; who regard all errors as crimes, and any misfortune as the
just sequence of our actions. Arguments are of no avail with such
casuists.
Let all who delight to trace the character of a nation in the
qualities of its popular leaders — -and human wisdom has devised no
safer rule of judgment — dwell for a moment on the lives of some
of the illustrious men, who by their actions or writings have reflect-
ed an ineffaceable lustre on the Irish name. Summoned by memo-
ry's magical wand, they appear in procession before us, not as the
shadowy pageant of a dream, but like unto men with earnest, liv-
ing souls. They speak, they move again upon the stage of their
glory. Their words of matchless eloquence ring in the deep cham-
bers of our hearts, and their immortal deeds thrill with ecstacy the
life-currents as they course through our veins. First i^ Dean
Swift —
"Swift, the wonder of tis age — :
Statesman, yet patriot; priest, yet sage."
The eccentric satirist, the dreaded wit, of Queen Anne's reign, al-
though false to his "Stella," is always true to his native land.
There, too, is Steene, one of the most sublime and pathetic of
writers; and here Steele, the friend of Addison, and famous as an
essayist in a period justly denominated the Augustan era of Eng-
lish literature. Near them is Goldsmith, the sweetest poet of his
or any age — in whose Deserted Village Ibreathes the very soul of
poetry, and whose inimitable Vicar of Wakefield has been translat-
ed into all the languages of modern Europe. Burke, with his
thoughtful eye, and majestic person, approaches. He discourses
on the "Sublime and Beautiful," or peradventure, lifting the veil
292 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
which conceals the future from our vision, points to the Colonies
on the distant shores of America, and predicts that ere another
century has elapsed, they will rise into mighty Republics. Sib
Philip Francis draws nigh; he holds in his hand a pen bright as
the spear of Ithuriel, and although his face is masked and averted,
we hail him as the scourge of tyrants — the undoubted author of
the * 'Letters of Junius." Here, too, is Moore, over whose natal
hour the Genii of Erin presided. His immortal harp is bedecked
with roses, and at his touch, pours on the enchanted air all the
melodies of his native Isle. The poet, through every vicissitude of
life, was devoted to the liberty and glory of Ireland. He never
forgot or deserted her. His own beautiful lines will apply to
himself —
"Xand of song! said the warrior bard,
Though all the world betrays her;
One sword at least thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee."
And now Sheridan is before us — ill fated son of genius; the com-
panion of nobles yet the friend of the people. Ages may expu-e
before the world shall feel again the ardent glow of an intellect as
brilliant and versatile as that of Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
We stand at last in the august presence of Henry Grattan, the
peerless orator and inflexible patriot. "While in the prime of life,
he aided, by his commanding intellect and overpowering eloquence,
to achieve the independence of his native land; but alas, the days
of her freedom were evanescent, and his eyes, dimmed with age
and sorrow, were doomed to witness the passage of the misnamed
*'Act of Union," a measure which sullied the honor of England,
and wrested from Ireland her natural and inherent rights. Even
in that hour of a nation's anguish, when gloom shrouded all hearts,
his words were redolent of hope and encouragement. In his last
and noblest speech in the Irish House of Commons, we read these
memorable words: "Liberty may repair her golden beams, and
with redoubled heart, animate the country. * * * I do not give up
the country; I see her in a swoon, but she is not dead. Though in
her tomb she lies, helpless and motionless, still, there is on her
lips a spirit of life, and on her cheek a glow of beautv.
"Thou art not conquered; beauty's ensign yet,
Is crimson on thy lips and in thy cheek,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there. "
' * While a plank of the vessel sticks together I will not leave her. Let
the courtier present his flimsy sail, and carry the light barque of his
faith with every new breath of wind; I will remain anchored here,
with fidelity to the fortunes of my country, faithful to her freedom,
faithful to her fall." After Grattan, appear Flood, Curran, Phil-
lips, Shell, amidst a host of illustrious intellects celebrated as ora-
tors, statesmen, or jurists, distinguished in the various arts and
sciences. But happier, if not greater than these — than all who pre-
ceded him — arises before us the world-renowned Liberator, Daniel
PRANK TILFORD. 293
O'CoNNELL. Viewed after this interval of time, and at a place so re-
mote from the scene where they occurred, the incidents of his life
bear the semblance of romance, rather than realities of historical
truth. He was descended from a Sept which, for six centuries, had
opposed on the field, and in the council, the oppression of Eng-
land. His name and lineage consecrated him to his country's ser-
vice. From the year seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, until
death terminated his labors and canonized his memory, O'Connell
led the vanguard of patriots who had dedicated their lives and for-
tunes to the accomplishment of Irish independence and Catholic
emancipation. It would require hours to unfold the record of his
speeches and triumphs. His heart knew not what it was to fear or
to despond, and his career was fortunate, as his disposition was
happy. He enjoyed the felicity, rarely allotted to the Reformers of
any age, of living to see the fruition of many of his labors, and
hearing, in the approving voice of his contemporaries, the *'A11
Hail" of generations yet unborn. His highest eulogium is express-
ed in the truthful words, that for whatever measure of liberty or
prosperity Ireland this day enjoys, she is more indebted to Daniel
O'CoNNELL than to any other man, living or dead. But, alas ! in this
procession of orators, poets, heroes, and sages, we behold one whose
tragic fate has been the theme of song and eloquence in every clime.
Beneath an uninscribed tomb, in the lonely and deserted church of
St. Michael, reposes the noblest martyr that ever perished in Free-
dom's cause — Robert Emmet. "We review the story of his life with
melancholy pleasure. Em;met, when only twenty-four years of age,
visited France as the agent of the Society of United Irishmen. Na-
poleon, then first Consul of the Republic, was in the meridian of
his fame. No reverses had obscured the glory of Areola and Mar-
engo, and fate had cast no ominous shadow on the pathway of the
"Liberator of Italy." The advocates of liberty naturally regarded
him as their friend and the protector of their cause. Emmet had
an interview with the first Consul. What was the purport of
the conference has never been known, but we may imagine the
scene. "We see Napoleon, as he turns to the young enthusiast his
marble brow, and bends on him his deep and unfathomable eyes.
"We see Emmet as he unrolls the map of Ireland, and indicates the
points of attack or defence. We hear the low, earnest tones of his
musical voice, when he assures the ruler of France that a million
of enslaved men in Ireland await with fiery impatience the signal
of revolt; they want from France arms — only arms — give them wea-
pons, and they will trust to God and their own good swords for de-
liverance. His face is resplendent with enthusiasm, as he foretells
the future of his beloved country; her ancient liberties regained;
her arts and commerce revived; the grateful ally of France; the
unrelenting foe to England's aggressions.
A year has rolled away, and the scene changes from a palace to a
prison. The insurrection of the fatal and ever-memorable night of
the twenty-third of July had failed, and no ray of hope illumined the
darkness of despotism. He, who only a few months ago was the
294 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC. .
honored visitor of the Republican Court of France^ is now the in-
mate of a narrow cell, by the world forsaken, and with no other
companion than his watchful guards. It is night, and the prison
lamp sheds a dubious gleam through the dungeon. On the pale,
thoughtful face of the captive is the imj)ress of deep, varying emo-
tions. Of what does the doomed man dream ? Is it of the home
and associates of his boyhood's careless hours, of the green mead-
ows which he shall never more behold ; of the mountain lakes, on
whose shores he has so often gathered the wild flowers of his native
land ; of the rivers whose murmuring music shall never again en-
chant his ear? or is it of his approaching trial, and the gloomy shad-
ows that lie beyond ? Far different is the subject of his thoughts.
On the little table before him is a lock of braided hair, the gift of
one on whom he had lavished the affection of his generous nature ;
of one who never deserted him in the darkest period of his advers-
ity ; and whose heart, in after years like a crystal stream, mirrored
her young hero's image. He had prized the gift in happier days ;
and now he treasured it as the last relic of a love, pure and radiant
as the light of the morning star. The trial of Emmet ; the vindic-
tive temper of Lord Norbury, the judge who presided over the
court; the eloquent defence of the prisoner, and his more than
Spartan firmness ; form an instructive page in the history of Ire-
land. He was condemned. His youth, his genius, and the moral
sublimity of his character, were unavailing to alter the stern resolve
of the government. The sanguinary policy of England demanded
a noble victim; and the sacrifice was decreed. He died on the
scaffold in the twenty-fifth year of his age. Calm and unmoved,
his heroic soul passed from time to eternity — from earth to heaven.
* ' Tis come — his liour of maTtyrdom
In freedom's sacred cause is come ;
And though his life hath passed away,
Like lightning on a stormy day,
Yet shall his death-hour leave a track
Of glory permanent and bright,
To which the brave of aftertimes,
The suffering brave, shall long look back
With proud regi-et, and by its hght
Watch through the hours of slavery's night
For vengeance on the oppressor's crimes."
The record of distinguished j^ersonages who have illustrated the
name and character of Ireland, is not confined to the British Em-
pire. The race of Erin has been scattered over the globe, and al-
most every country of the civilized world has profited by its labor,
energy and talent. All the nations of modern Europe will attest
the fact. Our own country has been in a preeminent degree the
theatre on which natives of Ireland and their descendants have ex-
hibited some of the noblest qualities of humanity. In the revolu-
tionary war no class of our citizens was more active, or made great-
er sacrifices of fortune and life. Seven of the fifty -six signers of
FRANK TILFORD. 295
the Declaration of Independence were of Irish origin; ainong them
Charles Can-oil of Carrollton. The names of at least two Irishmen
of revolution aiy memory are entitled to the veneration of all who
claim any share in the inheritance of American libert3^ One of
them is Kichard Montgomery, the protomartyr of tlie war of inde-
pendence. When hostilities commenced he was in the vigor of
manhood, in affluence, dwelling in a home embellished with all the
luxuries of wealth and refinement of taste, and endeared to him
through the tenderest affections. He sacrificed every enjoyment at
the summons of his adopted countiy. As you are aware, Mont-
gomery commanded a division of the American army in the attack
on Quebec, the last night of the year seventeen hundred and seven-
ty-five. The scene must have been grand and awe-inspiring.
The frozen river, rocks and trees were draped in a snowy mantle;
dense clouds enveloped the sky; the wind sighed like a funeral
dirge through the leafless forest^nature's lament for the gallant
men who were marching with firm step to inevitable death. By
daylight Montgomery's division reached a height known as Diamond
Point, and here the engagement commenced. At the first discharge
of the enemy's guns Montgomery fell, mortally wounded. Several
hours aftersvards a party of English soldiers found the dead body of
the American commander. The unconquerable spirit of the hero
was manifested in death, for his frozen hand still grasped the
sword, and pointed towards the fortress of Quebec. Forty years
after his death Montgomery's remains were interred in Trinity.
Church, New York. The highest honors, civil and military', were
rendered to his memory^, but his noblest elegy is found in the
record of his death.
Another man of the revolution is entitled to our especial admi-
ration — Commodore John Barry, a native of county Wexford,
Ireland. He commanded the first vessel of war that ever sailed un-
der the United States flag, and has been styled the ' ' Tartar of the
American Navy. '' Volumes could not speak more in his praise than
is contained in one incident of his career. Lord Howe endeavored
to entice him from his allegiance to the United States, by the offer
of an immense bribe in money, and a command of a British ship
of the line. His answer was in these words : "Sir, I have devoted
myself to the cause of my country, and not the value or command
of the whole British fleet can seduce me from it. " A noble senti-
ment ; and the man who uttered it deserves a lofty niche in the
Pantheon of History.
Permit only a single additional allusion to an American citizen
of Irish extraction. He was a young and humble soldier of the
revolution. In the second war of independence his sword flashed
in victory upon the plains of Chalmette. His tomb in the peaceful
shade of the Hermitage, has become the Mecca of American pil-
grims. In future ages, when monuments shall be erected to the
memory of heroes who loved and served their country, on the tall-
est column will be inscribed the simple and unadorned, yet resist-
less, name of "Andrew Jackson." The Irish as a people, have
296 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC,
been remarkable from the earliest period for their aptitude as sol-
diers. The impulsive ardor and quickness of intellect which they
exhibit in the social relations of life, eminently fit them to learn the
arts and discipline of war, and impel them onward in the hour of
strife with fervent and irrepressible zeal. Does not history confirm
the truth of the assertion? After the treaty of Limerick, in sixteen
hundred and ninety-one, the gallant Sarsfield and some four thous-
and of his companions, despairing of liberty in their native land,
migrated to other countries in Europe. The exodus continued dur-
ing the eighteenth century. Nearly all these exiles adopted a mili-
tary career, and were formed into regiments and brigades under
Irish commanders. They performed prodigies of valor in the ar-
mies of Austria, France and Prussia.
A learned historian who wrote in the last century, estimates the
number of Irishmen that have died in the military service of France
at six hundred thousand. When Maria Theresa, Queen of Hunga-
ry, instituted fifty crosses of the legion to be given to men who
should most distinguish themselves in her wars, forty-six were won
and worn by natives of Ireland. At the battle of Fontenoy in
seventeen hundred and forty-five, the ready sagacity of an Irish
general, seconded by the gallantry of his troops, secured a magnifi-
cent triumph for the House of Bourbon, and saved from subjuga-
tion the country of his adoption. "Within the last fifty years, the
soldiers of the Emerald Isle have inscribed the renown of their
prowess and resistless courage on the plains of Waterloo and the
crumbling walls of Sebastopol.
We have now traversed a wide track of history, and glanced
at some of the prominent events and illustrious names that are
radiant links in the chain which unites the sad yet glorious
past to the living present of Ireland. Nearly all the persons men-
tioned sprang from the ranks of the people, and may be deemed
representative men of the day and generation in which they liv-
ed. In their respective careers we trace much of the genius and
weakness, errors and virtues, of the Irish character. Universal
experience teaches us the lesson that we must judge of a nation
by the qualities of its popular leaders. Thus I'rance, in the last
seventy-five years, has experienced the throes of three great revo-
lutions, and the ruling spirits who conducted the several move-
ments dilTer not more widely, than did the temper and intelligence
of the French at the date of these revolutions. In Eobespierre,
Danton, Leinthon, and Murat, we have types of the fierce and
sanguinar}^ disposition of the French populace toward the close of
the eighteenth century; while in Lafayette, and his compeers in
eighteen hundred and thirty, and still later in Cavaignac and La-
martine, we have representatives of the higher intelligence and
purer morality of the same nation. How many centuries must
elapse before Eussia will produce a Goldsmith, a Sheridan, a Burke,
or an Emmet? Certainly the Irish, as a people, are not imbued
with the qualities — sordid virtues, if the term may be allowed — of a
purely trading community. A prudent regard for the accumulation
FRANK TILFORD. 297
of wealth and worldly wisdom are not among their distinguishing
traits; but in the absence of such qualities, we find 'pietj, hospi-
tality, charity for the afflicted, love of country, devotion to liberty,
a contempt for death, and fidelity to their moral and honorable
obligations, at every place and in all classes in Ireland. These are
the virtues which a Cato or Lycurgus would cherish in a race, and
constitute the basis of independence and a grand nationality. A
country may be rich in mines of gold and silver — in all the treas-
VLres of earth and sea; its navies may ride the billows of every
ocean from the polar circles to the equator; iron-clad citadels and
immense armies protect its frontiers; yet, unless the noble qualities,
the more exalted virtues we hava recited, enter into and foiTu the
national character, it can never preserve liberty and tranquilhty at
home, enjoy an enduring prosperity, or repel the aggressions of
mere warlike nations.
But why comment further on the elements of Irish character?
You who have sprung from, or resided amongst the noble peasantry
of the Emerald Isle, and all in whose veins there is a drop of Milesian
blood, must feel that in their inmost hearts are altars where live
the glowing embers of the sacred flame which has shed the halo of
an immortal renown on the pathways of Erin. We have seen that
Ireland possesses an ample population and all the physical resources
needed to maintain the rank of an independent government. His-
tory demonstrates that her people are endowed with a degree of ca-
pacity, intelligence and virtue that will compare favorably with any
nation of ancient or modern times. One question alone remains for
consideration — have the people of Ireland ever surrendered to the
English Government their natural and inherent rights, or have they
committed any act whereby they justly forfeited their claim to na-
tionality? The advocates of Irish independence base their argu-
ments upon a platform of indisputable facts. They point to the
Declaration of Independence made by the Irish House of Commons
on the IGth of April, 1782, and ratified the same year by the King
and Parliament of Great Britain. They ask when and where did
Ireland sunender that Magna Charta of her freedom, or rehnquish
to England the privileges acknowledged and secured by it?
It is a proud satisfaction to review the circumstances which pre-
ceded and attended the Act of Independence. England was en-
gaged in a war with Spain and France; the fleets of the latter power
infested the channel and seas which surround the British coast.
The result of the American war had not only wrested from Eng-
land the fairer portion of her domains in the New World, but had
seriously impaired the prestige of her ancient military renown.
The debt of the Empire had been largely augmented, its resources
diminished, and taxes of every description ruinously multiplied.
Everywhere in the British dominions was a restless and rebelious
spirit which boded evil to the trembling house of Hanover. This
was the hour of England's necessity — and here was Ireland's oppor-
tunity. The people of Ireland instantly seized upon the occasion.
Never did a nation exhibit a more determined zeal in the cause of
298 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Liberty. The streets of the Metropolis presented a truly gorgeous
appearance on the day which witnessed the Declaration of Irish In-
dependence. Learned societies and civil associations, with banners
and suitable devices, marched along the principal avenues to assem-
ble in compact array before the Hall of the National Assembly;
Battalions of the Irish volunteers, splendidly armed and uniformed,
escorted the civil procession. The Eeverend Clergy, Protestant and
Catholic, walked in the ranks of the people, and hallowed the occa-
sion with prayers and benedictions. A sublime scene was presented
in the House of Commons. An immense gallery, supported by Tus-
can pillars, surrounded the Chamber. Here was gathered the elite
of the beauty and chivalry of Ireland. In the rotunda, below, the
representatives of the Kingdom were assembled. It was a solemn
hour in the life-time of a nation. A step was to be taken towards
freedom. An act was meditated, which if resisted by the Govern-
ment, entailed on the land all the horrors of war. In success there
was permanent glory; in failure irretrievable disaster. The illustri-
ous Grrattan was by general consent the leader of the patriots. Af-
ter an oration which has been pronounced the most luminous, bril-
liant and effective ever delivered in an Irish assembly, he concluded
by moving in the address to the King, a declaration to the effect
that Ireland could be bound only by laws enacted by an Irish Parlia-
ment. It was carried without a dissenting voice, and ratified the
same year by the English Government. In the first month of the
subsequent year, the Imperial Parliament, in order to' remove all
doubt on the subject, enacted a statute whereby it was solemnly de-
clared : ' ' The right claimed by the people of Ireland to be bound on-
ly by the laws enacted by his Majesty and Parliament of Ireland,
in all cases whatever, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, estab-
lished and ascertained forever, and shall at no time hereafter be
questioned, or questionable. "
"We percieve in these measures all the essential elements of a
treaty, a compact between distinct and sovereign nations, an act by
which England recognized the independence of Ireland, and re-
nounced forever all Legislative pretension. For eighteen years af-
ter the passage of this celebrated measure, the Island enjoyed an
interval of tranquillity, liberty and prosperity. But, alas ! the days
of Erin's happiness were numbered. This repose was only the
treacherous calm that precedes the tempest — the unnatural sleep
which ends in final dissolution. The Imperial Government, under
the administration of William Pitt, had resolved to subvert the lib-
erties and destroy the nationality of Ireland. The awakened culti-
vation, growing manufactures, and expanding trade of Ireland,
competed too successfully with similar j)ursuits in England. Lord
Cornwallis was then Viceroy, and Lord Castlereagh, afterwards
Marquis of Londonderry, Secretary of State for Ireland. Cornwal-
lis was noted only as a courageous, but unsuccessful soldier, who
had command in America and the East Indies; Castlereagh distin-
guished as a man of commanding presence and seductive address,
with a consummate talent for intrigue and diplomacy. Such were
FRANK TILFORD. 299
the men whom the English Minister selected to devise means for
the subversion of Irish Independence. Their vocation was the
same, but on the award of impartial history the infamy of one far
exceeds am^ odium which may be attached to the other. The Lord
Lieutenant was a native of England, and naturally regarded the
interest of that Kingdom and the wishes of "Majesty," as para-
mount considerations. Then, too, as a soldier, his first duty was
obedience to the orders of his government. But for Castle-
reagh, charity can devise no apology. He was a native of the Is-
land, had been a patriot, was a nobleman whose wealth placed him
above all sordid temptation, and whose ancestral honors identified
him with the glory and liberties of his country. Wickedly, delib-
erately, and with a resolution which never faltered, Castlereagh
labored to subvert the freedom of Ireland. He succeeded ! Yet a
signal retribution awaited him even in this life. In after years,
conscience harrowed his soul and allowed him no repose. In parlia-
ment, at the banquet, in the Court, amid scenes of splendor and
gayety, spectres of his murdered victims pursued the wretch; in his
slumbers he heard the curses of the country he betrayed, and a voice
bade him, like the tyrant of Scotland, *' sleep no more." The
means which the Lord Lieutenant and his Secretary adopted to
effect the passage through the Irish Parliament of the "Act of Uni-
on, " were just such as might have been exj)ected, and are familiar
to all who have studied the annals of that period. Intimidation
and bribery constituted their entire system. The first was intended
for the nation at large. In pursuance of the project, the standing
army was suddenly increased from fifty thousand to one hundred
and seventy thousand men. A reign of terror was inaugurated on
the ruins of constitutional liberty. The writ of habeas corpus vv^as
suspended, and martial law declared at the pleasure of the Lord
Lieutenant; public meetings were often dispersed at the point of
the bayonet; persons were arrested without judgment of court or
process of law, and incarcerated in loathsome dungeons until death
released them, or the caprice of their tyrants opened their prison
gates. An army of informers and spies, issuing from the Vice Roy-
al Palace in Dublin, swanned through the land, and diffused over
all circles of society an atmosphere of dread and susj)icion. We
learn that during two yeai-s which immediately i^receded, and in the
course of the six years subsequent to the "Act of Union," more
than one hundred thousand persons, accused of political offences,
died in prison and upon the scaffold, or were transported in convict
ships to the penal settlement of Australia. We shudder at the ex-
cesses of revolutionary France; we mourn over the fallen liberties
of Poland; we execrate the cruelties of Austria to the States of
Italy and Hungary; but we forget that in our own age the govern-
ment of his most Christian Majesty, George III inflicted on the
people of Ireland atrocities beside which the cruelties of Russia and
Austria appear like gracious deeds of mercy. While armed force
was used to overawe the popular mind, and coerce the nation into
submission, the subtle arts of corruption were applied to the nobles
300 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and the Irish. House of Commons. Immense sums of money, rang-
ing from ten thousand to twenty thousand pounds sterling, were
paid for the vote of a single borough in Parliament. Of the one
hundred and eighty members who voted in the House for the Union,
history has perpetuated the names of more than one hundred and
forty who were bribed, and the price which each received for the
desertion of his God, the betrayal of his country, and the sacrilice
of his honor. The act to establish a * 'Legislative Union between
Great Britain and Ireland,'' was adopted. By the passage of it, the
Magna Chai^ta of Irish liberty was annulled, the independence of the
nation was abrogated, and the entire legislation of the Kingdom
transferred to the Parliament at Westminister. No impai-tial rea-
soner will contend that a statute wrested by intimidation and fraud
from a reluctant nation, carries with it any moral sanction. It is a
principle of jurisprudence, acknowledged by the law of nations and
maintained in the municipal code of every enlightened people, that
fraud or violence annuls all obligations; their taint, like the touch
of the leper, is mortal and incurable. From the day of its passage
until the present hour, Ireland has never forgotten the means that
were employed to procure the "Union," nor abated her opposition
to the measure. The cherished ambition of O'Connell's heart was
to repeal it. Russell and Emmet sacrificed their lives to destroy it;
and fifty years later. Smith O'Brien and his noble associates suffered
banishment rather than submit to it. Ireland has seen since the
enactment of the law, and traceable directly to the malign influence
of it, her manufactures perish, her trade decline, her revenues
drained from their native shore, and her children driven from their
homes by the demons of want and penury to wander over the face
of the earth.
The last and most terrible misery which the Union has inflicted
on unhappy Ireland, occurred within our own recollection. Who
can forget the wretchedness of Ireland in the years of her famine.
Who will forget that the English Government was warned months
in advance of the impending calamity; and that the statesmen of
Ireland petitioned the Court and Cabinet of St. James to prohibit
the export of cereals from the Island, and that the peasants and la-
boring men entreated their Imperial tyrants for relief; not for alms
but for work, and the means of supporting life as the wages? The
appeal was unheeded. At first the deaths were few, then increasing,
until each revolving day beheld the corpses of hundreds, who fam-
ished from absolute want and the diseases attendant on it. Then
Ireland, the Niobe of nations, forsaken by her rulers, smitten by the
rod of famine and the breath of pestilence, uttered a cry of anguish
at which the world grew pale.
We need not linger on those days and scenes of unparalleled
suffering. We know, however, that they form only a chapter in the
annals of English connection with Ireland, and that every page of
the volume is replete with acts of violence and misgovernmeni
The footprints of the Norman and Saxon may be traced in blood
on the shores of Erin. Every mountain, glen, or moldering ruin
FRANK TILFORD. 301
in the Emerald Isle bears a legend, and a memory of the remorseless
invader. The traditions and plaintive songs of the people breathe
of glories depai-ted and wrongs unforgiven. The iniined shrines of
her deserted churches, and the graves of her martyred heroes,
speak to Ireland of woe and oppression. Shall they speak in vain?
Shall the home of Sheridan and Grattan, of CuiTan and Moore,
remain forever a province of England, and the heritage of the spoil-
er? Forbid it Earth ! Forbid it Heaven ! No : by the memoiy of
her ancient renown, by the accumulated vrrong of centuries, by all
that is sacred in the past, or welcome in the future, let us swear
that Erin shall yet be free. The hour may be deferred, but come it
must, when the fiery cross shall speed through the Island, and sum-
mon its warlike clans to rally around the standard of the Harp and
Sunburst. Then, when the beacon fires of liberty illume the dark-
ness of night, and cast their cadence far across the waters of the
Atlantic, let Meagher, Corcoran, Shields and Mitchel, erase from
their swords every stain of fratricidal strife, and lead the embattled
hosts of their countryTnen to the rescue of Ireland. A hundred
thousand Irish soldiers, disciplined in the wars of America and an-
imated by the sacred love of freedom, will vanquish the legions of
England, as the Simoom overwhelms the Caravans of the desert.
Natives of the Emerald Isle : whose hearts so often wander from
these tranquil shores — to the scenes of your childhood, and the
homes of your fathers, prepare for the day that is dawning. All
have a solemn duty to perform.
Parents from the Emerald Isle : teach your children to venerate
and cherish the name of Ireland; learn them the songs, ballads and
traditions of your native land, and entwine around their youthful
hearts devotion to the liberties of America, and the memories of
Erin.
Maidens of the Emerald Isle: when in the twilight hour you
chant a vesper hymn to the Virgin, or when in holy church your
prayers ascend as grateful incense to Heaven, mingle with your ori-
sons a prayer that Erin may yet be free !
Friends of Ireland : remember that discord in council and divis-
sion in action, have been deadlier foes to the Island than golden
bribes or hostile bayonets — enemies fatal and pernicious as was:
"The fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe."
Banish, then, personal jealousies, sectional differences, and labor
with earnest and united minds for the emancipation of Ireland.
Citizen soldiers ! when the wires shall flash across the continent
the glorious intelligence that the Irish armies of the Atlantic are
moving in the cause of Erin's Independence stand prepared to un-
furl your banners, unsheath your gleaming blades, and march to the
deliverance of your native land. When the etorm of conflict shall
302 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIPIC.
rage, and the clash of arms resound from the earth to the skies —
when the green flag of Ireland waves in triumph above the Red
Cross of St. George, may the column of the Pacific lead the van-
guard of liberty, and their swords flash in the foremost ranks
of victory.
And oh ! in future ages, when the warrior bards shall strike their
golden harps, and sing of battles fought and triumphs won in free-
dom's holy cause, may their noblest song consecrate to immortal
fame the names and deeds of the Irish volunteers of California. •
^^
*?^
-«■.
CALEB T. FAY.
By the ^ditoi^
FROM the date of the admission of California into the
Union until a very recent period, this gentleman has
been engaged in the' successful prosecution of mercantile
pursuits in the cities of Sacramento and San Francisco.
His ancestors werfe /among the ^ early Massachusetts pio-
neers, and settled in the Eastern pai*t^of that State about
the year 1640. His father was a nuerchant and farmer,
and qualified all his sons for both occupations.
Caleb T. Fay was the fifth son of eight children, hav-
ing six brothers and a sister. He was born at Southbor-
ough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on the 13th day
of April, 1821. He worked on his father's farm and at-
tended a common school and academy until he attained
majority; he then entered upon mercantile business, to
which he applied himself for seven years. When he was
twenty- eight years of age, the ''fever" consequent upon
the discovery of gold in California, began to rage in Mas-
sachusetts with nearly as much violence as in New York;
and, yielding to its influence, Mr. Fay left Boston early
in the spring of 1849, bound for the Pacific by way of
Cape. Horn. He felt that he was taking leave of the
''land of steady habits, " to struggle amid a multitude of
adventurous men, intoxicated by excitement and spurred
bythe ardent desire for gain, to return, after a few years'
hardships, with or without fortune, to his and his fa-
ther's home.
304 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
He little thought he was to be one of the pioneers of
a great empire, to whose development his efforts, in com-
ing years, would be devoted; particularly, when he re-
flected that, twenty-one years before his departure, a ship
had sailed out of Boston harbor bound for Monterey, Cal-
ifornia, manned by American seamen and commanded by
American officers. Verily does the record of our Pio-
neers reach far back into the Past.
After six months' sailing on the Ocean — a period so
long that he had become almost reconciled to his " home
on the deep" — Mr. Fay arrived at San Francisco on the
same day that the representatives of the people, in Con-
gress assembled, welcomed California into the family of
federal States. He did not tarry at the Bay City, but
pushed on up the Sacramento river to the city of that
name. There he immediately opened a house for the
transaction of the business of buying and selling merchan-
dise on commission. This business he followed in Sacra-
mento for two years ; at the end of that time moving to
San Francisco, where he has ever since resided.
During his residence at Sacramento, Mr. Fay, on ac-
count of his exemplary habits, and strict attention to bus-
iness, was universally esteemed as a merchant of shrewd-
ness and foresight, and a man of strict integrity. He
maintained his popularity, notwithstanding he bore the
name of abolitionist — a title not very acceptable in those
days. The following incident will be found interesting,
as explaining the reason why this name was given him.
It will be remembered that, upon the admission of Cal-
ifornia into the Union as a free-labor State, owners of
slaves then in the State were allowed by law a limited time
within which they might remove their slaves. Sometime
in 1851 a slaveholder advertised in the Sacramento pa-
pers that he had for sale a negro man for whom he was
willing to take one hundred dollars ; that he would be for
sale for a certain number of days, and that, if the negro
were not purchased in that time, he would be sent back
to Alabama to continue a life of bondage ; — adding to the
announcement the statement that those gentlemen who
favored the abolition of slavery and professed so much
CALEB T. FAY. 305
sympathy for the negro would now have an opportunity
to show their philanthropy and generosity.
Mr. Fay, upon reading the advertisement, determined
to liberate the darkey. He saw Mr. Winans. his attorney,
now a lawyer of San Francisco, and showed him the no-
tice—stating to him that he proposed to buy the negro
as soon as he would prepare the necessary papers. Mr.
Winans asked to be ^^M into that speculation^^' '*Yery well,"
said Mr. Fay, ^'I am ready to pay the entire sum, but if
you really wish to join me, we will both pay an equal
amount, and let the fellow go free." Mr. Winans pre-
pared the proper document and the two gentlemen —
practical abolitionists — waited on the ''massa," paid the
full sum asked, and bade ''Julius CaBsar" go on his way
rejoicing.
This transaction became generally known, and a great
many people believed that a man who gave money
to liberate one slave^ would go to any lengths to abolish
slavery. They styled Mr. Fay an abolitionist, and indeed
he was one, but not in the contracted sense the term then
denoted. He always hated slavery, yet was entirely free
from prejudice against the Southern people. He hailed
them as ''Americans, one and all." It was not for the
humiliation of the slave-holding population, but for the
destruction of the "peculiar institution," that he prayed.
In a speech delivered many years after the transaction
just mentioned, Mr. Fay used these terse and compact
expressions. :
"It has been said that I am an abolitionist. To this
I answer, I believe in the doctrines taught by Thomas
Jefferson, the apostle of liberty, and I endorse the Decla-
ration of Independence. I believe in the dignity and
honor of free labor, and repudiate slave labor as degrad-
ing and unjust both to white and black ; I believe in the
Divine right of self-government, and that submission to
the will of the majority is loyal t}^ to liberty, while a re-
bellion against a constitutional majority is a strike for
despotism. I believe Andrew Jackson's words when he
swore, by the Eternal, that rebellion in South Carolina
should be crushed. But I do not now advocate and never
20
306 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
have advocated, an invasion of the constitutional rights
of the South. I endorse the language of Henry Clay who
said ^that slavery should never be extended by any
act, word or vote of his.' I believe that if the seceded
States had presented their grievances to Congress, in a
respectful, legitimate, constitutional manner — their griev-
ances, if genuine, would have been respectfully heard,
and either satisfactorily redressed, or silenced by peaceful
separation. But a dictatorial war-policy has been inaugu-
rated by the secessionists, and they must abide the conse-
quences. Our National flag must again float upon the
towers of thirty-four States — for this is the will of the
sovereign people. These are my sentiments in short
hand. Whatever name they entitle me to, I am willing
to accept."
Upon his removal to San Francisco, Mr. Fay con-
tinued the business of commission merchant for seven
or eight years. He always attended closely to his bus-
iness duties, and was rewarded with considerable suc-
cess ; however, his mercantile employments, though fully
discharged, never monopolized his time. He watched
with interest the course of public men, the progress of
political parties, and events of national importance. His
opinions on public measures, though generally in advance
of public sentiment, were always expressed candidly and
firmly. From early manhood he had been friendly to
the free soil movement. When the Republican party
was organized in California, it owed its efficiency in a
great degree to his help and countenance.
In 1860, Mr. Fay received the Republican nomination
for Mayor of San Francisco. At the time, as had been
the case for several years previously, the municipal gov-
ernment was entirely controlled by the powerful organi-
zation known as the '^People's Party." Mr. Fay had
been an active supporter of this party, as well as thou-
sands of other Republicans who did not desire that poli-
tics should enter at all into the local elections. But the
more enthusiastic and resolute of the Republicans deter-
mined to maintain their party organization intact, and go
before the people with a full ticket nominated on the Re-
CALEB T. FAY. 307
publican platform. Mr. Fay, as stated, was nominated
for Mayor. In his letter of acceptance, the nominee gave,
as the reason for leaving the People's Party organization,
'^the low abuse that has been heaped upon high-minded,
honorable Republicans who happen to differ in opinion
with the People's Party relative to local nominations."
He further^ suggests that the question : Are you a repub-
lican ? be put to the People's nominee, Mr. Teschemacher.
If he answers that he is a Republican, then, ''I will not run as
a candidate against a Republican possessing the ability
and integrity of the People's nominee." The question
was formally put to Mr. Teschemacher, who returned an
evasive answer. Thereupon Mr. Fay led his little battal-
ion into the field, and as was expected, was mercilessly
slaughtered by superior numbers.
The following year, the Republicans, proud of their
leader's conduct in the last election, again placed him
before the people as a candidate for Mayor, but the result
was a second defeat at the hands of the old foe.
Mr. Fay represented San Francisco in the lower branch
of the California Legislature, in the winter of 1861-62.
He entered the halls of legislation with RefoRxM as his
motto. At that time nearly every State official was (in
Mr. Fay's opinion, at least) receiving compensation far
beyond his due. Upon the organization of the Assembly,
Mr. Fay suggested the idea, and procured the appoint-
ment of a Retrenchment Committee, of which he became
the chairman. He immediately submitted to this com-
mittee a bill which he had prepared, to reduce the pay
of State officers, members of the Legislature, Judges,
Clerks, &c., looking to a sweeping reduction in govern-
ment expenditures.
This bill was approved by the committee and intro-
duced into the Assembly. Upon its consideration, a se-
vere struggle ensued between the champions and enemies
of reform. The author of the measure labored untiringly
to secure its passage. The difficulties and embarrassments
with which he had to contend, were enough to discourage
308 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and even appall a heart less stout and determined. There
was an organized and powerful opposition to the measure,
and during its pendency, influential and interested office-
holders from every part of the State visited the Capital, and
gave their time and means to defeat the bill. The odds
were too heavy and could not be withstood. Although
the bill once passed the Assembly, it was reconsidered,
and failed to become a law.
Another important bill, prepared and introduced by
Mr. Fay, was the Act to create Townships throughout the
State, and to regulate and define the powers and duties
of Township officers. The State Constitution had pro-
vided for the creation of townships throughout the State,
but hitherto the Legislature had failed to carry out this
plain provision of the Constitution. Mr. Fay brought
the matter before the Retrenchment Committee, and
through his exertions, the bill became a law. The new
order of things created by this measure, the decided ad-
vantages and benefits resulting therefrom to the people-
particularly to those who dwell in counties of extended
area — are so necessary and indispensable, that it is mat-
ter for wonder that this bill did not become a law years
prior to its passage.
Mr. Fay also introduced an Act to-amend the Crim-
inal Practice Act, so as to admit colored testimony in
criminal cases, which passed the Assembly but was lost
in the Democratic Senate. He took the lead in advocacy
of this measure and made an able argument in its behalf.
But, perhaps, the most important measure submitted
to the Legislature by Mr. Fay, was the Act entitled ''An
Act for the disposition and improvement of the Water
Front of the City and County of San Francisco, and for
the accommodation of the Shipping and Commerce of the
Port of San Francisco." He conceived the happy idea
of making the valuable water front of the City a source
of perpetual profit to the City and State. This extensive
property was yielding a mere pittance, annually, while
uncler Mr. Fay's bill it could not but yield hundreds of
thousands of dollars. It will not be too much to say that
this measure was great in its conception and noble in its
CALEB T. FAY. 309
design. But as had been the case in the effort to reduce
the salaries of State officials, so it was in this ; the author
of the bill was brought into inevitable conflict with a host
of interested parties who had private ends to promote,
and who proved too formidable to be overcome. The
bill was defeated at that session of the Legislature, but
was again introduced during the following session by Mr.
Oulton, and passed into a law. It is generally known by
the name of the ^'Oulton Bill."
To show the public importance and advantage of this
measure, it is only necessary to state that, before its pas-
sage, the income derived by the City from its wharves
and property along the City front, only amounted to about
fifteen thousand dollars per annum; and since its enact-
ment, the receipts from the same source have averaged
annually over four hwidred thousand dollars!
In an interesting notice of Mr. Fay's legislative record,
the San Francisco Evening Bulletin^ of May 30th, 1862, al-
ternately extols and depreciates its subject. It states
among other things, that, ''Mr. Fay can unquestionably
be classed among the working and talking class, two char-
acteristics not often united in one person. He probably
performed more hard labor, in committee and out of it,
than any other member of the Assembly — certainly of the
delegation; and we might also add, to less practical pur-
pose. He was, from the commencement to the end of the
session, untiring in industry; but there is, unfortunately,
an impracticable or crotchety vein in his character, which
seriously militates against his usefulness to his constitu-
ents or to the State at large."
It is very easy to understand how a reputation for
impracticability could be acquired by a man who entered
the California Legislature eight years ago, resolute in the
purpose to promote the public weal at the sacrifice of all
private ends and ambition.
The writer has no desire to attribute to his subject
qualities greater than those he really possesses — at the
same time, it is his province and duty to credit him with
all his virtues, even if it forces him to join issue with a
journal of no less respectability and influence than that
BIO REPRESENTATIVE IdJEN OF THE PACIFIC.
named above. The charge that Caleb T. Fay is imprac-
tical in his ideas, certainly can have no stable foundation.
The son of a laborious, practical and successful farmer
and merchant, inured to toil from his early boyhood, ac-
customed to deal with facts and figures through a long
and prosperous mercantile career, he has had no time to
dream ^ or yield to the influence of Utopian views. It has
been stated that his excellent measure for the general re-
duction of salaries of ofiice could and would have passed
the Legislature, if the members of that body had been
exempted from its provisions; and that the hope of re-
election moved the representatives of the people to de-
feat the bill. To this it may be conclusively answered,
that Mr. Fay could not concede this point to the hopeful
aspirants for future honors, simply because the concession
would have been grounded upon personal interest. There
was as much cause for reducing the pay of legislators as
that of the Governor, or any other officer of the State ; and
had Mr. Fay specially excepted the former from the oper-
ations of his bill, his immediate constituency , and the
people at large would have justly suspected his good faith.
Being universally recognized as an active and leading
Republican, and having in the Presidential campaign of
1860 labored earnestly to secure the election of Mr. Lin-
coln, the latter, upon the organization of the Internal
Revenue Department in 1862, appointed Mr. Fay to the
position of Assessor of Internal Revenue for the First Dis-
trict of California. He assumed the duties of the office
in August, 1862, and served through Mr. Lincoln's first
term of office; and it is but just to say that he was one
of the most efficient and popular Federal officers that
ever held place as a civil appointment under the LTnited
States' Government in California; his practical business
tact and experience reduced the chaotic Internal Revenue
workings to a proper system in his District. But about
the time of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, Mr. Fay was re-
moved at the instance of Commissioner Lewis, who was
influenced by designing men, and who yielded to their
misrepresentations, thereby doing injustice to a faith-
ful public servant. Commissioner Lewis, however, was
CALEB T. FAY. 311
subsequently magnanimous enough to state to a Commit-
tee of Merchants appointed to inquire into the cause
of the removal — that while declining to give the reason
for the same, he assured them there were no charges af-
fecting Mr. Fay's character or personal integrity — while
the committee of investigation eulogized his conduct of
the Assessor's office as just, upright and able in every
respect.
In 1863, while holding the position of Assessor, Mr.
Fay was brought forward as a candidate for Congress be-
fore the Union Convention. The names submitted to
that body were those of Caleb T. Fay, R. F. Perkins,
(since deceased) and Cornelius Cole, since U. S. Senator.
On the first ballot, Mr. Fay received the highest vote
(101). On a subsequent ballot, Messrs. Perkins and
Cole united their forces, and Mr. Cole was nominated.
Immediately upon leaving the office of Assessor, Mr.
Fay was elected by the trustees of the Union Insurance
Company of San Francisco, to the responsible position of
President of that wealthy and flourishing institution. He
entered at once upon his new duties.
We now approach the proudest page, perhaps, in Mr.
Fay's historj, to record his connection with the Merchants'
Exchange Association of San Francisco. The merchants
of San Francisco had, up to the time of the erection of
the Merchants Exchange building, been depived of the
practical commercial benefits arising from a convenient,
central, local rendezvous, where they could successfully
inaugurate a regular 'change hsour, and hold daily meet-
ings for business and social conference; where accurate
and reliable bulletin market reports could always be
found : where information from all parts of the world, by
means of newspapers, ships, and the electric telegraph,
would be promptly disclosed. Such institutions are
deemed indispensable to commercial prosperity in other
large cities, and it is remarkable that San Francisco re-
mained for so many eventful years without an Exchange,
owned and controlled by her business men.
In the spring of 1866, while he was yet President of
the Union Insurance Company, Mr. Fay determined to
312 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
consult with enterprising business men of the city, with
a view to taking the initiatory steps towards the erection
of a Merchants' Exchange. He waited upon Mr. Jona-
than Hunt, President of the Pacific Insurance Company,
who became his earliest coadjutor in the work. Messrs.
Fay and Hunt then enlisted Mr. Wm. C. Ralston, the
eminent banker, in the enterprise, who, in his usual
prompt style offered to furnish temporarily all the money
needful to secure the purchase of sufficient land. Mr.
Fay called a meeting of prominent merchants and capital-
ists at the office of the Union Insurance Company, which
was well attended, and resulted in a determination to
push the work to completion. Messrs. Thomas H. Selbv,
R. G. Sneath, Lloyd Tevis, W. C. Talbot, L. Sachs, Sam-
uel Brannan, J. W. Stow, R. B. Swain, and many other
wealthy men, gave their money and influence to the work.
The result was the incorporation, in June, 1866, of the
Merchants' Exchange Association, with a capital stock
of $250,000. Subscriptions to the amount of one half
of this entire sum were obtained by Mr. Fay himself. A
valuable lot of land, beautifully situated, was immediately
purchased, and the erection of the present elegant build-
ing of the Association was commenced. This structure
stands on the south side of California street, and extends
from Leidesdorff street to within a few feet of Montgom-
ery street, in the very heart of the commercial centre. Ic
was finished in 1867, and this brief description of it ap-
peared in Langley's City Direo^.ory of San Francisco,
shortly after its completion. "The Nev/ Merchants' Ex-
change, corner California and Leidesdorff streets, is the
largest and one of the most elegant structures in the city.
The front on California street consists of basement, three
stories and attic — surmounted by a clock tower. The
basement is constructed of solid cut granite, which rises
about six feet above the side-walk. The first story is in
the pure Doric style, the second in Ionic, and the third
in highly-ornamented Corinthian. The attics are in mod-
ernized-mediaeval, if such a term implies the adaptation
of old styles to new purposes. The whole is surmounted
by a heavy balustrade, divided by colossal Etruscan vases.
CALEB T. FAY. 313
above which rises the lofty clock tower which has four
large dials that afford the "time o'day" to the residents
of a large portion of the city; the great height of the tow-
er — one hundred and twenty feet above the side-walk —
making it a conspicuous object. Each of the stories on
this point recede about ten feet, forming extensive bal-
conies, surrounded with balustrades, and vases, which
impart to the building a peculiar appearance of massive-
ness and strength. The front on Leidesdorff street is in
the same style, but less ornamental and without recesses.
All the ornamental work on the exterior is made of cast
iron ; the whole being painted a pale drab, and sprinkled
with Monterey sand, which gives the building the ap-
pearance of being made of stone. The interior of this
magnificent structure has been fitted up to correspond
with its exterior. The total cost of the building, without
the lot, has been $190,000."
The cost of this superb edifice, and the ground it oc-
cupies, amounted to the sum of $350,000. It is truly a
noble monument to the liberality and enterprise of the
men who erected it, and an enduring evidence of the prac-
tical \visdom of Caleb T, Fay.
In the summer of 1868, Mr. Fay resigned his place
as President of the Union Insurance Company, in order
to accept the nomination tendered him by the National
Republican organization for Governor of California.
Henry H. Haight had already received the Democratic
nomination for that ofl&ce, and Geo. C. Gorham had been
appointed by a Convention called in the interest of the
Union party. But said Convention was organized by the
admission of sixty-three delegates from San Francisco, ap-
pointed outside of the Union party by a league called
Eight-Hour Men , unknown and unrecognized by any po-
litical party. The Republicans being thus practically ig-
nored and excluded from the Convention, at once called
another State Convention, and nominated Mr. Fay. Al-
though having no chance for an election, he entered the
canvass with his accustomed zeal, and conducted him-
self throughout with the dignity becoming his position.
In this triangular contest, which was perhaps the most in-
314 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
teresting, exciting, and bitter political campaign ever
conducted in California, the Democratic candidate was
elected. The purpose of this volume will not permit a
discussion of the principles of the parties, or the merits of
the candidates then before the people. The course taken
by Mr. Fay was the plain path of duty which his judgment
and his conscience directed him to pursue.
In his letter accepting the nomination for Governor,
Mr. Fay used this language :
^' Since 1848, at which time I cast my first Presidential
vote to sustain the Free Soil candidates of that campaign,
I have been identified, and have worked with the National
Radical party, having for its objects the freedom, advance-
ment and elevation of the masses of the people. I cannot
consent that the Union party, with which 1 have acted in
this State since its formation, shall take a backward step,
as is manifest in the adoption of its cowardly platform of
June 12th, and its tame submission to conspirators against
the popular will, without entering my protest and decla-
ration, that if it does go back I will not go with it. I
will consent to belong only to a party that is progressive.
The times demand that we should pierce the veil of frothy
stump-declamation, and look at the political situation as
it is in our midst: but principles must claim our attention,
not men ; for men are the creatures of an hour — to-day
they live, perhaps powerful, proud, boastful and defiant —
to-morrow they are dead and forgotten; but principles
are imperishable. The foundations of all government
should be laid deep and solid, upon the rock of impartial
justice to the governed. It is the business of political
leaders to keep burnished and bright before the people, by
living faith and practice, all the essential principles of
government; and when the leaders of a Government or
party fall short of this sacred mission, they are useless
lumber, or parasites upon the body politic, and may ex-
pect the people to repudiate their leadership. Moiiarchs
claim a divine right to rule over people by virtue of su-
perior wisdom concentrated in themselves, to govern; or
in other words, they believe that minorities should rule.
The slaveholders of our country were advocates of the
CALEB T. FAY, 315
same principle, and endeavored to perpetuate it upon
our soil at the point of the bayonet. To put down and
destroy this heresy cost half a million lives, and three
thousand million of dollars that are yet to be earned and
wrung from the sons of toil. Republics claim the right
of the majority to rule. They believe in the wisdom and
justice of numbers, which is the key to their government
arch. Remove that key, and the republican fabric reared
by our fathers, and cemented by the blood of our broth-
ers, falls, a chaotic and shapeless mass of political ruin;
hence, any innovation upon the vital principles in our
political fabric, from whatever source it may come, should
be looked upon as treason to our republican faith, and
should be met at the threshold wherever it appears, and
destroyed, whether it be in the camp of armed traitors,
open political enemies, or disguised in the habiliments of
political friends. The government of the majority neces-
sarily involves the enfranchisement of the masses. There
are three ways of violating this republican charter of lib-
erty; one is by armed rebellion of the minority, another
is disfranchisement by law, and still another is by such
low cunning, deceit, fraud, bribery and corruption in po-
litical circles, as to set aside the manifest will of the peo-
ple. The latter mode of disfranchisement is the present
working condition of the machinery of the Union party
of California ; and those who have followed it faithfully
in time past, in its march through the sea of blood,
to sustain the majority principle, are now commanded
and entreated to indorse this treachery to our political
faith, and by so doing become participants in this high
political crime. Others may do it if they will, IwiE not;
for I hold that since slavery is destroyed, there is no form
of usurpation now so dangerous to American liberty as
plottings of unscrupulous demagogues to foist themselves
into power against the manifest will of the masses."
In a speech delivered just before the close of the cam-
paign, at the State House in Sacramento, Mr. Fay ad-
dressed himself to the questions of National Taxation,
Reconstruction, Suffrage, Internal Improvement, Corpora-
tions, the Union and the Republican parties, and other
316 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
topics of absorbing interest, in such an able and states-
manlike manner as to call forth the universal approbation
of the true men of the Republican organization, and to
elicit the following endorsement from the principal news-
paper of the Capital, the Sacramento Union, a journal hav-
ing, perhaps, the widest circulation of any published on
the Pacific Coast.
'^ A Speech fit for a Governor. — The speech of Caleb
T. Fay, delivered in the city on Wednesday evening, and
printed in yesterday's Union^ is one fit for a gentleman
aspiring to the G-overnorship of California, to make. By
means of the daily and weekly Union it will reach at least
twenty-five thousand readers, to each and all of whom
we commend it for earnest and thoughtful perusal. It is
a document that would honor the highest republican
statesmanship, and is filled with maxims which ought to
sink deep into the hearts of the people. A straightfor-
ward and honest man, who cares nothing for office merely
for its own sake, but who at the same time, conscious of
the manifold ills which afflict the State, cherishes an hon-
orable ambition to be placed in a position where he can
greatly assist in their amelioration, and live and act for
the good of his fellow men, Mr. Fay resorts to none of
the tricks and subterfuges of the professed politician, but
presents his views on public matters with all the frank-
ness of a private citizen and all the unconcern of conse-
quences which might be expected from a philosopher.
He sets out with the just theory that public men in this
country are properly the servants of the people, to light-
en their burdens and direct them in the way of govern-
ment without oppression by the rich or peculation on the
part of officials. He appeals, as he can so well afford to
appeal, to his past record on the important questions of
labor, economy in administration, retrenchment in ex-
penditure, and honesty in officials."
In the last presidential election, Mr. Fay gave a cheer-
ful support to the successful candidate. His time is now
mostly devoted to the development of a valuable mine of
iron ore, discovered a few years ago, in Sierra County,
and located, according to Professor Richthofew who ex-
CALEB T. FAY, 317
amined it, '' about twelve miles E. N. E. of the city of
Downieville, and a few miles nortli of the culminating rocky
summits of the Sierra Buttes." A careful and scientific
examination of this mine has established the fact, (attest-
ed by no less an authority than Professor H. Schrotter,
of Vienna) that the ore which it yields contains an aver-
age of sixty per cent, of pure iron, and is equal to the
best Swedish ores; and gives the further assurance, that
California is not only rich in gold and copper, but also
in what is really the most useful, if not the most precious
of metals.
Having become largely interested in the ownership
of these valuable deposits, and being confident that they
can be made available for the purpose of manufacturing
iron, Mr. Fay looks forward hopefully to the time when
from this branch of metallurgy will spring a new industry
which will not only amply reward his own patient efforts,
but augment, in a wonderful degree, the wealth of the
State.
Mr. Fay's residence is still at San Francisco, where he
expects to pass the remainder of his life.
-II?!
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON
By the Editoi^
THE history of political parties in California is illus-
trated with the genius of brilliant and ambitious
minds from every section of the American Union: and
of these it is noteworthy that a large and disproportion-
ate number, prior to their advent in California, exercised
a conspicuous leadership in public affairs in Illinois.
Baker, McDougall, Ferguson, Campbell, Hoge, Hardy,
Pratt — these are but a few of the ardent spirits sent
forth by the Prairie State to the shores of the Pacific,
endowed with the charms of oratory, strengthened by
enlightened experience, and learned in the science of
law.
William I. Ferguson was born May 9th, 1825, at
Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, the native State of his
father and mother. His grand - parents came to the
United States from Ireland. His father, Benjamin F.,
was a carpenter and builder. William was the oldest of
six children. When he was ten years of age, his parents
removed to Springfield, Illinois, where his father died,
and where his mother, sisters, and two brothers, now
reside.
William received a common-school education. After
leaving school, he clerked for a short time in a store;
then, having determined to prepare himself for the bar,
he applied himself closely for some years to the study
320 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF TEE PACIFIC.
of law in the offices of Judge Logan, Col. E. D. Baker,
and other prominent lawyers of Springfield. He received
his license to practice before he attained his majority,
and soon obtained a good business. Politics, as well as
law, had a charm for him. When he was a very young
man, he became noted as an eloquent and forcible
speaker. He had been raised a Whig, but, on becoming
a voter, espoused the Democratic cause. He was several
times elected city attorney of Springfield, and his name
was placed on the Democratic electoral ticket in the
presidential election of 1848, he then being only twenty-
three years of age. In 1850 he was a candidate for the
State Legislature, and ran far ahead of his ticket; but
was defeated, there being at that time a very large Whig
majority in his district.
The editor has received the following reminiscences
of Mr. Ferguson, from Mr. W. H. Herndon, a leading
lawyer of Springfield, formerly a law partner of Presi-
dent Lincoln. Mr. Herndon wrote his narrative hastily,
intending only to furnish data for this sketch, without
expecting that his language would be adopted by the
editor :
Spbingfield, IU., March 20th, 1869.
Oscar T, ^huck, Esq.,
San Francisco, Cal.
Dear Sir: — I knew Hon. William I. Ferguson as early as 1836,
when he was going to school. I .sold his father Gillies' Greece for
William to read. He read it well and with admiration, and was
enthusiastic over its contents. He was fond of good history. About
the year 1835, '6, or '1 , I was president of a young men's debating
society in Springfield, Illinois Ferguson joined it, and he soon
assumed a leadership in it. He was a number-one talker in the
society. He generally studied his subject well, would converse with
older heads, read books and papers, and thus became well informed
on the subject under debate. He admired conversation more than
reading. He would absorb all that was said; would assimilate it,
digest and use it. I do not think he loved mathematics at school;
but grammar and rhetoric were favorite studies. He was a close
reader of Byron, Shakspeare, and Milton. AVilliam was an open-
hearted, spontaneous young man; would go to any lengths for a
friend, even when a mere lad. He did not love to fight with boys;
had too much good-will and sense. About the year 1837 or 1838,
he was a clerk in a store in Springfield, owned by Bell «& Speed,
where he remained about one year. This occupation was decidedly
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 321
distasteful to him; his active brain and impulsive nature yearned for
nobler employments. His father then put him to learn the car-
penter's trade, but the boy was still unsatisfied. When pushing the
jack-jjlane at his trade, he embraced every leisure moment to creep
down into the shavings and read history or poetry. About this
time, his friends thought he must die with the consumption. How-
ever, by keei^ingin the open air, and taking much physical exercise,
he got well. In the year 1842, he went into the law ofiice of Hon.
y. T. Logan of Springfield; he received his license in 1843. He
and Hon. David Logan, now of Oregon, son of Hon. S. T. Logan,
read law at the same time and place. They were boys of much
promise, because they had by nature large minds, and were studious,
determined, and patient. Ferguson, upon being admitted, went
into an extensive practice at once. He was social and beloved. He
knew how to attract and tie men to him. He was more of a thinker
than a reader; was a great absorber of what was said in conversa-
tion. He soon came to be the first ciiminal lavvycr at the Sangamon
bar, among such men as Lincoln, Logan, Baker, McDougal, Bledsoe,
Stuart, and others. I have watched the young man in a hard case
with admii-ation: he was calm and self-possessed, knowing his case
thoroughly. His leading characteristic, in mind, was his quick, ex-
cellent judgment. His reason vv'as no better than that of a thousand
other men. His intuitive judgments were admii'able, keen, coiTect,
and quick as lightning. He told vrhat the law was when heaiing it
discussed, even before it was decided by the Court. He caught
liints how to manage his case by closely watching the ideas of op-
posing attorneys. Ferguson intuitively knew that the op])osite at-
torney's side was antagonistic to his. Hence he never vras at a loss
to know how to manage a case, for a defendant especially.
Mr. Ferguson was chosen in this city on the Fourth of July, 1840,
to be the orator of the day, over such men as Lincoln, Logan, and
others. His oration was truly eloquent: it was finely, grandly elo-
quent. He gained great honor on. that occasion. I forgot to say
that one of William's habits was to read aloud, and walk the room,
when so doing, backwards and forwards : he loved to read orations —
Greek, Eoman, Englisli, and American. He was when about say
from sixteen to twenty-two, always repeating them: he vrould go
into the deep woods and there speak to a tree, or to me as well as
others of his friends. In politics he was raised a Whig: he turned
Democrat about 1844.
On one occasion he and I were going to court in Christian county.
Hon. David Davis was judge of what may be called the Sangamon
District or Cii'cuit. On the road we heard that Judge Davds was too
ill to attend Court. "Hush," said young Ferguson, "and we'll
have some fun : we'll tell the people that we are authorized to hold
Court for Judge Davis." So we rode to the count}^ seat, and after
breakfast in the morning Ferguson had Court open, as aiipeared to
the crowd, in a legitimate way. The Sheriff knew no better, nor
did the clerk, nor the lawyers. I kept still — said nothing. One
lawyer made a motion, and during the time it was being argued,
21
322 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
some one behaved rather badly. Young Ferguson said : * ' Mr. Clerk,
fine Mr. one dollar for contempt of Court, in making too
much noise and for keeping his hat on in the court-room." The
man walked ujd; paid his fine with some grumbling. Two or three
fines in addition were thus imposed. Probably four or five dollars
were collected in this way. In about one or two hours, Ferguson
rose up in the chair and said: "Mr. Clerk, Court's adjourned.
Let's go and have a general froKc with the fine-money— a big, old-
fashioned spree." Then it was first discovered that it was a sham
court. The people were wild in their fun, and those that paid the
fines enjoyed the joke more than all others.
Yours truly,
W. H. Hekndon.
Mr. Ferguson left Illinois on the 26tli day of Sep-
tember^ 1852, for Texas. He resided in Dallas county in
the latter State, until the following spring, and then
started overland for California, where he arrived in the
summer of 1853. After residing for a few months at
Marysville, he located permanently at Sacramento, and
entered upon the practice of his profession. Possessed
of a fine knowledge of law, of affable manners, and a very
generous and kind disposition, his popularity soon became
as great as his ambition, (which was unlimited) and pro-
cured him as- much business as he could possibly attend
to. He loved, but was not wedded to, his profession,
although he distinguished himself as a criminal lawyer.
He sought to make it a stepping-stone to political prefer-
ment; and cherished an honorable zeal to shine in the
councils of the State and nation. He had an insatiable
thirst for fame. He cared but little for money. The
fluctuations in real estate, and the rise and fall of stocks,
never cost him a sigh or gave him any concern. The
records of the County Recorder of Sacramento county
do not once reveal his name as the purchaser or vendor
of a single inch of ground. He lived and moved in the
midst of a restless throng, crazed by the eager desire for
gain, but himself callous to the allurements of mammon.
The example of indifference to the acquisition of wealth
in an age of speculators and in a community of fortune-
hunters, was novel and striking.
In 1855, Ferguson was nominated by the Native
American or Know-Nothing party for State senator. His
WILLIAM! I. FERGUSON. 323
Democratic competitor was his first law-partner in Sacra-
mento, ^Ym. S. Long. At the election, Ferguson received
3,437 votes to 2,592 cast for Long.
On entering the Senate, he w^as appointed chairman
of the Judiciary Committee, and at once became a
leading member of that body. The Legislature was
called upon during that session to elect a United States
senator. In the lower branch, the new party had a large
preponderance, while in the Senate their majority was
only one. Hon. Wilson Flint, one of the hold-over San
Francisco senators, was kno^vn to be in sympathy with the
Know-N^othings or Native Americans, and in company
with Henry S. Foote, had stumped the State in 1850 for
that party, and the votes of that party had been cast in a
body for him, and aided his election to the State Senate.
Therefore, his vote was relied upon for the American
nominee for United States senator. It was the pur-
pose of the Know-Nothing senators to go into joint con-
vention, without first holding a caucus ; but, as Mr. Flint
declared he would not vote for the choice of the majority
unless that choice were indicated by a caucus, the original
intention was changed and a caucus was held. In a speech
delivered in the Senate, January 15th, 1856, and which
was reported in the Sacramento JJnion^ Mr. Flint, in
explaining his connection with the Native American party,
used these words: ''I assure the party to which I hold
allegiance, that I am prepared at any time to abide the
result of a caucus."
At that time, it will be remembered, it required a
majority of both branches of the Legislature to bring on
the election of a United States senator. Seeing how
evenly balanced the two parties were in the Senate, David
C. Broderick was making herculean exertions to have the
election postponed until the next session of the Legislature,
when he hoped to secure the prize himself. The caucus
of the dominant party had many sittings, in the endeavor
to agree upon a candidate. Mr. Ferguson himself received
a large vote for the high position. The principal can-
didate, however, was Hon. Henry S. Foote, and upon him
the caucus at last combined. That gentleman would have
324 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACTFIC.
been chosen, in a day or two thereafter, as the represent-
ative of the State of California in the United States
Senate, but for the unexpected defection of Willson Flint,
who refused, in the most stubborn and determined man-
ner, to support the caucus nominee. Ferguson warmly
endorsed the nomination, and was unable to restrain the
impetuosity of his feelings against Flint. As he was
master of satire and invective, he astounded the Senate,
and even those who knew him best, by the withering
anathemas which he hurled at the head of " the recreant."
But the Senate refused, by a majority of one, to go into
joint convention with the Assembly, and Broclerick's
star again ascended the political heavens.
In the fall of 1856, in the middle of his senatorial
term, Ferguson openly renounced the Know-Nothing
Order, and was welcomed back, with many joyous dem-
onstrations, into tho Democratic ranks. A committee of
prominent Know-Nothings waited upon him and demanded
his'*resignation. He agreed that, if his vote, should be
necessary to decide the choice of a United States senator
at the next session of the Legislature, he would resign,
in time for the people of Sacramento county to elect his
successor — intending in that event to go before the
public as a candidate for reelection ; but as that exigency
4.id not arise, he served out his term. At the next ses-
sion both branches of the Legislature had Democratic
maiorities, and early in the session, Broderick was elected
to the United States Senate, Ferguson voting for him.
In 1857, Ferguson was nominated by the Democracy
as his successor in the Senate, and was reelected. The
contest was bitter and hotly contested. The vote stood:
Ferguson, Democratic, 2,746; Brewster, American, 2,502;
Nixon, Republican, 934.
The session commenced on the first Monday in Janu-
ary, 3 858. About two months before the Legislature
adjourned, occurred the memorable rupture between
Douglas and Buchanan, and. Ferguson promptly announced
his sympathy with the former. Towards the close of the
session, he delivered an elaborate speech on ^' Squatter
Sovereignty," which was an impassioned vindication of
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 325
the views of the Illinois statesman, and replete with
energetic and eloquent censure of the administration of
James Buchanan. This speech was, perhaps, the most
logical, finished, and effective of all his forensic efforts.
In August, 1858, Ferguson made a visit to San Fran-
cisco, and there became involved in a personal dispute
v/ith Hon. George Pen Johnston, which resulted in a
duel being fought between them at Angel Island, in San
Francisco Bay, on the 21st day of that month — the
weapons being pistols, and Ferguson being the challenged
party. At the fourth fire, the latter received his ad-
versary's ball in his right thigh, and was carried from the
field — Johnston being slightly wounded in the left wrist.
When his phj^sicians examined Ferguson's wound soon
after its infliction, they informed him of its serious nature,
and notified him that, unless the leg were amputated, the
chances were a thousand to one against his recovery. He
replied that he would not lose his leg for all California,
and that he would take the solitary chance. The surgeons,
therefore, rendered him such assistance as they could give,
and did not resort to amputation until September 14th,
when Ferguson's condition made a further and minute
examination necessary; whereupon, it became evident
that amputation furnished the only hope for life. The
patient at last yielded to the advice of his friends. He
stated to those in attendance that he did not expect to
survive, and requested that if the people of Sacramento
asked for his body, it should be given to them, that he
might be '' buried in the county which had honored him
with a seat in the Senate."
At about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon,
Doctors Angle, Sawyer, Rowell, Coit, and Gray, after ad-
ministering chloroform, commenced the operation of
amputating the limb. This was performed in a short
time ; but his long and painful confinement had enfeebled
him to the last degree, and he could stand no more.
Before the operation was complete, his spirit was disen-
thralled from its shattered earthly tenement, and gone
(the writer, who loved him, devoutly trusts) to a sinless
world.
326 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC
It was then seen how tenderly he was beloved by the
people of Sacramento. Only a day before his decease,
the telegraph had announced that he was better, and
the intelligence of his death spread a deep gloom over
the capital. A large delegation of Sacramentans met
the party in charge of the remains at Benicia, and
escorted them to Sacramento, where the body was lain
in state in the Senate chamber of the capitol building
throughout the following day. Thousands of the citizens
of Sacramento county visited the State House, to behold
for the last time the noble brow and form of him whose
nervous eloquence had so often, in that very building,
delighted and entranced them.
On the 16th day of September, after an impressive
discourse by Rev. J. A. Benton, and a eulogy by Col. E.
D. Baker, a very large concourse followed the remains
to the grave. At the time of his death, he had one
year more to serve as a State senator, and was a promi-
nent aspirant for congressional honors.
The writer, for good cause, will not continue this
sketch further. When Ferguson felt that he must soon
die, he said to those who watched by his bedside: "My
friend Baker has known me best in life : ask him, if he
will, to speak of me when I am dead." He could not
have entrusted his memory to the keeping of a better
friend than the eloquent old man whose voice always fell
upon enraj^tured ears. Col. Baker fulfilled the sad trust
committed to him, and spoke in pathetic terms of the
virtues, talents, frailties, and ambition of the promising
young man whom he had known since his early boyhood.
The writer, therefore, drops his pen, and hastens to refer
the reader to Col. Baker's Eulogy, which immediately
ifollows this sketch, and which in turn is followed by Mr.
Benton's Discourse.
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 327
EEIMAUKS ON THE DEATH OF WM. I. FERGUSON,
Delivered in the Assembly Chamber, Sacramento, Cal., September 16th, 1858.
BY COL. E. D. BAKER.
The intense interest which is apparent in this crowded auditory
too well evinces the mournful character of the ceremony we are
about to perfoi-m. Wherever death may invade the precincts of
life, whether in the loftiest or lowliest home, there is a tear for all
who fall; there is a mourner for even the meanest and the most
humble; but when beyond the deep impression which the change
from life to death produces in all good minds — when beyond this we
know that an eminent citizen is stricken down in the full vigor of
his manhood and in the pride of his intellectual power, the impres-
sion is deeplj' mournfid. And when to this we add that those who
loved him in life, vrhose servant and representative he was, have
gathered around his bier to-day to accompany him to his last resting
place on earth, the impression is not merely mournful, but painful.
And when we add to this that the man we mourn died by the hand
of violence — suddenly- — in a peaceful land, away from his own
friends, the joainful impression becomes an overwhelming soitow.
At the personal request of our departed friend, it has been assigned
to me to say a fev/ Vv^ords upon this occasion.
I have perhaps known him longer than anybody here. I have
known him, more particularly in his early youth, perhaps better
than any one here assembled. I have watched the bud, the blovv,
the fruit, and lastly the untimely decay; and while I desii-e to speak
of him as he himself would wish to be spoken of; while I do not
mean that jiersonal friendship shall warp my judgment or lead me
to say as his friend any thing unduly in his praise, so also, on the
other hand, shall I say nothing against him or others that is unjust
or unkind.
The gentleman whose remains you are about to consign to his
last resting place until the trump of the Archangel shall sound , was
a native of the State of Pennsylvania. I knew his father well; a
respectable, worthy, honest man: a mechanic by pursuit, intelligent,
relf -reliant, and in everj- respect honorable.
The young man was ambitious from his boyhood. He sought
the profession of the law, not merely for itself, but as an opening
that would lead to what he considered were higher and more noble
jDOsitions.
He was fitted for the study of law by nature. He was then what
you knew him but lately — bold, self-reliant, earnest, brilliant, elo-
quent, a good judge of human nature, kind, generous, making
friends everywhere, placable in his resentments, easily appeased,
and a true friend. He read law not only with me, but also with far
more able men, and he formed his judgment of public affairs while
honored with the friendship of Douglas, his opponent Lincoln, John
B28 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
J. Hardin, who won a deathless name at Bnena Vista, Judge Logan,
and many others who are the pride and boast of the Mississippi
Valley. He was early distinguished in his own State. He was very
young, and he had those contests among his own friends which are
peculiar to politics; and there had the reverses and crosses v»ithont
which no man is worth much. The success v/hich he achieved here
had its foundation laid in defeat, and I think I may say that most
of Avhat he knew as a politician he had learned in the school of
adversity —
"That stern teacher of the human breast."
It is not good for a man to be always successful, either in private
or public life, No man's character can be formed without trial and
suffering, and our departed friend showed b}^ his course of conduct
that he could cndiire temporary defeat, confident of the ultimate
success of the right — j^erhaps not the less confident of his power to
achieve success. Ho was a successful candidate upon the Demo-
cratic ticket for presidential elector in 1848. He w^as as renow^ned
in his own State, as a debater, as he wacj here; he had (and that is
saying a great deal) as many friends there as he had here; he
deserved them there, as he deserved them here, by his fidelity to his
friends, high personal qualities, courage, intellect, brilliancy — by
those qualities which rendered him so dear to many of you now
before me.
He came here, and what he wiig" here you know better than I.
You knevv^ him v/ell, for he served you. You knew him well, for he
ever strove for your approbation, and loved you living, and loved you
dying. He had a great many qualities that make a successful poli-
tician, not merely in the personal sense of the word, but in a higher
sense, the achievement of great deeds, and the advancement of great
principles.
These halls have been the witnesses of many of his triumphs.
As was well remarked by a contemporary newspaper, he hardly ever
undertook that which, when he set himself earnestly to work, he
did not accomplish. He had the determination to succeed — that
knowledge of mankind — that control over other men's minds — that
kindly manner, those generous impulses for all — that love for
humanity — those qu-alities of mind which, if they called forth grave
defects, also called forth gTeat virtues. And these are in most of
the departments of life the great elements of success. Mere intel-
lect, except in the closet, does but little : the qualities of mind, of
mere abstract vdsdom, which distinguished a Newton or a LaPlace,
would do but little at Vv'ashington. It is the same both in private
and public life. A knowledge of the human heart; a readiness of
resources; kindness of heart; fidelity in friendship — will effect more
than mere abstract wisdom, and must be combined with it in order
to render that wisdom of avail. These, and all these, our friend
had.
You know how well he served you; and those who knew him
best, knew how ardently he desired your approbation, how earnestly"
he strove to win it.
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 329
There is more than one thing in his legislative career which
deserves notice, and not the least is the manner of his death. Pie
died poor — not poor in the common sense of the term, but poor as
was Aristides vv-hen he was buried at the expense of the citizens
of Athens. Amongst all his papers, there is not found the trace of
a speculation. He had no property — no resources; hh poverty, if
remarkable, was honorable. In a land where conniption is said to
be rife, the more especially in legislative bodies, and which, w^hether
the charge is true or false, is proverbially liable to corrupting influ-
ences, it seems impossible that he used the vast power he po: :s9£sed
for aught excejDt the public interest and welfare. And this alone
would be a proud epitaph to record upon his tombstone. Ho vras a
man of undoubted courage, as his death proved. I am not here to
speak of its manner. I am not here to discuss the subject of duel-
ing. If I were, it would be to utter my unqualified condemnation
of the code which offers to personal vindictiveness a life due only
to a country, a family, and to God. If I were, under any circum-
stances, an advocate for a duel, it should be at least a fau', equal,
and honorable duel. If, as was said by an eloquent advocate in its
favor, " it was the light of past ages which shed its radiance upon
the hill-tops of civilization, although its light might be lost in the
dark shade of the yalle^^s below;" if even I held this view, I should
still maintain that a duel should be fair and equal; that skill should
not be matched against ignorance, practical training against its ab-
sence. And while I am in no sense to be understood as expressing
an opinion as to the late duel, knowing nothing of the matter my-
self, yet I do say that no duel should stand the test of public opinion,
independent of the law, except the great element of equality is there.
In the pursuits of common life, no one not trained to a profession
is supposed to be a match for a professional man in the duties of
his profession. I am no match for a physician in any matters con-
nected with his pursuits, nor would the physician be a match for me
in a legal argiunent. The soldier is no fair match for the civilian,
when the latter has not been trained to the use of anns; nor, al-
though his courage is equal, and he may have a profound conviction
that he is right, will, therefore, the contest be rendered equal and
just. I rejDcat that I do not make these remarks intending thereby
to reflect upon the character of the late duel. Personally, I know
nothing more than what I and you all have heard. Whether it was
fair or unfair, it is not my province to inquire. I am denouncing
the system itself, for it loses annually hundreds of valuable lives,
and in the present state of civilization, it does no good, profits
nothing, arrests no evil, but impels a thousand e^ils; but above all,
do I protest against any contests of this nature where, in skill,
knowledge of weapons, or from any cause, the parties are not equals
in all the conditions of that stern debate. The friend whose loss
we deplore was undoubtedly a man of courage. Whatever may be
said with respect to the code of dueling — whatever may be said as
to his motives — his conduct on the field was in all respects what his
friends expected. He stood four fires, at a distance of scarcely
330 REPEESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
twenty feet, witH a conviction that there was a strong determination
to take his life — that the. matter should be carried to an extremity —
and that, too, when, until the day before, he had never fired a pistol
off in his life. But courage is shown not merely in action, but in
endurance. A woman may show the higher quality of courage in
many instances where many men would fail. A brave man — a really
brave man — shows his courage no less in endurance than in action.
It is a higher, a greater quality to suffer than to do; and in this
respect our friend was no way defective. He bore a long and pain-
ful confinement — he bore a severe operation — he saw his hold upon
life unclasping day by day, hour by hour; and amidst it all, neither
his resolution nor his cheerfulness, faltered for an instant. When
he lay helpless, looking back uj)on the errors (and who has not
errors?) of his life, he seemed to recall them for lessons of instruc-
tion and warning for the future; and when he knew he must die,
he arrayed himself for the last contest, to die as became a man,
amid all sweet and pious and holy recollections. He died with no
vindictive passion in his heart. He died with words of affection upon
his lips. He died with the thoughts of his mother present to his
soul. He left this world with the thoughts of home and mother.
He left with words of forgiveness and kindness. His last act of
consciousness was an act of prayer.
Oh! Affection, Forgiveness, Faith! ye are mighty spirits. Ye
are powerful angels. And the soul that in its dying moments trusts
to these, cannot be far from the gates of heaven, whatever the past
life may have been. However passion or excitement maj^ have led
a soul astray, if at the last and final hour it returns to the lessons
of a mother's love, of a father's care-^if it learns the great lesson
of forgiveness to its enemies — if at the last moment it can utter these
words: "Father of life and light and love!" — these shall be winged
angels — troops of blessed spirits — that will bear the fainting, wounded
soul to the blessed abodes, and for ever guard it against despair.
Oh, my friends! those mighty gates built by the Almighty to guard
the entrance to the unseen world, will not open at the battle-axe of
the conqueror; they will not roll back if all the artillery of earth
were to thunder forth a demand, which, indeed, would be lost in
the infinite regions of eternal space! but they will open with
thoughts of affection, with forgiveness of injuries, and with prayer.
But I am not here to speak of the virtues of the departed alone.
He had his defects; they were great; they were marked; but they
w^ere incident to his career and his character. He was, by nature
and habit, a j)olitician; and of all callings, that of a politician is the
most illusive and unsatisfactory : it kindles the mind in a state of
constant excitement: it is a constant struggle, which is frequently
injurious in its effects; and our friend, with all his fine qualities,
was no exception to the rule. Let him that is without sin cast the
first stone. Of how many can we say that no greater defect can be
recorded? Of him who is dead, what worse can be said? He was
honorable, honest, loving, generous, placable; and if amid his virtues,
there were some defects, they are but to be mentioned to be forgiven
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 331
and forgotten. Fellow-citizens, the words I utter I should not deem
complete if I did not, before I close, utter a word of warning. The .
most powerful intellect, the most amiable qualities, may be shaded
by a love for excitement and the evils which the life of a politician
is but too apt to engender. What Ferguson was, we know. What
he might have been, if he had conquered himself, who can tell?
The inspired book says that ' ' he that ruleth his own spirit is greater
than him that taketh a city," and if our departed friend could have
conquered himself, who could have stayed the resistless course of
his bright intellect? It should be a warning to us all, grey heads
as well as to young men. All should remember that the i^ursuit of
politics is delusive and full of temptation. No man should forget
the duty he owes to his country, but all should remember that they
owe a duty to themselves. When men — I refer now more j^articu-
larly to young men — see a great statesman stand forth in the midst
of a listening Senate, and mark the stamp which he makes upon the
public mind and upon the i^olicy of the country by the force of his
intellectual vigor, they are apt to forget the labors by which that
proud position has been achieved — to forget how many have sought
to attain such a lofty position and have failed; and to forget that he
who is now filling their minds with admiration, may be on the eve
of a sudden fall ! Politics should not be the pursuit, I mean the
only pursuit, of any man. Representative honors, official station,
should only be the occasional reward, or the occasional sacrifice;
and if, forgetting this rule, young men attempt to make politics theu'
only hope, with the probability that in many cases they will fail, and
that if successful, they will surely be exposed to a thousand tempta-
tions: if they love excitement for its own sake — the noisy meetings,
the conventions, the elections — this love for excitement will grow
upon them, and they will soon be on the high road to ruin.
If any one is determined to achieve distinction in politics, let him
first obtain a competency in some trade, profession, or pursuit, and
then, even if unsuccessful in politics, the misstep will not be irre-
trievable. But, young men, do not be beguiled by the example of
our Ferguson, even if you possess his splendid talents — even if you
could achieve the success he did : look at the end! There he lies in
a bloody grave. Let your habits be fixed. "Let all the ends thou
aimest at be thy country's and thy God's."
Fellow-citizens, I have said what I supposed this occasion most
required. If I had been told sixteen years ago that it would be my
fortune to stand by the bloody grave of my young friend, in the city
of Sacramento on the Pacific coast, I could scarcely have believed it
had an angel from heaven told me so; for at that time there was no
civilized Pacific coast. Then Ms course was unmarked, and my
future was so marked out, that it would seem but little less than a
miracle that I should stand here, by his dying request, to offer a few
poor remarks over his bier, before he is laid to rest in the place he
loved so well — in the city named after the sweeping Sacramento.
But who can tell what a day may bring forth ? Here we see the
sudden, untimely end of one who was amiable, gifted, and who was
332 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
looking forward to a long career of lionor and fame. And perhaps
it may be my lot to be shortly laid in the grave ; and perhaps in this
assembly some one may be called npon to address some remarks
over my poor lifeless body — even as I have been called upon on the
present occasion; and if this should be so, I pray that that friend
may accord to me as much of praise and as little of blame as will
be consistent with the truth.
In conclusion, I would remark that I have no words sufficient to
express my own personal regret. I have lost a warm personal friend.
I may find others, but I shall not be able to find friends that I have
loved in other years. I shall not often find those to whom I can, as
I could to him, talk of the old familiar times and the lessons I taught
him in early life — of the virtues and example of his parents — of his
mother's, his poor afflicted mother's affection and love — of his old
contests — his old hopes, so often broken. I shall not often find
friends like these, nor can the breach which death has made be so
easily repaired.
Let me hope, for myself and us all, that w^hen we have filled our
allotted space in this world; when we are attended by weeping friends,
for the purpose of removing us to our last resting place, that it shall
not be said of us that we have lived without purpose, but that we
have gathered friends in the days of our manhood; that we have
left fruits to bloom when we have departed.
DISCOUESE ON THE DEATH OF HON. WM. I. FERGUSON,
DeUvered in the Congregational Churcli, Sacramento, Cal,, Sept. 16th, 1858.
BY KEV. J. A. BENTON.
"Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth
before -kicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him." —
II. Samuel, iii. 34.
The worst has been realized. The poor mangled corse of our
senator lies before us. Others may have felt the same : I certainly
have feared from the first, that it would come to this, and have so
expressed myself within a few days. For such were the antecedents,
the circumstances, and the shock of the wound he received, that
they would have imperiled the life of the most robust man; and they
rendered it almost certain that a temperament and a constitution like
his, so slender and delicate, would not long survive. And there are
many who have been incredulous regarding the reports of his im-
proved condition, as knowing they were premature; because the
worst stage of the difficulty was not passed, nor the point of danger
turned. When the time for decision came, a careful examination
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. ot'J
showed the wound gangrenous, and the parts adjacent moribund.
Speedy amputation of the limb afforded the only hope of life ; and
even that was dim. And such was the severity of the x:roceeding,
though the sufferer was under the influence of ansesthetics, and such
his physical i)rostration, that his powers did not rally again nor his
senses return. And so his eyes were closed upon the light of life,
and he passed unconsciously away.
We shall look upon him no more. Three or four short weeks
have sufficed . for all this. A month ago the deceased was here
among his friends, in his usual health, vigor, and activity. Ho was
uncommonly spmted, cheerful, and energetic. He was in his ele-
ment; in the exercise of some of his peculiar faculties, which always
came out with remarkable force in the midst of a political excitement.
He went to San Francisco to remain, as he supposed, but a fcv/ days.
There he fell into a personal and political controversy; gave some
offence to hi3 opponent; was challenged to mortal combat; stooped to
the acceptance of the proposal; fell at the foiuih fire, and v.as car-
ried from the field badly wounded. After four v/eeks' absence, and
three of lingeiing and sufieiing — of alternating hopes and fears —
he is with us once again; but only in these lifeless remains, which
have come to be garnered, as treasures, in the burying place of those
who in his life had dehghted to do him honor.
It saddens us to know that we shall no more loo]: on his familiar
features, eo finely chiseled, so exquisitely moulded, so handsomely
combined, so vivacious in theu* play, and so expressive of the varied
emotions of the soul. The full brain that wrought under that fine
brow and capacious forehead, throbs no more. AVc cannot see
again the rare head and face that, but for an early thinning out of
the hair, had been more than beautiful: they were even grand.
The hands, the feet, the skin, the movement, the tone, as well as
the features, all were expressive of fine sensibilities, genius, and
character. None could behold him and not be impressed. None
could turn away and quickly lose that image from hia meinoiy.
It saddens us more to think in what a conflict our senator came
to his untimely end, and by what a i^rocess our community has been
deprived of his services in the coming years.
From the Christian standpoint, no duel can ever be justified; nor
anyi^arty thereto. This is conceded on every hand, and so i^ositively
that it never is expected that a professing Christian will ever send
or accept a challenge; and he is always exempted from the operation
of the " code of honor" without loss of reputation, or the disparage-
ment of his spirit, bravery, or courage.
From the standpoint of society, there is offered somewhat that
may palliate, if it cannot justify, the practice of dueling. It is al-
leged that there are some personal offences of which the civil law
takes no cognizance, or against which it affords no adequate protec-
tion; that, therefore, there must be some social law, to the usages
of which such cases shall be referred; and that the " code of honor"
is such law, and the practice of dueling the best method of arbitra-
ment yet discovered. To support these allegations, the instances
384 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
brought forward are those in which the law^s of a State are not out-
wardly violated, while yet the oifenders exhibit such an injurious,
overbearing, and contumelious spirit, such studied insult, such
malicious hate, and such fiendish passion, that, without quick resent-
ment and revenge, the offended parties could no longer hold up their
heads, or move in theu' accustomed circles, except with danger of
being rejected, disparaged, and despised, or meet the offending
parties on terms of equality, and with proper feeling of self-respect
and complacence.
There is not time now to controvert these statements in full, on
the basis of reason and common sense. I shall only say that the
edge of all these allegations is turned by the fact that men have
met such offences, have refused to fight duels, and have really lost
nothing by the course they took; but rather have risen in the gene-
ral estimate, and held a loftier social position ever afterward than
would otherwise have been possible. The one brief reason, patent
to all men of sense is, that the man of high spirit, great courage,
and lofty character, can display his qualities without resorting to
the duel; and one who has them not, will never bring away from the
dueling ground any thing more of these qualities than their grim
and ghastly shadows. But if we even assume that there are times
when the duel is a necessity, and occasions on which it is allowable
to have recourse to it, it is certain that all occasions are not fit ones,
and that many personal offences ought to be excluded from the
number that are actionable under the " code of honor." There are
such exclusions; and some offences are regarded as unworthy of a
settlement on the field of honor. Yet, all sensible men must admit,
even those who justify dueling in extreme cases, that matters trifling
and contemptible are in our day far too frequently made the basis
of a challenge, and that the whole matter needs a reformation.
Now, admitting for the moment that some occasions may justify
dueling, I afiirm that political differences, and the disturbances,
disputes, and imputations growing out of them, are not sufficient
occasions. They spring out of impulse, hot blood, the excitement
of the moment, and are always to be taken with abatement, and men
can endure them for a time without serious loss or damage; and
when days are past, they will be withdrawn and apologized for by
any with whom it is worth while for a man to associate. Political
differences there must be. Disputes and bickerings will occur.
Epigram, repartee, the shaft of wit, will fly, and may sting. Accu-
sations will arise; recriminations be made, and imputations hurled. "
These are unavoidable incidents to the existence of parties and the
freedom of debate. They grow in some measure out of our institu-
tions and our social state, and they ought to be permitted and
allowed licenses, for which no one is answerable except at the bar
of public opinion. They ought not to be regarded as insults, or as
touching the tender parts of character, or as really derogatory to a
man's reputation. And there ought to be a combined effort, if not
to suppress dueling, at least to banish all political troubles and their
outgrowths from the operation of the dueling code. A determined
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 335
and persistent effort might accomplish this. For there is no good
reason why our political differences, or animosities even, should be
carried beyond their proper arena, and allowed to invade the social
circle and disturb the harmonies of domestic life. It is time we
learned a wider toleration of these differences, and forbade their
entrance into the common walks of life. Till we do, opinion is not
free, and the conduct of life in ci^il matters is subjected to a social
inquisition, if not a tyranny, as impolitic as it is unjust.
I say these things, because this duel grew primarily out of a
political difference and discussion in the midst of asocial scene. It
is only the latest, and not the first duel fought in oui' State, that has
had a similar origin and a political significance. If I am not mis-
taken, political reasons were at the bottom of the duels between
Denver and Gilbert, Broderick and Smith, Gwin and McCorkle,
Washington and Washburn — others, also, it may be — and finally,
Johnston and Ferguson. Of these, the first and the last onh' were
fatal to one of the parties in each. And God grant that it may be
years and generations before our annals shall be blotted with the
record, and our soil stained with the blood of another fatal duel: and
that we may never more hear of a resort to so ciniel an arbitrator as
this for the settlement of difficulties arising out of the ever-changing
phases of political strife and political affaii's! As I am not familiar
with the intricacies of the "code of honor," nor conversant with the
details of proceedings under it, I do not feel competent to ciiticize
the transactions of the case which just now has had so lamentable a
result. Bat I may say that the contest might have terminated sooner,
and otherwise, without disparagement to either of the parties. Three
exchanges of shots were as good proof of personal qualities as a dozen
could have been. And I agree with the i^erson who had the loading
of the pistols, that then, at the most, after the third fire, when the
deceased had only escaped the loss of the lower part of the face by
the momentary elevation of the chin, it was time to have done. But
the demand for satisfaction was not yet met; and the fourth fire laid
our young senator low, and has brought him hither, at lengih,
"bound hand and foot in his grave-clothes."
W^e will turn now to oiu' text and its application. A long contest
had been going on between the house of Saul and the house of David
for supremacy in Israel. Abner was a prominent leader in the house
of Saul, as Joab and his brothers were in the house of Da^dd. In
process of time, after having fought many battles for the house of
Saul, in one of which he had slain Asahel, Joab's brother, Abner
became alienated from his old party and foiTaer associates, and re-
solved to transfer his allegiance to the house of David He had
visited the head of the new party; had made his negotiations; and
had gone away, in peace, to consummate the aiTangement. On his
way homeward at the well of Sirah, Abner was overtaken by mes-
sengers from David's premier (to which transaction the king was not
privj') requii-ing his return to Hebron. He went back with the mes-
sengers to the city gates. There he was met by Joab, who drew him
aside as if to speak with him peaceably and in quiet. Then taking
336 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
him at a disadvantage, when Abner was suspecting no harm, Joab
thrust a dagger in his side, and slew him. Eesentment against
Abner for the past was one of the motives to the deed; and perhaps
a jealousy of him for the future, lest himself might be overshadowed
by one eo eminent, was another. Such a death, of such a man, took
the people by surprise. The sensation was deep and wide. The
feeling roee almost to indignation, and the profoundest sorrov/ filled
all Hebron. And David said to all the people that were with him,
" Eend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before
Abner." And King David himself followed the bier. And they
burled Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept
at the grave of Abner; and all the people vfept. And the king la-
mented over Abner and said : Died Abner as the fool dieth ? Thy
hands were not bound, nor thy feet put in fetters: as a man lalleth
before Vvicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again
over him. And when all the people came to cause David to eat
meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, God do so to me,
and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else, till the sun be down.
And ail the people underritood that day that it was not in the heart
of the king to slay Abner. And the king said unto his servants,
Know ye not that there is a j)rince and a great man fallen this day
in Israel? And I am this day weak, though anointed king, and
these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me." The analogy
betvveen the scenes here described and these which we witness to-
day, will not hold in all the particulars, but at some poin':s it is a
striking one. Here lies the body of one v/ho has had a prominent
place and run a brilliant career. As a public man, he has belonged
to different and opposing j)arties. The transfer of allegiance from
one to another has created some enmities, given rise to some jeal-
ousies, and left memories that only v/aited for their opportunity to
render themselves formidable. He vvas alike eminent with what-
ever party he acted, and could not fail to be regarded by any part}''
as an acquisition. He was a great man, and a kind of prince among
political aspirants : he was held in esteem and honored by the masses
of the people. He fell in the midst of life, when new honors and
a fresh career vv-ere apparently awaiting him. He fell by the hands
of one who should have been the very last man to shed his blood;
and in death he is mourned by rulers and people, who gather with a
common sorrow to follow him to his grave and v^^eep at his tomb.
In these respects, certainly, the person v/hose obsequies we observe
to-day resembles the man concerning whom my text had utterance.
And vv'e, too, are weak this day, though clothed with power; and
these modern sons of Zeruiah have been too hard for us.
Our friend, whom with lamentations we are here to bury, has
been for three years one of our senators in the State Legislature,
and is the lirsfc one in our history who has died during his term of
office. He was fitted in many ways for a leader, and had those
social qualities, that pleasing presence, that fascination of manner,
that humor, j)leasantry, and wit, that fluency of speech, that raci-
ness of otyle, that gift of eloquence, and that power of command
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 337
which always raise a man to a kind of supremacy over the masses
of the people. He had a singular insight, a ready tact, skill to meet
emergencies, confidence in his own unfailing resources, and that
determination to suffer no defeat which is always sure to win success.
His mind was naturally cool, clear, and bright in its action, and his
intellect was one of a high order. And those who have heard him
most at the bar, in the Senate chamber, and before the people, are
the ones that have the highest opinion of his abilities, and give him
exalted praise. As a public man, he has made as few mistakes, and
given as little offence, as any one who has ever held the same office
among us; and, in the estimate of many, he has rendered as much
service to this community and to the State as any one of our various
senators ever has.
In private life, Mr. Ferguson had faults: they were well known:
he confessed them : he attempted to conceal nothing. In his frank
and generous natiu'e, there was nought mean, furtive, or under-
hand. His eccentricities were numerous, and were all his own; and
his methods were such as to throw a charm around habits and prac-
tices that in other men would have been accounted gross or
offensive.
The pravity of some men is unimpassioned, steady, bitter, of set
purpose, in foresight of consequences, and void of the wish to be
other than it is, or to do better. The pravity of others is impulsive,
genial, passionate, with, no look towards consequences, stealing upon
them through sensibilities delicately strung, that wave and vibrate
as with some ethereal touch; and finally lift the swell and wake the
storm which sweep the men away. And their language always is:
*'When we would do good, evil is present with us." To this latter
class belonged our friend; and fairness demands that we allow what-
ever abatement of censure such a temperament entitles him to. His
convictions were right, his feelings not calloused, and his whole
moral nature quick and sensitive; so that he could never attempt to
justify himself in his indulgences, nor cease to condemn himself for
his wrongs.
It can do no harm now to refer to a fact already known to some,
that may have had something to do with not a few of the eccen-
tricities that have marked our friend's brief life. He was the sub-
ject, some years ago, of one of those disappointments which, now
and then, permanently wound the affections, darken the path, sad-
den the life, blight the hopes, and mar the prospects of young men
in the outset of their career. Such a misfortune is peculiarly dis-
astrous in its effects upon some natures; and while it is wept over
in the other sex, in ours it is commonl}^ the theme of mirth. How
seriously it was felt by the deceased, and to what extent it affected
him for the worse, we shall never know with precision; but the more
I have thought of it, the more I am convinced that its influence was
considerable.
Fellow-citizens, a bright light is quenched; another star has
fallen from our sky; one more shall we miss from among the coun-
22
338 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
tenances that shine on us; another form of pride and power is
turning back to ashes before our eyes.
"We are here in the presence of Death, and of Him who is greater
than Death; without whose permission the grim messenger had not
been here to gather this form beneath his dark wings. It seems hard
to mere mortal thought, that one should die thus, in the prime of
his manhood, in the maturing season of his faculties, with high heart
and hopes bright, with greener laurels yet before him, with the pur-
pose to win a name on wider fields, and lead a life that should carry
joy into the bosom of the household whence he wandered. But this
life is cut off; these purposes are thwarted, and these hopes have
perished.
StiU, heaven is over us, and God is gracious. And though at
last, death came suddenly upon the departed, it came not quite un-
expectedly; and we may hope that changes were going on within
him, and that some preparation for another world was making as he
lay through those long days and nights, thinking, planning, re-
solving, and often giving utterance to his longing to lead a different
life, and be a better man.
Standing here by these motionless limbs, how unconsciously rises
to our lips the prayer of the Psalmist : " O my God, take me not
away in the midst of my days : spare me a little before I go hence
and be seen no more." And while we thus indulge our sorrow and
give expression to grief, let us remember that there are other hearts
that will bleed and other eyes that will be wet with tears, weeks after
our mourning shall have somewhat abated its intensity. To the
widow's God let us commend the mother who is so early bereaved of
the son whom she may have loved to regard as the support and
solace of her declining years. Let us pray for the welfare of sister
and brothers, who shall never again welcome to their homes the de-
parted one, or fold him in their fond embrace. The Lord be gracious
to them, that their sun go not down at noonday, nor their hopes and
plans of life be suddenly broken and scattered.
Ye rulers of the State ! Magistrates, Legislators, and Judges ! this
scene admonishes you. How short is human life — how many our
exposures — how unreliable our prospects, and how closely the deepest
shadows are edged upon the spot where the brightest sunlight falls !
The night comes. Do what you have to accomplish : redeem all your
pledges; endear yourselves unto the people who have so generously
trusted you, by the heartiness and value of your services; and render
all due homage unto Him before whose tribunal your acts and lives
must pass in solemn review.
Need I point you, young men, to this lifeless clay, and bid you
remember that you know not what a day may bring forth? Voices
from within are making themselves heard to-day. Heed them, and
do not forget. Learn by what affections, generosities, activities, and
virtues you may commend yourselves to the common regard and love
of men. Understand, also, by what indulgences and passions one
may mar his life and work toward the undoing of himself. Deplore
WILLIAM I. FERGUSON. 339
the follies and vices of other men, and harbor not the same in your
own bosoms. Be ever mindful of Him who rules in pro\adence,
without whose notice not a sparrow falls, and break not his wise laws.
In your sin and sorrow, go to Him with whom is forgiveness, the
world's blest Kedeemer. And as you would fain be adjudged by
Him to blessing and honor in the great day of assize, live ye so
that He cannot but say, "Well done: enter into my joy.''
'* So live, that wlien thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that nn sterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death.
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
Nay, more : Live so that ye may rise toward the rapturous triumph
of Him who said, in full view of his exit from the world: "The time
of my departure is at hand : I have fought a good fight : I have
finished my course: I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, shall give me at that day."
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN.
Author of the "Blove Papkbs."
11 HIS gentleman's father, Captain Kewen, a native of
- the Emerald Isle, emigrated to the United States a
short time previous to our last war with England, and ac-
quired much military distinction at the battle of Kew
Orleans. Locating a trading post upon the Tombigbee
in 1820, in a region almost uninhabited save by savages,
he succeeded in a very few years iii accumulating a large
fortune. By his marriage wdth a Miss Weaver, an accom-
plished lady from Tennessee, he had issue three sons, the
eldest of whom, and the sole survivor, is our present
subject.
Captain Kewen forfeited his life in a duel, leaving be-
hind him a brilliant reputation as a soldier, and an un-
spotted name for integrity.
Edward J. C. Kew^en was born at Columbus, Mississip-
pi, Nov. 2d, 1825. At thirteen years of age he became a
student in the Wesleyan University, located at Middle-
town, Conn. He had been there some three years, when
the untoward speculations of his guardian hurried him to
his Mississippi home ; and he arrived there to learn that his
once princely inheritance had dwindled down to a mere pit-
tance. Thus reduced from affluence to comparative pov-
erty, with his two younger brothers dependent upon his
exertions for subsistence, he resolved upon the profession
of the law. He betook himself to solitary study, with a
342 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
persistence and assiduity almost unprecedented in those
of his extreme youth.
He had reached the age of nineteen, with but few ac-
quaintances and associations in his native town. This was
in 1844, in the midst of a most exciting political contest.
By some means he was selected to deliver the opening
address before what was then styled a " Clay Club." His
primal effort on that occasion acquired for him at once
an extraordinary reputation for oratory. His extreme
youth, peculiarity of style, copiousness of diction, earn-
estness and polish of manner, gave him sudden and
unwonted fame. He was seized upon by the leading
spirits of the party to which he belonged, in a section of
country distinguished for its eloquent men, as one of
their most efficient speakers, and dispatched to remote
sections.
The writer of the present notice has heard an inci-
dent illustrative of young Kewen's daring and fervid
elocution. At a prominent point in his native State the
people of both parties had m^assed together to enjoy bar-
bacued provisions and the attrition of oratory. Two
whole days had passed away in the social and politieal
revel, but very much to the discomfiture of Whig doc-
trines. Such giants as Geo. R. Clayton and H. L. Harris
and Jno. B. Cobb, from unaccountable reasons, had failed
to present themselves to efFulge upon the beauties and
strength of a protective tariff and other germane Whig
topics. In despair, and at the very finale of the meeting,
the young stranger Kewen, a beardless boy, was reluct-
antly thrown before them. He had now some experience,
it is true, in public declamation, and youth has its mag-
netism and sympathy; yet, they say astonishment soon
melted into earnest admiration, and the comparative boy
ran away with the hearts and the judgments of the serried
crowd. Regardless of party discrimination, they did a
strange thing for that region. They seized hold of the
juvenile orator as he finished his glowing peroration, and
bore him around upon their shoulders, and would not be
content until he had given them another specimen of his
eloquence the same night in a neighboring court-house.
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 343
Such triumplis are very rare. After the election of
1844, Mr. Kewen became the editor of the Columbus
Whig^ and remained in- that occupation for two years.
Removing to St. Louis, Mo., for the purpose of prac-
ticing law, and meeting with peculiar success, we find him
again upon the hustings after the nomination of Zachary
Taylor for the Presidency. The papers of that day teem
with the most extravagant encomiums upon his orator-
ical abilities. In commendation of his forensic efforts,
partizanship lost its rancor, for praise flew equally from
his opponents as his friends. In his fervid pilgrimage he
traversed several of the Middle and Southern States.
The reader of this sketch has already detected in its
subject a peculiar restlessness so characteristic of men of
his ardent temperament, and will not be surprised to
learn that he became one of the innumerable throng that
hurried to this western El Dorado some twenty years ago.
Perhaps the blind boy, Dan Cupid, was one of the im-
pelling causes of his sudden migration. It is very cer-
tain that he fell in with the caravan of Dr. T.' J. White
and family, and meandered across the "plains" in their
companionshij^, and became the fortunate husband of
the Doctor's accomplished daughter upon their arrival at
Sacramento, December 10th, 1849.
It would seem that his fame as an orator had anteceded
him. Some occasion prompting it, he was summoned to
the rostrum the very day his w^eary footsteps first traversed
the then primitive city of Sacramento; and his instan-
taneous popularity was evinced by his election to the
responsible office of Attorney- General by the State Legis-
lature soon after his advent upon our coast. This office
he resigned, as it compelled his residence at a distance
from his adopted city, in which he had sprung into a lu-
crative practice in his profession.
If other evidences of moral and physical courage were
wanting, his character in this respect was especially man-
ifest in his enlistment against the Squatters, who, at that
early period of our history had banded in murderous
clans. Under threats of assassination, he boldly repaired
to one of their convocations on the Levee, and succeeded
344 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
by the audacity of his tongue in dispersing the threaten-
ing and insurrectionary crowd.
In May, 1851, he was nominated as a candidate on the
Whig ticket for Congress; and it was in that canvass
that he displayed the full maturity and strength of his
peculiar powers. Often speaking several times during
the same day, he seemed exhaustless in mind and body.
Though unsuccessful, the small majority obtained by his
opponent was a high compliment to the zeal and elo-
quence of Col. Kewen in a State Democratic at the time
by many thousands.
Leaving Sacramento in the summer of 1852, for San
Francisco, he practiced his profession in the latter city
with eminent success, until his restless and daring mind
drove him into a new career. His brother, A. L. Kewen^
second in command to Col. Walker, was shot and killed
in the first battle of Rivas, Nicaragua, in June, 1855.
Thomas, the youngest of the three, had died the preced-
ing year on the Island of Tabogo in the province of Pan-
ama. Alone in the world, and we may naturally suppose,
brooding in deepest melancholy over the early death of
his only and loved kindred, it is not surprising that one
of his ardent and generous impulses would seek relief in
the first daring enterprise that offered. He was an inti-
mate friend of Col. W^alker, and had hitherto resisted his
earnest importunities to embark in his wild adventure.
Walker, now the military head of the new government,
welcomed him with open arms, and at once commissioned
him as the financial agent of the Republic; and it was not
long before he became a member of a judicial tribunal
organized to adjust the rival claims of Yanderbilt and
Garrison & Morgan. The result of the deliberations of
that body was, that Yanderbilt was indebted to the Rivas-
Walker government to the amount of one half million of
dollars. Pending the decision, were fought the memora-
ble battles of Rivas, Massaya and Granada, in each of which
Col. Kewen took an active part as aid to Gen, Walker.
Though disapproving the measure, Col. Kewen was in-
structed to take possession of the steamers belonging to
Commodore Yanderbilt, plying on Lake Nicaragua. That
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 345
arbitrary and impolitic act, in which he was made the im-
willing agent, resulted in the disastrous consequences that
he predicted to his superior. It drove the powerful cap-
italist to collide with the authorities of Costa Rica, and
eventually caused the ruin of the Walker dynasty.
The Colonel was now dispatched upon an embassy to
the Southern States of our Union for additional means
and forces. Establishing his head quarters at Augusta,
Georgia, he soon succeeded in rallying about him a force
of eight hundred men, completely equipped with ample
supplies of provisions. The enthusiasm with which he
was greeted and the ready response made to his persuas-
ive appeals, are part of the history of our country. He
had just negotiated with his former friends. Garrison &
Morgan, the conveyance to their destination of his forces
and implements, when the news reached him of the cap-
ture of Walker by Com. Paulding, under instructions from
Washington. And so terminated the Rivas- Walker gov-
ernment, and with it were dashed the hopes of its most
efficient and brilliant supporter.
In December, 1857, the Colonel returned to San Fran-
cisco, and in January of the succeeding year became a citi-
zen of Los Angeles, where he has since resided. In his new
abode the people have once elected him to the office of
District Attorney, and have twice dispatched him to the
lower branch of our State Legislature. In the Presiden-
tial campaign of 1868, he was complimented with the high-
est number of votes as an elector on the Democratic
ticket.
We have thus sketched in brief the leading incidents
in the life of one of our most prominent citizens. Per-
haps no man is so thoroughly known within our State
limits as Col. E. J. C. Kewen. Of manners peculiarly
genial, and a temperament ardent, enthusiastic and rest-
less, and impulses generous and noble, and a tested cour-
age more often mettlesome than discreet; charitable to
profusion, he is essentially the finest type of his combined
Celtic and Mississippi origin. Such men often provoke
enmities, but only to melt into enduring friendships.
His oratorical abilities, so eminently peculiar, have
346 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
often been condemned by those most fascinated by tbeir
display. Criticism has always been launched at eccen-
tricity. The scholar, while he wonders, condemns the
strange affluence of diction that floats before him in such
luxuriant profusion. Seldom before did man have such
command of language. It is as exuberant as the month-
ly growth of the tropics — as gushing as the warble of the
wild bird. Under proper control, and with the woof of log-
ic, it is the richest gift of intelligence. Those that heard the
Colonel ten years ago, and wondered at and deplored this
wild luxuriance, will now admire how he has subjected
this verbal wealth to logical control. Had Colonel Kew-
en confined himself, without political and other deviation,
to his profession, there is no doubt he would have attained
in it the rarest eminence. He possesses strong reasoning
abilities. He will yet, if his life be spared, and his am-
bition so lead him, occupy prominent positions in the
councils of our country. He has not reached the full
fruition of his powers. He has a reputation unequalled
upon our coast as an advocate and a public declaimer.
The storms of his life are over. Practising his profession,
at Los Angeles, and surrounded, at his beautiful home at
Lake Vineyard by his accomplished wife and his little
ones, he is ever found the amiable and polished and hos-
pitable gentleman.
#mti0tt % §. §. §. ^mm^
Delivered before the Society of California Pioneers,
San Francisco, Sept. 9th, 1854.
3fr. President and Gentlemen of the Society of California Pioneers :
Antiquity comes to us revealed through the marvelous but fas-
cinating illuminations of tradition and fable. We look back to the
classic period of the reign of Olympian deities as to a dream of en-
chantment, or a vision of romance, The achievements of men and
heroes under the auspicious protection of favoring gods, have elic-
ited the admiration, invoked the envy, and challenged the emula-
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 347
tion of the heatlien world. The establisment of vast empires and
the foundation of mighty cities are also among the beatific visions of
the fabulous ages. Imagination reverts to those periods of magnifi-
cent progress, and while it revels in bacchanalian wantonness amid
the attractive recollections of the past, the mind becomes amazed,
and confidence is startled by the suggestions of pagan incredulity.
The infant days of the world are indeed regarded with peculiar
feeling. All that is bright and glowing, all that is enchanting and
beautiful, and all that is miraculous, we have been accustomed to
associate with the earlier records of mankind. The charm of in-
fatuation lingers around the story of Ulysses and the Trojan settle-
ment under the blue skies of Italy, and delightful are the recollections
recurring to the period when Ilion resisted the shock of Agamem-
non's arms, and distant Colchis became the destination of the
freighted Argos.
In our own country, and in our own history, too, can we look
back as to a classic era. The strange but eventful history of Fer-
nando de Soto, the marvelous and ambitious projects of Juan Ponce
de Leon, the fascinating story of Pocahontas, and the singular vi-
cissitudes in the fortunes of Raleigh, seem but the embellishments
of fancy, the dreams of fiction, the glowing colorings and splendid
creations of modern romance. Around them, as around the funeral
games of Patroclus and Anchises ; around them as around the allure-
ments of Calypso and the fascinations of Armida ; gathers the fabu-
lousness of antiquity.
But brighter than the felicitous visions of the Greek, more mag-
nificent than the fancies of the Roman, more glorious than the
dreams of the bards of Castile, and more thrilling than the early
marvels of American history, is the strange, the electrifying truth
— outsplendoring romance — of the acquisition, the growth and
greatness of the golden Dorado of the Pacific. Antiquity evolves
from its mysterious realms no parallel, tradition stands dumb, and
fable is confounded by the reality of the nineteenth century.
The Ninth day of September, eighteen hundred and fifty, dawn-
ed upon the nativity of California and witnessed its baptism into
the sisterhood of republics.
The hibernation and slumber of ages had kept it a sealed mys-
tery to the universe. Among the almost forgotten explorations of
adventurous navigators, we had caught an indistinct idea of a sterile
country, sullenly ranging itself along the eastern front of the Pa-
cific. Like the barrenness of El Ghor, which extended from the
Elanitic Gulf to the Dead Sea, its sterility was imagined to reach
from Humboldt Bay to the Gila. It slept under the seeming curse
of desolation in the inglorious repose of careless and unheeding
centui'ies. "Wild beasts upon its moujitains, browsing herds in its
valleys, the sullen whoop of the Aboriginal, and trained exploits
with the lasso, were its only evidences of vitality. Its hills were
not, even in superstitious imagination, the habitations of oreads,
nor its fountains the abodes of nymphs, nor its btreams, nor plains,
nor mountains, the haunts of any of the genii of fable.
o45 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
It was a country destitute of romantic associations, destitute of
traditional fame, destitute of the throbbing arteries of enterprise
and ambition, and impoverished of all that ennobles, all that dig-
nifies, all that makes chaste and adorns society and man. Buried in
its wild and distant seclusion, immovable and passionless as the
Egyptian Sphynx, like it, it seemed destined to "stare right on,
with calm, eternal eyes," the monument of irreclaimable sterility
and barbarism.
How marvelous the mutations of a few years! In the whole
range of philosophy there is no subject for contemplation more sub-
lime, in history nothing more wonderful, nothing as startling,
nothing as analogous. The recesses of its occlusion were invaded by
a spirit, which at once, as if by magic, dispelled the enveloping
darkness of ages, disturbed the dreamless sleep of centuries, and
penetrating the haunts of superstition and oppression, dissipated
and destroyed them, as fluids glide into the fissures of rocks, and
expanding by congelation heave them from their foundations or
rend them into atoms.
The illustrations of that spirit are around us to-day. They are
visible in every object we see, they are incorporated in every sound
we hear. It is the spirit of American progress, the spirit of Ameri-
can freedom.
Before the sanguinary war which rescued California from the
despotism of degenerate Mexico, before the ratification of the trea-
ty of Queretaro, the pioneer from the valley of the Mississippi had
stood upon the summit of the mountain of rocks, had traversed the
burning deserts of Pah-Utah, had braved the dangers of the Sier-
ras, and penetrated the forests of the Occident. Then it was that
the vagrant fancy of the poet might have been deemed the inspira-
tion of prophecy :
**A star is trembling on the horizon's verge :
That star shall glow and broaden on the night
Until it hangs divine and beautiful
In the proud zenith."
War was not necessary to the attainment of this land of gold.
Treaties might have facilitated but could not have prevented its ac-
quisition. The foot of the Anglo Saxon had already pressed the
soil which, like the Hebrew Chieftain shorn of his locks, reposed
in sensuality and despotism, and destiny decreed what human pow-
er was impotent to avert. The explorations of the Pioneer devel-
oped the magnitude of the country, the fertility of its soil, the
fecundity of its productions, the nature and abundance of its re-
sources. A new light darted on the American mind, a new impulse
was given to American enterprise, and the genius of progress ex-
panded its vision westward to the Pacific. The land that had been
forgotten for ages, the land that was despised of nations, the land
that was fibreless, and soulless, and baiTen in histoiy, became the
alluring goal of adventure, the fascinating destination of ambition.
Like the South American hunter who, carelessly plucking a root
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 349
from the earth, discovered beneath a glittering mine of untold
wealth, the Pacific adventurer, toiling in the channel of an un-
promising stream, chanced upon a nugget of sparkling gold, in
which was destined the revelation of exhaustless treasures, in which
had reposed the secret of nearly two thousand years, and from
which was evolved the flattering promise of unparalleled greatness.
At once a mighty throng of pilgrims turned their faces towards the
setting sun, and gazed upon that declining luminary as resting up-
on the Mecca of their worship. The land that had slept under the
shadow of barbarian oppression had become resplendent with the
light of promise, brilliant with the hope of freedom, and radiant
with the destinies of humanity. Over barren plains and scorching
saharas, over sterile hills, through valleys fragrant with flowers and
embosoming refreshing streams, along the defiles of rugged moun-
tains, and over the summits of snow-capped Sierras, the tide of emi-
gration incessantly flowed. The wave of population fertilized the
neglected shore of the Pacific, and it now teems with populous life,
with *'fair women and brave men," with all the emblems of great-
ness, with all the insignia of permanent prosperity.
How difterent, too, the aspects of nature from the blank sterility
with which it was invested by our primitive imaginations.
In the history of Greece, we are enchanted with the descriptions
of consecrated groves; we read with rapture of azure mountains, of
flowing plains, of golden isles, and sunny fountains; but beneath
this western sky are revealed as splendid attributes of nature as ev-
er attracted the eye of the Grecian in the palmiest period of his
country's glory. Ionia never boasted of fairer skies, Italy never
rejoiced in a firmament more deeply blue, France never produced
the luscious grape in more luxuriance, and never exhibited greener
fields or more exuberant gardens; Germany never revealed sublimer
forests, and Switzerland grander mountains, nor more romantic
scenery than meets the gaze of the wanderer on the Pacific slope.
But lovelier than the cerulean of its skies, more to be prized than
the estuaries of its coast, sublimer than the undulations of its sur-
face, greater than the exuberance of its products, more magnificent
than the sublimity of its mountains, the placidity of its lakes, the
abruptness and grandeur of its scenery, is the symmetrical edifice
of its republican construction. Virtue and industry form the basis
of its morality, shrewdness, wisdom and sagacity the distinguishing
features of its mind, simplicity the proof of social excellence, and
progress the aim and end of its political aspirations.
A few years have wrought indeed a wondrous change in this land
of gold. The past is like a dream, and the present seems almost
the illusion of enchantment. The lamp of Aladdin was not more
efficacious in the sudden erection of gorgeous palaces, than has
been the magic of human industry in creating out of shapeless
sites palatial cities, and from reluctant soils flowering fields and
exuberant gardens. Antiquity has been revived in more than pris-
tine splendor. Its buried cities, with their temples far-reaching to-
wards Heaven, with their magnificent pillars, their ornamental
350 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
columns, their chariots speeding through busy thoroughfares with
steeds fiery as those of Diomedes; their fountains playing and
sparkling in the sun-light, and all their glittering wealth of costly
luxuries and elegant refinements, have been disinterred and gor-
geomjly reproduced in this auriferous land. The spirit of necro-
mancy has been abroad, and in obedience to its conjurations,
mountains have been leveled, valleys have been unlifted, streams
have been diverted from their channels, forests metamorphosed in-
to cities, plains compelled to groan under the weight of vegetation,
and the wilderness made to blossom as a rose, and dispense fra-
grance as a garden. Sanctuaries for worship, shrines for holy
chalices, temples for learning, marts for commerce, and lists for the
tourney of enterprise and ambition, are among, too, the gorgeous
creations and glorious fruitage of the magical incantation.
Such is the unornamented picture of California to-day. The
Poet was prophetic. The "star that trembled on the horizon's
verge" has *' glowed and broadened on the night," and "hangs di-
vine and beautiful in the proud zenith,'' an illumination to the
world, and a planet of hope to mankind. It is the Bethlehemic star
of promise to the involuntary servitors of despotism, under the re-
splendent light of which the gloomy night of absolute sovereignty
will be dissipated, and bowed heads will be uplifted, and manacled
limbs will be unloosened, and broken hearts will be healed in the
glorious and exulting consciousness of disenthralment.
The splendid consummation of the acquisition of California was
not the result of accident. It was the effect of the slow, steady,
but certain operation of a principle coeval with time and ever in-
stinct with vitality. It was this principle which six hundred years
ago, impelled our ancestors to ol3tain from King John, at Eunny-
mede, a charter of liberties. It was this principle which in the
revolution of 1688, wrested from the throne the concession of a
declaration of rights in the people. It was this principle which in-
spired the Genoese adventurer with the belief of the existence of a
new continent. From the time when, concealed from observation
under the canopy of night, he kept unremitting vigil, and with
faint heart and despairing hope ranged his anxious eye along the
dusky horizon in search even of the vaguest indications of land,
when the gun from the Pinta gave the joyous signal of the discove-
ry of the New "World, until now, this principle has been steadily
working, and gradually but inevitably consummating its magnifi-
cent mission. Its illustration was seen and its influence felt in the
expedition of the Mayflower. It was visible in the concerted action
of the American colonies, in the solemn proclamation of sovereign-
ty in the people, in the successful struggle to maintain that declar-
ation, in the subsequent formation of thirteen separate independ-
encies into a confederated government, and in all the successive
extensions to the territorial dominion of our wide and expanding
republic.
It is the grand, the sublime, the regenerating principle of de-
mocracy.
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 351
The immaculateness of that principle has not been without its
infidels and its scoffers. We have been told that the plain, the sol-
id and quiet mass of the people can never be benefited by an extend-
ed government. "We have been pointed to the results of National
cupidity, as giving little of glory or dominion to the architects, the
builders and preservers of a country. "We have been reminded that
only the senators, the consuls and emperors of the buried nations
of the past have reaped the harvest of splendor enriched with the
people's blood. "We are not blind to the truths, nor unheedful of
the admonitions of history. "We know that the dependency of Me-
dea was made by Cyrus the head of a magnificent empire, and that
as the military power was strengthened, the people of Persia sank
to the degraded level of the subjugated nations. Carthage too, am-
bitious of sovereignty, lengthened her sway until the cord of domin-
ion was rent in fragments. The spirit of constitutional freedom
was suffered to decay, and its people became a part of the com-
mon degradation that fell upon the shattered provinces, owing to
the fresh-risen sway of the sword. In later times, the invincible
Mahommed and his successors traversed vast regions and establish-
ed splendid governments, but Arabia shrank back again into pover-
ty and barbarism. The same result followed the Venetian and
Genoese conquests in the Levant. Turkey conquered, and her tur-
baned subjects became a nation of slaves. The acquisitions of
Spain under Charles the Fifth converted the Castilian court into an
absolute tjTanny. Portugal, whose dominions once almost girded
the earth, fell, crushed by k kindred destiny, and wherever the spir-
it of conquest or territorial aggrandizement has not been governed
by a saving and qualifying principle, the government has strength-
ened into despotism, and the people have been debased into
servitude.
The beautiful fabric of American government remains not only
unimpaired by territorial acqusitions and the magnificence of do-
minion, but stands more majestic from each additional gem of its
glistening diadem of sovereignty, and more invincible from its ac-
cumulated sublimities. Bursting into existence through the devel-
opment of an imperishable principle, growing, spreading, magnifying
into colossal greatness and palatial beauty under its vivifying influ-
ence, it is destined, under the auspices of the same great immuta-
ble principle, to refute forever the dogma of the skeptic, and the
insane predictions of political vaticinators. It will stand the monu-
ment of ancestral wisdom — adamantine and eternal as the pyramids
of antiquity — magnificent in design, glorious in consummation, bril-
liant in progress, colossal in grandeur, luxuriant in mental develop-
ment, and breathing refinements which, like the pendulating flower
gardens of oriental sumptuousness, will diffuse a fragrance that will
float forever in the atmosphere of histoiy. Experience concedes,
Truth acknowledges, and Philosophy as she traces upon the horo-
scope of nations the shadowy presages of their destiny, admits this
ultimate result to be the vision of reality and not the pleasing
dream of enthusiasm.
352 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The latest and most important development of the principle of
Bepubliean progress, is the incorporation of the Pacific coast into
the fraternity of free governments. Anterior to its acquisition, the
history of California was a stupendous blank, which, like the
sphynx upon the Egyptian sands, gave no response to the question-
ings of the curious, and revealed nothing for the enlightenment of
mankind. To-day, it is a compendium of all that is marvelous in
history, all that is beautiful in romance, and all that is miraculous
in reality.
What shall be its future?
We have already said that the physical aspect and properties of
the country are all that the most exacting imagination could desire.
It presents a brilliant and enchanting prospect. It is unsurpassed
in the loveliness of its landscapes. It is unsurpassed in the
sublimity of its crowded assemblages of hills and valleys. It is
unsurpassed in the magnitude of its trees, beneath the umbrageous
dome of whose foliage a Sybarite might repose in coveted luxuri-
ousness. It is unsurpassed in the beauty of its flowers, diffusing
aromatic odors and freighting the air with delicious fragrance. It
is unsurpassed in the fantastic groupings of its mountains, exuber-
ant with verdure, beneath which lie buried the untold treasures of
past and prospective ages.
It is not, however, its physical properties alone, which consti-
tute a state. Nor is it magnificent cities, with their adornments of
temples, and columns, and majestic shrines, and glittering man-
sions, and winged palaces of the ocean. It is men — noble, high-
minded men, governed by principle, controlled by patriotism, by
high resolves, and a lofty and unsullied ambition, which constitute
a prosperous commonwealth. It requires something more too, than
the manual capacity to build magnificent structures, to subdue for-
ests and mountains, to reclaim morasses, to cultivate fields, and to
guide to their destinations the peerles clippers of our bays. The
theory of our government rests on the solid substratum of mind; its
prosperity depends on the growth of its intellect, on the sublimity
of the virtues and the universality of the intelligence of its people.
"Life's more than the quick round of blood —
It is a great spirit and a busy heart."
"We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most — feels the noblest — acts the best."
As Americans, we can proudly and exultingly point to a galaxy
of great names, whose genius has lit up fires of thought, the illumi-
nations of which have not been limited to our own borders, but
have extended across the broad expanse of ocean, and shone with
competing lustre upon the favorite shrines of trans-Atlantic intel-
lect. Genius of every land, in every form of development, has
hailed and recognized in the western hemisphere its similitude, its
immortal counterpart. The eloquence which has conferred an im-
mortality on Westminster, has resounded with equal celebrity with-
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 353
in the walls of the American Capitol. The bursts of inspired
oratory which have swayed the mind and heart of France, as the
moon governs the currents and tides of the<>cean, have also, in our
land, consecrated to fame names as brilliant as ever went down the
tide of time on the historic page. It matters not, whether in Sci-
ence, or Philosophy, in Arts or in Literatm-e, the mind of America
has grappled with the great intellects of the world, and the conflict
has served to eternize its renown. The melodies exuberant with
poetic images, inspired by the golden sunsets of Italy ; the songs
like those of the Teon Poet, so full of life, of sprightliness and
joy, which receive their colorings from the vine-clad gardens of
beautiful France ; the sweet verses that sounded a sweeter music
tJian the "murmurs of the living brooks" under the inspired mins-
trelsy of the Bard of Rydal Mount, have been re-created in as ad-
mirable forms, and with the same weird powers of enchantment
beneath our own gorgeous skies, so full of inspiring beauty and
magnificence. America boasts indeed no Elizabethan Age of Lit-
erature, but the foundations of her literary fame are as fixed as the
eternal gi-anite of her mountains, and its superstructure and its
spires pointing hopeftdly towards Heaven reflect the glory of its
ever-shining stars.
The physical attributes of our Republic favor the loftiest devel-
opments of mind. There is scarcely anything in nature that exceeds
the gTandeur of American scenery. In the sublimity of its aspects,
in the solemn heights of its mountains, in the verdure of its plains,
in the beauty of its forests, in the diversities of its climate, the
freshness of its fountains, the sparkling flow of its streamlets, and
in the beautifully gliding currents of its rivers, there is inspiration
as deep and fervid as ever visited the wanderer upon Parnassian
heights, or loiterer lingering with ecstatic vision around the Castal-
ian fountain. The magnificent properties of the physical world
have stimulated the pride, the faith, the hope and ambition of
American intellect. It has done much, but there is yet infinitely
more to accomplish. The field has only been entered, not explored
The mountains continue to loom up in solemn grandeur, with their
summits like that of Tabor, crowned with an eternal sun, or conceal-
ed in snow, and mist and cloud. The valleys are still emerald with
verdure. The plains sparkle with the wealth and effuse the aroma
of blooming flowers. The brooks flow by in babbling sweetness.
The rivulet plays in fantastic eddies and laughingly leaps onward in
its course. The majestic rivers puis ae their sinuous windings, and
each and every object in nature invites enterprise, and freshness,
and spirit in the domain of liigh thought, which shall revive a litera-
ture nobler than that which flourished in the golden age of Augus-
tus, and more brilliant than shone on England's fame from the
illustrious precincts of Twickenham, Keswick and Newstead Abbey.
The accession of California to our government enlarges the
sphere of productive thought — extends the already expansive field
of literary enterprise. Its mountains inlaid with gold, its canons
with precious gems, its placers brilliant with ores of priceless value,
23
354 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
its plains sparkling with auriferous sands, its rivers imbeddiTig the
costliest minerals, its valleys fertile with the wonderful productions
of the vegetable kingdom, and its bays floating on their bosoms the
argosies of an unrivaled commerce, all act as incentives to the cul-
tivation of mind, and invoke the loftiest thoughts and noblest im-
pulses of the patriotic soul.
But alas ! the idol of California worship has been a lifeless, tune-
less, Plutonian statue. There has been exhibited little adoration of
the Deities which preside over the destinies of Literature, Science
and Philosophy. The lust of gain, and not the thirst of the immor-
tal spirit that pants after high thoughts and Promethean inspirations,
has been the guiding, governing and insatiable passion of the young-
est and fairest in the sisterhood of states. Its conflicts have hith-
erto resulted in sordid achievements, and its aspirations have look-
ed only to the ignoble triumphs of which the accumulation of pelf
is the consummation and the goal. No lofty enthusiasm has yet
awakened into existence an order of intellectual Palestrae, who, with
a constancy as enduring as martyr's faith, would drink draughts of
perennial freshness from the classic fountains of the Past, and re-
vive by their learning, their wisdom, and their genius, the glory and
renown of the ancient Academe,
It is a sad reflection that the only lesson our people have studied
with earnestness and practiced with assiduity, is lago's advice to
Roderigo — "put money in thy purse."
The first flush and fever of the excitement has passed away. The
madness that engrossed the energies, and absorbed the soul, has
lost something of its direful paroxysm. The infatuation, which
seized the heart and subsidized the brain, is relaxing its tyrannous
hold, and glimpses of returning reason are beginning to be revealed.
The dawn of a better day is approaching. Over the darkness of the
prevailing despotism a pale star trembles on the brow of the awak-
ening morn. It is the planet which heralds the rising and culmi-
nation of the sun of Literature. While the busy hum of Plutonian
worship is sounding along the thoroughfares, in the mart, and else-
where, where the spirits of avarice "most do congregate,'' there are
some who, shunning the crowd of mammon idolaters, with patient
vigil and unwearying toil, are planting the seeds of thought, which
will germinate and blossom, and bring forth fruit more precious
than the golde^i apple of the Hesperides — fruit delectable to the
intellectual taste of man, and worthy the refection of the Gods.
"Let me make the songs of a people and you may make their
laws," was the cunning and sagacious aphorism of Fletcher, of Sal-
toune. The power of literature represents indeed the potent virtue
of the minstrelsy of Adphion — the moral efficacy of the lyrics of Or-
pheus. By a single poem of his own the wise Solon of Greece in-
fused that spirit into Athenians before which Salamis was reduced
to shapeless ruin and consigned to inscrutable oblivion. The hymns
and invocations of ancient bards, Hesiod with his theogony, and the
blind old harper of Scio with his Illiad, his Odyssey and his songs,
created laws, systematised religions, gave animation to symbols,
EDWARD J- C. KEWEN, 355
personality to immaterial substances, and consciousness to the in-
visible attributes of nature. Once a caliph of Persia pointed to his
scimitar and his bands of trained seryitors as the only legitimate
arbiters of disputed succession. "This," said he " is my pedigree
and these its supporters and its proofs. " A free government points
alone to the mind and morality of its sons as the only equitable
foundation of public or private sovereignty. The intellectual and
moral spirit of our government will abide upon the earth as the re-
deeming spirit of after times, and v^ill be transmitted from one
generation to another like the inextinguishable fire of the Grecian
temples, till all the nations are filled with its meridian-like resplen-
dence.
This is not the Utopian vagary of fancy. In the consummation
of this magnificent destiny California will be pre-eminently instru-
mental. The splendid reality of free government has already been
demonstrated by the example of America, and an impulse given to
its eternal principle of regeneration which has rescued the millions
of France from the yoke of feudalism, which has given' to unhappy
Ireland the relief of partial emancipation, which has agitated Eng-
land with the purifying fires of revolution, and which has involved
the whole of Europe in convulsions for the fruition of republican
happiness. The admission of California has brought us in social
and commercial contact with nations whose centuiy-silent portals
are opening at the magic of our behest, and revealing to our acqui-
sition the treasures they have so long incontinently concealed.
Hither have flocked the emigrant bands of Asia. Hither have sped
the Mogul and Mongolian. Hither the Malay of Sumatra and the
Hindoo of the Ganges. Hither have wandered the inhabitants
from the frozen regions of the Neva and the Baltic, and the turban-
ed denizens from the banks of the Bosphorus and the Danube, and
hither are turned the anxious eye and aspiring hope of the millions
of Japan, of the East Indian Archipelago, and the islands of the
sea. This fantastic grouping of humanity, this motley assemblage
of contrary characters and antagonistic creeds, gives the most cheer-
ing promise of the dawn of universal freedom. Thrown in contin-
ual contact with the votaries of republican enlightenment, forced by
the necessity of their position into a familiarity with the character of
our people, our laws, our institutions and our government, they be-
come imbued with thoughts, feelings and principles which are trans-
mitted to the homes of foi-mer seclusion, and made the germs of so-
cial, moral and political emancipation. This fusion of so many
op230site qualities into the American alembic is the source of more
legitimate power over the despotisms of earth and the treasures of
the world than ever was symbolized to catholic faith by the key or
the crown of St. Peter.
In olden times the defences of imperial Rome were broken down
and desolated by the brutal horde of the Gothic conqueror, and the
savage Attila brandished his gleaming sword in triumph over the
"Eternal City." The last pale light which glimmered from its capi-
tol for the renovation of man, was extinguished by the inundation of
356 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
barbarian victors, and by the dastard infamy of the degenerate Ko-
man. That twinkling illumination was revived in the tragedy of
Yorktown, and from the American capitol its rays, dimly extending
over thirteen independent sovereignties, have gradually glowed and
broadened until the whole ocean-bound continent basks in the inef-
fable splendor of their noontide effulgence. Eeversing too, the
precedent of Boman degTadation, its brightness preserved like a
vestal flame, has dazzled the heathen in his blindness, has subdued
the ravaging spirit of the Goth, has caused to be mutilated the
century-grown defences of superstitious occlusion, and is permeat-
ing with lightning speed, and with the efficacy of lightning terrors,
the shadowy dominions of the hoary despotisms of the Orient. Glo-
rious in prospective is the destiny of our Kepublic.
But enough of inquiry of the past, enough of speculation as to
the future glory and dominion of America. The present with its
train of alluring associations, demands our thoughts and exacts a
tributary offering. I am surrounded by a pageant rivaling in
splendor the triumphal celebrations of Eome in its pride of power,
and in its haughtiness of supremacy. This glittering pageant is
more than an empty parade — more than an idle exhibition. It re-
presents the vanguard of civilization and freedom on the Pacific
shore. It commemorates the transplantation of Kepublican princi-
ples in the remote regions of the Occident. It is composed of stout
hearts and sinewy arms, of men of brilliant courage, adventurous
daring, stern resolves, intrepid energy and fearless enterprise — at-
tributes which everywhere distinguish the Pioneees of EepuiBlican
Progkess. It is significant of the achievement of greater results
then ever were contemplated by Czar of Russia or Turkish Sultan
as the fruit of extended empire. It is a proud and happy pageant
of enlightened freemen exulting in the triumph and growth of the
ever vital and regenerating principle of democracy.
It was indeed a period of patriotic exultation when California,
the dependency of a degenerate empire, was rescued from the
grasp of degrading sovereignty, and with its mountains of gold,
and its hills and its valleys, and its streams and its rivers, all im-
pregnated with glittering wealth, became incorporated into the sis-
terhood of American States. The pride, the glory and exultation
of the achievement belong to the intrepid explorers of the moun-
tains, the pioneers of the desert and the wilderness. Inspired by a
lofty courage, moved by a Providential inspiration, and sustained
by an unfaltering confidence, the pioneer severed himself from the
endearing associations of home and kindred, from native ties, from
tender memories of affection, from all his cherished household gods,
and launched forth into an untrodden field of exploration, adven-
ture and enterprise. Over arid plains beneath a scorching sun,
over valleys and hills, mountains and rocks, and waterless wastes
and burning sands, unawed by pestilence, unterrified by menacing
dangers, and fearlessly combating the horrible spectres of want,
and hunger and destitution, he "kept his onward course towards
where the burning axle of the chariot of day is bathed in the cool-
EDWARD J. C. KEWEN. 357
ing waters of the western ocean. Despite the eminent ]3eril which
environed his pathway, despite the toil, the heart-sickness, the
w^eariness and exhaustion, his soul was steadfast and invincible.
Like the Alpine adventurer to whom "Excelsior '' was the enlivening
magic of recuperation, the visions of freedom, and fame, and for-
tune, were the magical revivers of the exhausted and failing ener-
gies of the dauntless pioneer.
At length, like Moses on the summit of Pisgah, he stands upon
the snowy heights of the Sierras, and his eyes sparkle, his brain
reels with tumultuous pleasures, his bosom heaves with ecstatic
emotion, and his noble soul expands with patriotic enthusiasm as
he catches a glimpse of the far-off Canaan of his imagination — the
golden land of jDromise. More fortunate than the law-giver of Is-
rael, an angry God has not arrested his footsteps, nor doomed him
to perish, in view of the alliu'ing goal of his ambition. With fresh
courage and revived hope he is again amid the defiles and fastnesses
of danger-haunted mountains, with steady eye and patient steps,
and perseveiing toil, pursuing his undeviating track. Calmly, ma-
jesticallv, with proud heart and defiant energy, he subdues every
opposing obstacle, overcomes every difficulty, conquers every peril,
and at last with triumph on his brow and exultation in his heart, he
plants his foot upon the coveted shore and dedicates it to God, to
Freedom and his Native Land.
In the histories of past ages and nations, there are names that
will live in enduring remembrance while freedom exists on earth.
The virtues and patriotism of Epaminondas perpetuate his name as
the brightest that adorns the history of Theban Independence.
The courage of Hannibal, whose conquering legions traversed the
Alps, and overswept the classic plains of Italy, is indelibly associa-
ted with the unforgotten glory of Carthage. With Athens is iden-
tified f^ galaxy of her brilliant sons, and clusters of constellated
names adorn the coronal of Roman fame. But in the cycle of com-
ing years, when the pen of the historian shall trace the origin and
settlement of this occidental commonwealth, shall depict the virtues,
the sufferings, privations, fortitude and intrepidity at the basis of
the achievement, shall describe the mighty impulse it has given to
the progress of free government and extension of free principles,
and shall glisten the truthful page with the names of the heroic
founders of its fame, there is none that will gem the record with a
purer or more enduring lustre than the name of the immortal Sut-
TEK — the illustrious Original of California Pioneers.
In the immigrant throng aspiring for the western bourne, there
came other than manly forms and brawny arms, and hearts of iron
will and fierce determination. The perilous travel, the waterless
desert, the fatiguing sands, the exhausting ascent, the fear, the
doubt, the trembling hope and final exultation, were destined not
for man alone. Nor was the desertion of home, nor the abandon-
ment of friends, nor the relinquishment of ties that rend the heart,
the bitter fruit alone of manly privation. There were gentle be-
ings, with loving hearts and melting eyes, and faces fair as the
358 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC,
lioiiris of the Moslem's Eden, wlio, rising superior to the wilfull-
ness of Orpah, and betraying the self-sacrificing devotion of Kuth,
exclaimed each to the treasured object of worldly affection, and
hojpe, and trust — "Whither thou goest, I will go; where thou lodg-
est, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and th}' God my
God. " It was a pure, a sublime, an exalted devotion — a devotion
not unlike that of Mary's at the sepulchre of the Redeemer. Tiu:n-
ing for ever their fascinated gaze from the cherished haunts of na-
tivity, with confidence, and courage, and heroism, they too, follow-
ed the illumination of the star of empire, alluring them to the
unexplored regions of the west. Fatigue did not discourage them,
suffering did not dismay, sickness did not appall, peril did not inti-
midate. Emboldened by a lofty spirit, sustained by a noble pride,
and encouraged by a fond ambition, they encountered with boldness
the miseries of privation, the horrors of pestilence, the gloomy and
foreboding apparitions of famine and death. There are recollec-
tions at which the heart recoils. There are scenes at the contem-
plation of which the soul shrinks in unutterable anguish, the warm
blood freezes in its veins, and the quiet brain becomes distraught
with intensest agony. The pen is inadequate to portray — the tongue
is powerless to utter the appalling reminiscences that make up the
record of woman's experience, or the patience and fortitude with
which she endured it all, in the ultimate hope of becoming a moth-
er of an unborn Eepublic. The toil, the tribulation, the sorrow
and suffering have passed, and some — a few only — of the fair relics
of the toilsome adventure, are gazing upon the enchanting spectacle
of to-day — so like the illusory splendors of a sommer dream — with
joyous looks and beaming countenances, and hearts lifted with
gratitude to the Dispenser of every earthly benefaction. In our
hearts we greet them, in our heai-ts we bless them, and with grate-
ful emotions extend to them the chief homage of this jubilant an-
niversary.
To you, fellow Pioneers, a word of congratulation and I have
done.
This palatial city of San Francisco, with its luxurious mansions,
its granite palaces and its costly marts of commerce, is the glorious
fruitage of your adventure. The subdued waters of its bay, the ex-
tended lines of its quays, the busy hum of its thoroughfares, the
exliibitions everywhere visible of its taste, its opulence and refine-
ment, are the splendid creations and magnificent testimonials of
your enterprise. Scourged as it has been by the devastating flame,
retarded by natural obstacles, and at times inundated by swarms of
lawless banditti, it has never been diverted from its onward pro-
gress, nor ceased to be the monarch wonder of the world. Like a
young Titan, it has humbled the rugged wilderness, has upheaved
the seated hills from their foundations, and with a conqueror's step
has advanced along the pathway of progress like a prince to a
throne. Its harbor glistens with a forest of masts belonging to the
ships of every nation, which have poured and are pouring upon oui
shores the accumulated riches of the East, and vaster treasures from
EDWARD J. C. KETTEN. 359
every clime than ever freighted the galleons of Spain or the argo-
sies of Venice.
Champollion taught the world to decipher the hieroglyphics on
the ohelisk the tombs and temples of Egj-pt, but a higher gloiy
was reserved for the Pioneers of the Pacific, by whom was destined
the revelation to mankind of its unavailing search of centuries — the
western route to the commerce of the Indies and of the islands of
the Eastern Archipelago. Coincident with the exhumation of gold-
en treasures from the bleak summits of the Sierras, was the contri-
bution to our shore of the riches of China and Japan, and the
remote Islands of the Pacific waste of waters. One other acquisi-
tion and the glory of San Francisco will have reached its zenith.
"When the veins and arteries of commercial life shall permeate the
broad expanse that separates the Golden Gate from the Atlantic,
then will its magnificent destiny proclaim it the commercial metro-
polis of the woiid, outrivaling in commerce, in arts, in science and
literature the renown of antiquity, and the boasted pretensions of
modern greatness. If this sublime consummation is defeated, free-
dom will be deprived of its brightest hope, and a crime will be
perpetrated against the social and political necessities of humanity,
more wicked than that which classic fable has punished with the
naked rock and the gnawing vulture. Promote this glorious enter-
prise, and the swelling splendors and far-reaching fame of this
mighty continent will be imperishable monuments to the memory
of the Pioneers of Freedom and Destiny.
CHARLES WESTMORELAND
THE name which heads this article was that of one
of the most genial and pleasant men who ever
devoted themselves earnestly to a good cause. Charles
Westmoreland was born in Georgia, in 1829, of good
ancestry. He was liberally educated, and possessed
qualities which would have made him a popular leader
in his native State; but his manhood had hardly begun
when, in 1853, he came to California. After a brief
trial at the hazards of mining, which every one made in
those days, he turned his attention to law, literature, and
politics. He was first prominently known as State Sen-
ator from Placer county, having been elected to that
office on the Know-Nothing ticket in 1855. He was the
youngest member af the Senate at that time, except
Burton, of Nevada, being only twenty-six years old.
His Know-Nothingism was only a temporary cloak for
hostility to State-Rights Democracy, and after the dis-
memberment of the party, he allied himself with the
Free- Soil Democracy of California under the leadership
of Broderick, to whom he was warmly attached.
During his term in the Senate, he was intimate with
the lamented Ferguson, who was killed in a duel with
George Pen Johnston in 1859, and eloquently mourned
by Col. E. D. Baker. Both were men of brilliant qual-
ities and too social habits, though Westmoreland sub-
362 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
sequently led a more prudent life, and had made sure
of an honorable career.
Subsequently to his legislative career, Westmoreland
tried his professional fortunes in Oregon, where he made
the acquaintance of most of the leading men of the day.
He had returned to California before the rebellion broke
out, and when that event occurred was residing in Shasta.
As editor of the Courier^ a v/eekly newspaper in that
town, he distinguished himself by the strong Union
ground he took, and by the vigor, wit, and sarcasm with
which he assailed the Peace Democracy. Although a
Southerner born, and with a wife and child behind him
in Georgia, he never hesitated in his allegiance to the
cause of the Republic, and was restrained by no pre-
judices born of ^'the peculiar institution."
After the election in 1861, when the Union men of
the State were divided in rival organizations, he lent his
influence to the movement for a consolidation of the
loyal vote, and was largely instrumental in carrying the
War Democrats of his county into the Union party which
was formed in the spring of 1862. When leaders like
John Conness seemed inclined to hold aloof from the
movement, afraid of losing their personal consequence,
he aided it with patriotic enthusiasm.
During the winter of 1862 and spring of 1863, he
was associate editor of the MarysvUle Appeal, a conspicuous
and influential Republican daily. After the nomination
of the Union State ticket in 1863, he took charge of the
San Francisco Republic, a warm campaign paper founded
on the ruins of the old Herald.
At the first session of the Legislature which met
under the amended constitution, in December, 1863, he
was elected by the Union members of the Senate Secre-
tary of their body, in recognitipn of his services to the
Union cause. During the Presidential campaign of 1864
he was Secretary of the Union State Central Committee,
in which position he contributed materially to organize the
efficient canvass by which California was carried for Lincoln.
After returning from a short trip to Washington, he
established himself in the legal profession at Areata,
CHARLES WESTMORELAND. 363
Humboldt county, continuing to be always an active
Union partisan, and using both his voice and pen in
defence of the most advanced Republican principles.
He was elected to the Assembly of 1867-8, and was
the leader of the Republican minority in that body, de-
fending his party ideas and measures in the face of a
triumphant majority, with ready ability and eloquence.
He was a competitor with Chancellor Hartson for the
Congressional nomination in the Northern District, in
1868. Failing of that nomination, he accepted a place
on the Grant electoral ticket, and stumped his district
until the close of the campaign. He was elected mes-
senger to carry the vote of the State to Washington, and
left San Francisco upon that honorable errand by the
steamship Montana^ September 4th, 1868. This was
during the height of the memorable small-pox epidemic.
He had contracted the disease, which developed itself on
the voyage, and carried him to his grave at Panama, on
the 25th of December. His friend William B. Carr car-
ried the electoral vote to Washington by his appointment.
Mr. Westmoreland was apparently in the best health when
he left San Francisco. • His tall and ample form, his
rosy cheeks and fair complexion, his genial smile and
gay conversation, seemed to be the indices of a satisfied
mind, looking forward to an honorable career. He ex-
pected to meet a motherless son for the first time in
many years, after a separation painfully prolonged by
the war at the South. But it was not to be. That boy
is now the ward of his father's friend, George C. Gorham,
Secretary of the United States Senate. Congress passed
a resolution appropriating for the orphan the money his
father would have received as messenger. Westmoreland
was possessed of a pleasing eloquence, both as speaker and
writer. He was a witty and genial companion, a man of
strong opinions and original expressions, and an en-
thusiastic idealist on the subject of equal rights and human
progress. His untimely death was widely regretted. His
former neighbors in Northern California have made ar-
rangements to erect a monument over his remains in
their distant place of rest.
EUGENE CASSERLY
EUGENE Casserly, Senator of the United States from
California, was born at Mullingar, county of West-
meath) Ireland, in 1822. His family was a branch of the
O'Connors, and was formerly known as the O'Connor
Casserlys, from a marked personal characteristic in one
of his progenitors. His father and grandfather were
both schoolmasters, and the latter a man of considerable
influence among his neighbors and countrymen, with
whom he took an active part in the Rebellion of '98,
being at the head of one of the insurgent lodges whose
ramiiications permeated the middle and southern portions
of the island at that time. He suffered severely in per-
son on the disastrous termination of the attempt at In-
dependence, and narrowly escaped with life.
Patrick Sarsfield Casserly, the father of the subject
of the present sketch, emigrated to the United States in
1824, bringing with him his family, consisting of his wife
and little Eugene, then two years old. It is reported,
we believe with truth, that the father went directly from
the ship to the Court-room to take the preliminary steps
towards becoming a citizen of his adopted country, be-
fore he had even prepared a resting-place for his family.
Immediately thereafter, he resumed the practice of his
profession, and for many years was at the head of a well
known educational establishment in New York city. He
was a man of superior intelligence and culture, and was
known as one of the best classical scholars of his day in
the United States. He personally supervised the educa-
366 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
tion of his family, and being an enthusiast in classical
studies, he commenced to instill the rudiments of Greek
and Latin into the minds of his children at a very early
age. Thus Eugene was studying Greek at five years of
age — a period when few children now-a-days have com-
menced the study of their mother -tongue. The boy
showed wonderful aptitude for the task, however, and
progressed in his studies so rapidly that at a very early
age he was enabled to render material assistance to his
father in compiling and editing a number of classical
educational works, with which the name of the parent is
honorably connected. For a number of years — in fact,
until he closely approached manhood — Mr. Casserly as-
sisted his father in the conduct of his school ; but when
he touched twenty, or thereabouts, he determined to
launch into the world on his own account and carve out
his own career.
At the time we speak of, young Casserly' s character
and literary attainments had attracted the attention of a
number of influential persons, prominent among whom
was Dr. Hughes, then Bishop, and subsequently Arch-
bishop of ]^ew York, who was his early, steadfast, and
most judicious friend. When, therefore, he had deter-
mined to commence the battle of life, he found friends
not unwilling to aid him, and although the conflict was
at first a hard one, success soon began to smile upon his
efforts.
Mr. Casserly' s first attempts were directed to journal-
ism, and he obtained the position of editor of the
FreemariJs Journal^ then struggling for the position it has
since obtained as the leading Irish Catholic journal of
the metropolis. His marked ability soon told on the
fortunes of that paper, and in a short time he succeeded
in placing it on a permanent basis. At the same time,
he contributed freely to many of the leading journals of
New York, Boston, and Washington, and became well
known to the editorial fraternity as a rising member of
the profession, and there can be no doubt that had he
continued in it, he would long since have attained to
eminence therein. His ambition, however, led him in
EUGENE CASSERLY, 367
another direction ; and while yet engaged in the duties
of editor, he entered himself as a student at law in the
office of Mr. John Bigelow, then a leading member of
the Kew York bar, subsequently one of the editors of the
Evening Post, and more recently Minister to France from
the United States. He was admitted to the bar in 1844,
and was shortly afterwards chosen attorney of the cor-
poration of New York city, a position of considerable
emolument and patronage.
The '^ California fever," which prevailed so extensively
throughout the Atlantic States in 1849, did not spare
our young advocate, who hoped to find in a new country
a shorter road to fame and fortune than that worn by so
many wearied feet in the old States. In July, 1850, he
started by the Panama route, and arrived in San Fran-
cisco in August of that year. The field of journalism
promising well at the time, he brought to San Francisco
the materials of a printing office, and in a short time
after his arrival, in connection with Mr. Benjamin R.
Buckalew, he started the Public Balance^ a daily paper,
which soon acquired in a particular manner the con-
fidence of the community. His partner, however, was
an uncongenial spirit, and after a few months of success-
ful efibrt, they separated, Mr. Casserly changing the name
of the paper to the True Balance^ and subsequently to the
Standard. At this time he was elected State Printer by
the Legislature then in session, the first that met under
the American flag. Business prospered, and the future
looked bright, when the disastrous fire of May 3d and
4th, 1851, swept his whole property away in a night.
His library alone was saved. Without means, but with
a courageous heart, he faced the world anew.
Mr. Casserly now determined to devote himself per-
manently to the law, and from this resolution he never
afterwards swerved. His success was rapid and constant,
and for many years, if not the leader, he certainly was
second to no one practicing at the California bar.
In early manhood, Mr. Casserly connected himself
with the Democratic party of the United States, affiliating
himself with the advanced wing of the organization then
368 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
led by Silas Wright of N"ew York. He lias always been
an active member of the party in California^ as in fact he
was one of its founders, and continued one of its most
approved counsellors. This was particularly the case in
the dark days towards the close of the great civil war,
when at times it seemed as if the party, in the face of
constant and overwhelming defeat, was doomed to anni-
hilation. It is hardly saying too much to assert that its
preservation and its succeeding triumphs on the Pacific
coast were due to the indomitable pluck and perseverance
of Mr. Casserly, who would never consent to an abandon-
ment of the struggle, even when it seemed most hopeless.
When the troubles which eventually led to the out-
break of the great civil war first began to overshadow the
land, Mr. Casserly threw his whole influence into the scale
of peace ; nor did he ever relax his efi'orts, urging stren-
uously and with all his power the necessity for concession
on both sides, and the propriety especially of granting
to the Southern States the guarantees they demanded.
When, however, war was actually inaugurated, he promptly
took his place by the flag under whose folds he had been
placed in infancy by his father, and no less strenuously
urged the necessity for supporting the Government with
every man and dollar in the land. He lent his powerful
aid in preventing the State of California from drifting
into the vortex of secession that at one time threatened.
He took an active part in the organization of the Sanitary
Commission, an organization instituted to care for the
wounded soldiers in the field. While thus doing his ut-
most to secure the supremacy of the Grovernment, he
nevertheless always pronounced in favor of holding the
administration strictly to the cause for which the war
was prosecuted — the restoration of the supremacy of the
flag under the constitution, frowning at all attempts to
engraft other and extraneous issues upon the struggle.
He warmly advocated the election of Gen. McClellan to
the Presidency in 1864, standing firmly on his "platform,"
that the war must be prosecuted to an honorable peace,
but that peace once established, the States in rebellion
should be at once restored to their position in the Union,
EUGENE CASSERLY. 369
with all the rights and guarantees they held under the
constitution.
Although the Democracy failed to elect their can-
didate in 1864^ the wisdom of Mr. Casserly's policy in
putting the party on a patriotic constitutional basis was
apparent within a comparatively short period, when that
party achieved a complete triumph in the election of
Governor Haight — a triumph which in turn placed Mr.
Casserly in the most honorable position in the gift of the
people of California. Immediately on the assembling of
the Legislature in 1867, (the first in which the Democrats
had held a majority for many years) he was brought for-
ward as a candidate for the United States Senate, and,
after a spirited contest, was elected b}^ a large majority in
December of that year, to serve for six years from March
4th, 1869, on which day he was sworn into office and took
his seat.
Mr. Casserly is a ripe scholar, a proficient in several
foreign languages, and a master of his own. He is one
of the best classical scholars on the Pacific, and is a Mas-
ter of Arts of Georgetown College, D. C, an institution
remarkably chary of its honors. He is a pleasing speaker,
although not what could be called a popular orator, his
voice lacking the volume requisite for addressing large
open-air audiences, and the severity of his taste restrict-
ing him from the flights which many less gifted speakers
attempt with ease. In a moderate-sized chamber he is
very effective, and is always a close and exhaustive logic-
ian. Some of his efforts at the bar are models in their
way, and he is admirably adapted to the field he now oc-
cupies in the Senate of the United States.
He is a man of medium height, with a well-knit
frame, and a clear, though deep-set brown eye. The size
and conformation of his head indicate a large and well-
balanced brain ; while his temperament is ardent yet well
restrained. His hair is prematurely white. His private
life is as spotless as his public character, and no better
testimonial to his worth need be sought for than the fact
that his selection to the Senate was hailed by the best
men of both parties as a triumph of intelligence and
24
370 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
Virtue, and that a partisan press — more violent in its
bigotry perhaps than any in the Union — was silent, or
spoke but to say that his party dare not reject him. With
the exception of the positions of Corporation Attorney
in New York and State Printer in California, both of
which were strictly in the line of his professional duties,
Mr. Casserly never sought nor held public office prior to
his election to the Senate.
In 1854, at San Francisco, Mr. Casserly married
Teresa, daughter of the late John Doyle, Esq., one of
the oldest and most respected merchants of N'ew York
city. By her he has issue, two sons and a daughter.
Mr. Casserly' s mother and several brothers are living in
!N'ew York.
BY HON. EUGENE CASSEKLY.
At the opening of the Superior Court of San Francisco, Nov. 22d, 1852 — ^the
news of the death of Daniel Webster having just reached California — Eugene
Casserly, Esq., on behalf of the bar, arose and delivered the following tribute to
the memory of the great American lawyer and statesman,
Ma.y it PLEASE YOUR Honor: In accordance with an observance
prompted by the best impulse of our nature, and sanctioned by an
honorable usage, I have to move that this Court adjourn for this day,
without the transaction of business, out of respect for the genius, serv-
ices, and memory of Daniel Webster. When, on the night before
last, the deep signal-gun of the steamship broke, amid the storm and
darkness of midnight, upon our silent city, it was a far less startling
sound than the tidings which it announced, sudden, heavy, sad, of
an event that is nothing less than a national disaster. " Death (it is
said) loves a shining mark," and of late his unemng shafts have been
launched fast and frequent into the lessening circle qf the statesmen
and patriots, of whom Webster was among the greatest and the last.
It was but the other day that the solemn funeral obsequies filled the
city with gloom, and the long procession flowed through the streets;
and still the sable badges of mourning, conspicuous in all the public
places, and in these Court-rooms, and about the judgment-seats, speak
the people's love and sorrow for another illustrious man — the con-
temporary of Daniel Webster — ^his associate in the Halls of Congress,
EUGENE CASSERLY. 371
and through long years of signal public services his compeer and
friend, Henry Clay, of Kentucky. Again and again, while the heart
of the nation is still swelling with that great bereavement, comes
another blow: one by one Death takes them, and as each of that
shining band falls, the sound shakes the land even to this far Pacific
shore. One after another they have gone from among us, to be for-
evermore with the spirits of the just made perfect; but when Daniel
Webster is taken, there is left an aching void of grief, dismay and
desolation, by which we may know how gxeat was the space he filled
in the thoughts and affections of his country.
Mr. Webster was, in the best sense of the words, a self-made
man, and his success in the very highest stations is a splendid tribute,
not less to the equality of our institutions, than to his own exalted
powers. Born in the fourth year after the Declaration of Independ-
ence, amid the sterile hills and deep forests of New Hampshire —
his father, a captain in Stark's company — Daniel Webster, a poor
boy, with no advantages of education except what he could glean
from the humble village schools of New England; owing nothing to
connection, nothing to position, nothing to opportunity — except that
which genius makes for itself — rose by swift ascents through all the
grades of success and honor, as a lawyer, a legislator, a senator, an
ambassador, a chief minister of the Cabinet, until his greatness be-
came a part of his country's growth, and penetrated into every
quarter of Europe; so that when " the inevitable hour" came to him.
after he had passed the limit of age allotted to man, he sank, ripe in
years and fame, in the fullness of his dignities and renown. In the
course of a public life of forty years and upwards, during which his
powers of mind and force of character permitted him to take no
second part, it may be there have been measures of his upon which
his countr;yTnen will differ in their judgment. But the sincerity of
his purpose, the rectitude of his principles, the dignity of his
manhood, who can justly arraign? Who can say with trutli that his
intellect — the mightiest among men — was not ever guided by pat-
riotism; or that in the service of his country his great soul ever
harbored one mean or disloyal thought — one wish that was not de-
voted to her welfare and her glory?
Among the loftiest minds of the nation, he filled fitly the highest
place. During his career in the Senate of the United States, his
associates were such men as Clay and Calhoun, Benton and Wright,
and many more of inferior, but still of great, power and reputation.
It was a galaxy of worth and intellect, where stars of less than the
first magnitude '' paled their ineffectual fires," and were lost. But
Webster still shone the brightest there; he "led the starry host."
His intellect, ca^Dacious and powerful, grasped the questions, and
wielded them at will. His logic was like the touch of Ithuriel's spear,
and the march of his rhetoric was like the swell of the sea. His
eloquence, disdaining the ornaments and the meretricious aids with
which weaker natures seek to hide their poverty, rose like his native
mountains, in simple, severe, self-sustaining strength and majesty,
lifting all subjects which it embraced oiit of the fogs and mists
372 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of a lower sphere into the clear sunshine and free- air of a higher
heaven.
But, if your Honor pleases, it was in our own profession — as a
lawyer — that we love to contemplate him. Most worthily did he
represent the true dignity and excellence of the law; and in it did he
achieve the first and the most unquestioned of his triumphs. Here,
also, he won his last. His speech for the prosecution in the famous
Crowninshield case, is a classic in our schools; and in the great case
of the Dartmouth College, before the highest judicial tribunal of the
land, he brought the whole vigor of his intellect, his resistless logic
and commanding eloquence, to the vindication and establishment of
the provision in the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing
the inviolability of contracts. But, however great these or any other
of his legal arguments may have been, it is conceded that the last
occasion of his appearance at the bar, in the Goodyear Patent case,
betrayed no abatement of his powers. To the last he was still him-
self — still the first of living lawyers. Like the orb of day, though
past his meridian, he shone to the last with undiminished light and
majesty; or rather, like some mighty river as it nears the ocean, his
intellect, verging to Eternity, flowed on in wider and more placid
grandeur.
Great as a lawyer, as a Senator, as an Ambassador clothed with
powers and responsibilities the most august, as the Chief Minister
of the Cabinet at Washington, conducting the gravest and most
difficult relations with foreign powers, and administering the highest
executive functions with character, talent, and dignity — it w^as never-
theless his peculiar glory that he was the Champion and Expounder
of the Constitution. Here, his heart and intellect found their most
acceptable exercise, and here, great though they were, they found an
ample field. He brought to the task a rare combination of qualities
— an intellect trained to its utmost development in the conflict of
the bar and the Senate — a wealth of historical knowledge and il-
lustration — a fervor of patriotism — an earnestness and a power of
eloquence, which fitted him to be the interpreter and guardian of the
charter of our rights as a confederation, and which nothing could
withstand. However men might differ from him, as to some of his
conclusions upon the exciting questions which have divided the
country — none could deny to him this preeminence and this trust.
It was a sacred duty, and in more than one time of gloom and trial,
right well did he do his work. And behold his reward — a reward
to minds like his more grateful than any honors, any office, any
Presidency. He had the gratitude of his countrymen, and he lived
to see the Union and Constitution he had done so much to guard and
sustain, growing greater and stronger to the last hour of his Hfe.
In his own grand language, and in happy fulfilment of the prayer
so devoutly expressed in the peroration of his speech, in reply to
Senator Hayne, of South Carolina, in the Senate, in January, 1830:
" When his eyes turned to behold for the last time the sun in
heaven, he did not see him shining on the broken and dishonored frag-
ments of our once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant,
EUGENE CASSERLY. 373
belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched in fraternal
blood. Rather did their last feeble and lingering glance behold the
gorgeous ensign of the RepubHc, now known and honored through-
out the whole earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies
streaming in their original lustre : not a stripe erased or polluted,
nor a single star obscured — bearing for its motto no such miserable
interrogatory as 'What is all this worth?' nor those other words of
delusion and folly, ' Liberty first and Union afterwards;' but er^'ery-
where, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its
ample folds, as they float over the sea, and over the land, and in
every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to
exery true American heart. Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one
and inseparable."
Forty years, with a genius and patriotism not often equalled, had
he served his country and his countrymen, when from the highest
place in the Cabinat and its weighty cares, he withdrew for a brief
period into the repose and retirement of his farm at Marshfield.
Even then, his last official act was to avert the collision threatened on
our norihem waters, between this country and the greatest of earthly
powers beside. Even there, in that refuge, death found him out,
and with remorseless hand took from us all of Daniel AVebster that
would die.
It is past! A good and a faithful servant, he has fought his last
fight on earth. His spirit has returned to Him who gave it. There
is a lamentation and a gloom in the land. In the highest realms of
intellect, where he ruled with supreme dominion, there is a void.
The place that has known him shall know him no more. No more
shall he shine in the front of the worth, the intellect, and the
patriotism of the nation. No more, amid "listening senates," or
among the rulers of the people, shall be seen the majesty of his
presence, his Olympian head, " the front of Jove himself." No more
shall his eloquence sway with magic power the hearts of men.
No more shall his master hand, with conscious strength, guide the
helm of aifairs. No more in the thick and troubled night shall his
country look to the light of his genius as to her guiding star; in vain
shall she with sad inquiry explore the darkening firmament, whence
that bright planet has disappeared, making it to suffer a disastrous
eclipse !
But, no; let me be pardoned these words. It is not for such as
Daniel Webster to die and be ^no more. In that solemn moment
between time and eternity, when the soul of man just about to shake
off its earthly trammels, pierces with new sight into the future, on
the brink of which it hovers, his soul, endowed with this prophetic
sense, gave it utterance in the words, " I still live!"
Yes, he still lives, in his great example and his magnificent serv-
ices, in his genius and his patriotism, of which the light and glory
are still over the whole land, and will be with us always to guide, to
encourage, and to exalt — lives in the heart of his country, and in
whatever else of her is most immortal, in her history and her renown,
in her freedom, in her greatness, and in eternal destiny — ^lives, while
374 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the mountains stand and the rivers flow — lives, while the Union and
the Constitution live, never to die until they fall, and the very name
of the Kepublic is blotted from the earth.
But, if your Honor please, why should I say more? "What man,
with words, can add to the greatness of Daniel Webster, of Massa-
chusetts, of New England, of the Union, of the w^orld; or why
should I, with my feeble rushlight, seek to show forth the meridian
effulgence ? From a task too great for my powers, I willingly escape,
and move that this Court adjourn for the day.
V^-
HENRY WAGER HALLECK
^Y ^UDGE J. y/. J^REELON.
MAJOR General Henry. Wager Halleck, U. S. Army,
was born on the banks of the Mohawk River, at
Westville, Oneida County, State of New York, in 1815.
He is a lineal descendant from Peter Halleck, one of the
Pilgrim Fathers, who landed at Halleck' s Neck, Southold,
in 1640, and settled within the limits of Aquebogue, near
Mattituck. •.
The family name* in England is Holly Oak, and Fitz
Greene Halleck, the poet, traced back the lineage to the
Percy family. The Genefal's grandfather. Deacon Gabez,
changed the spelling of the faiiiily,,name from Hallock to
Halleck — the orthography adopted also by that branch
of the family from which Fitz Greene Halleck descended.
The subject of this biographical notice does not, however,
claim any interest in the Mount Halak territory annexed
by Joshua, and which the poet used to claim as the orig-
inal homestead of his Puritan ancestors.
General Halleck' s father, Joseph, was a Lieutenant in
the war of 1812, and a civil magistrate in his county for
some thirty years. His mother was the daughter of Hen-
ry Wager, of Oneida County, New York. He was a man
of strong sense, and filled many legislative and political
positions with credit. His father came from Baden Bad-
en and settled on the Hudson River. The old mansion,
with its gable end towards the street, built of bricks im-
ported from Holland, is still standing in Columbia Coun-
ty. The name was originally spelled, as it still is, in Ger-
many, Waghner.
The subject of this sketch, after a preliminary academi-
376 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
cal education, and a brief residence at Union College, New
York, entered the Military Academy in 1835, nominated
by the late Judge Beardsley, then Member of Congress,
and was graduated and promoted as Second Lieutenant of
Engineers in 1839 — ranking third in a class of thirty-one
cadets. During his furlough, he returned to, and com-
pleted his studies at, Union College. From his graduation
till 1844 he was on duty as Assistant Professor of Engi-
neering, at the Academy, and employed on the fortifica-
tions in 'New York harbor. In 1845 he made an extend-
ed tour in Europe, examining into the various military
establishments of the principal States. After his return,
he delivered a series of lectures before the Lowell Insti-
tute, of Boston, on Military Art and Science.
In the summer of 1846 he was sent^ via Cape Horn,
to the Pacific Coast, and was actively employed both in
civil and military capacities during the Mexican war. For
gallant conduct in the affairs of Palos, Prietos and Urias,
Mexico, November 19th and 20th, 1847, he was breveted
a Captain. He was subsequently distinguished in the
affairs of San Antonio and Todos Santos, Lower Califor-
nia, March 16th and 30th, 1848. At the former place,
with a small detachment of mounted volunteers with
whom he had made a forced march from La Paz, he sur-
prised and defeated a Mexican garrison of several hun-
dred men, capturing two officers and other prisoners, the
colors and official records ; destroying arms and ammuni-
tion, and returning to his post within thirty hours, during
which he had accomplished these results and a march of
one hundred and twenty miles. At Todos Santos he led
the attack with two companies of the New York Volun-
teers, and "for his assistance as Chief of Staff," and "for
the able manner in which he led on the attack," he was
specially commended in the official report of his com-
manding officer.
Captain Halleck also acted as Aid-de-Camp to Commo-
dore Shubrick in the naval and military operations along
the Mexican coast, and in that capacity participated in
the capture of Mazatlan, of which place he was made
Lieutenant Governor. He is closely identified with the
HENRY WAGER HALLECK. 377
early history of California, acting as Secretary of State
under the military governments of Generals Mason and
Riley, and during the same period as Auditor of the Rev-
enues. He was a prominent member of the Convention
assembled in 1849 to form a State Constitution; and as
an active member of the drafting committee, had an im-
portant part in the preparation of that instrument ; being
distinguished also for his able and determined opposition
against all attempts to engraft African slavery upon this
State. Between the years 1850 and 1854, he was on duty
as Judge Advocate and Inspector and Engineer of Light-
houses on this coast. Having attained the rank of Cap-
tain of Engineers, he resigned from the army. In 1854 he
entered into the practice of law in San Francisco, and was
fur many years the senior partner of one of the largest law-
firms in California. He was Director General of the ^^ew
Almaden Quicksilver Mine, 1850-61; President of the
Pacific and Atlantic Railroad from San Francisco to San
Jose, 1855, and Major General of Militia, 1860-61.
Soon after the breaking out of civil war he returned
into the army, being appointed on the recommendation
of Lieut. Gen. Scott, a Major General, August 17th,
1861. From November of same year till March, 1862, he
was in command of the Department of the Missouri, hold-
ing also a commission as Major General of Missouri Mili-
tia. During this period he was actively engaged in re-
constructing a chaotic department in which materiel was
wanting and the personnel was demoralized, and in direct-
ing offensive operations against the enemy. He had
the principal direction of the military movements result-
ing in the successful campaigns of the West, commenc-
ing in February, 1862.
In March, 1862, General Halleck assumed command of
the Department of the Mississippi, and in the following
month took immediate command of the army before Cor-
inth. The investment of this place was, under his per-
sonal direction, conducted to a successful issue, notwith-
standing obstacles almost insurmountable. Deficient in
the means of transportation, he advanced over and in
roads nearly impassable, and through forests that might
378 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
have been deemed impenetrable by any other troops than
those under his command.
After the unfortunate termination of General McClel-
lan's campaign, resulting in the withdrawal of an heroic
army from the front of Richmond to the banks of the
James, the President decided to call a soldier to Wash-
ington, to assume, under his direction, a general control
over all the armies of the United States. General Hal-
leck was selected by the administration for this purpose,
and was at once summoned to Washington. But, being
fully aware that the position would involve grave respon-
sibilities — without corresponding powers to direct — and
that therein he would find the duties extremely arduous,
harassing, and utterly thankless, he asked that he might
be allowed to remain with his own troops. The Presi-
dent's order, however, succeeded the invitation, and the
General cheerfully entered upon the duties of his new
position, assuming command of the army in July, 1862.
He thus sacrificed the opportunity for reaping personally
the results which followed the operations initiated and, to
a great extent, conceived by him, and which were so glo-
riously executed by our Western armies. He was in
command of the army till March, 1864, when he was re-
lieved at his own request, and in view of General Grant's
promotion to the grade of Lieutenant General. He then,
at the urgent request of the President and at the desire
of General Grant and the Secretary of War, remained at
Washington and acted as Chief of Staff of the Army till
cessation of hostilities. The duties of this position, anom-
alous in our service, were, inasmuch as the General-in-
Chief was permitted to take the field, essentially the same
as those that he had been permitted to exercise as com-
manding general. The embarrassments were somewhat
increased, while the power of individual action was even
more restrained. In view of his own experience at Army
Headquarters he advised General Grant to remain away
from the stronghold of the politicians, and to seek safety
from their mines under the fire of Lee's Army. In this
advice he was most cordially sustained by the brilliant
Sherman.
HENRY WAGER HALLECK. 379
Upon General Grant's return to Washington, after re-
ceiving General Lee's surrender, General Halleckwas sent
to Richmond in command of the Military Division of the
James, and was specially charged with the reeestablish-
ment, so far as practicable, of loyal civil government in
Virginia. In July, 1865, he was assigned to command of
the Military Division of the Pacific, and returned to his
home and assumed that command in August of same
year.
The General is the author of a work on "Bitumen:
its varieties, properties, and uses," 1841 ; of "Elements of
Military Art and Science," 1846 — and a second edition,
"with critical notes on the Mexican and Crimean Wars,"
1858; of "A Collection of Mining Laws of Spain and
Mexico," 1859 ; of a work on " International Law, or rules
regulating the intercourse of States in Peace and War,"
1861, and of "A Treatise on International Law and the
Laws of War, prepared for the use of Schools and Col-
leges," 1866. Translator and Editor of " De Fooz on
the Law of Mines, with introductory remarks," 1860;
and of " General Jomini's Life of Napoleon," with notes,
1864.
The Degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by
Union College in 1843, and that of LL. D. in 1862.
His published works alone are enough to make a reputa-
tion for any reasonable man, and will always remain a
monument of his learning and industry. They are con-
stantly quoted as authority in the Courts. We have heard
one Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States
say that upon the "rules of war" the Supreme Court
considered General Halleck as "the best authority."
But his double life of civillian and soldier has been so
full, so crowded, we may say, that his authorship seems
almost a secondary thing in his history.
In September, 1848, he was appointed Professor of
Engineering in "Lawrence's Scientific School" of Har-
vard University, Massachusetts, which appointment he
declined.
General Halleck has been one of the best abused men
in the country. As General-in-Chief he was forced to
380 EEPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
occupy a position misunderstood, even in the army. It
was one of responsibility without power. He had no
authority to act otherwise than was approved by the
President and the Secretary of War. He could simply
advise them, and then act as they saw best; the nation
holding him responsible for the simple execution, in good
faith, of orders that were oftentimes in direct conflict with
his own judgment. When General Grant succeeded him
the people had become heartily tired of the mixed Direc-
tory, and Congress conferred upon that General powers
that had never been granted to his predecessors.
General Halleck exhibited a commendable spirit of
self-sacrifice in remaining in Washington as Grant's chief-
of-stafiP, after his own experience of the annoyances sur-
rounding an army Headquarters so inconveniently near
the seat of Government.
The General has certainly betrayed none of the pro-
fessional jealousy supposed to be characteristic of military
men, and which has impaired the usefulness of some of
our most prominent soldiers. It was he that first discov-
ered and nourished the war-like qualities of Sheridan.
It was he that recommended, first, Buell and Grant, and
then C. F. Smith for promotion as Major Generals of Volun-
teers — Badeau being mistaken in asserting that Smith was
recommended before Grant. He was also an earnest ad-
vocate of the claims of Grant, Sherman, Thomas, Meade,
and McPherson, for promotion in the regular army.
During the war he was in most cordial cooperation with
these distinguished men.
It was Halleck that sustained Grant while in difficulties,
both after Fort Donelson and after Pittsburg Landing.
On the latter occasion the steady support of his command-
ing General was of vital importance to the present Chief
Magistrate. The pressure brought upon General Halleck
by the President, Secretary of War, and several of the
Western Governors, for the removal of Grant from all
command, was almost irresistible. To save him from be-
ing absolutely shelved. General Halleck placed him sec-
ond in command to himself, it being impossible to con-
tinue him at that time of popular prejudice in command
HEXRY WAGER HALLECK. 381
of one of the armies. These circumstances have been
gravely misrepresented by Badeau in his life of Grant.
It is not true that Halleck ever issued orders for Banks
to supersede Grant at Yicksburg. Such action ^Yas un-
doubtedly discussed by his superiors, but General Halleck
had no desire to see Grant superseded.
Again, just before the battle of Nashville, General
Grant becoming impatient at the apparent slowness of
Thomas' movements, directed that he should be relieved;
but Halleck' s faith in Thomas was so strong that, al-
though entirely unsupported by the Administration in
such action, he assumed the responsibility of withholding
the order. A glorious victory was the result of the op-
portunity thus preserved to General Thomas.
The friends of McClellan charged his removal from
command to Halleck's influence; but although urged by
the Secretary of War, and nearly the entire Cabinet, to
join with them in recommending that change, he refused
to comply.
Neither was General Halleck responsible for the ap-
pointment to or removal from command of Burnside or
Hooker. When it was determined, however, to relieve
the latter, the General recommended Meade as his suc-
cessor.
General Halleck married, in 1855, a granddaughter of
Alexander Hamilton, and daughter of John C. Hamilton,
Author of '^History of the Republic of the United States,"
^'Life of Hamilton," ''Works of Hamilton," etc. He has
only one child, a son, now thirteen years old. The General
is a very wealthy man, having made his fortune out of the
professional emoluments of his practice of law in Califor-
nia. His firm, owdng in a great degree, to the knowledge
of the Mexican language, and titles, and customs acquired
during his early residence on the Pacific by the General,
did probably the largest and most profitable land business
in procuring the confirmation of Spanish grants, ever
done in the United States by one law firm.
In June, 1869, under orders from headquarters at
Washington, General Halleck relinquished to General
Thomas the command of the Department of the Pacific,
382 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and assumed that of the Department of the South^ with
headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky, where he is now
stationed. He lives in a style becoming his position and
means, but entirely without ostentation — cautious, wise,
of untiring industry, of great research — having at com-
mand vast stores of patiently-acquired information upon
almost all subjects. Conservative and just by nature, he
is calculated to be a safe adviser, and we trust and be-
lieve that his days of useful service are only commenced.
He showed, when a young man, in the actions with the
enemy in Lower California and Mexico, that impetuous
personal bravery so befitting the young soldier, and indeed
so necessary to make up the perfect commander. At
West Point, in matters of discipline especially, he was
always looked upon, even when a boy, as an authority,
and his boyish decisions are even yet quoted at the
"Point."
The portrait accompanying this sketch gives a fair
idea of his personal appearance, and justifies the soubri-
quet given him by his soldiers, of "Old Brains." He is
about 5 feet 11 inches in height, and weighs about 190
pounds. His smile is very genial, and his whole bearing
is courteous and dignified.
General Halleck belongs peculiarly to California, and
is identified with its history; he owes it almost all, and
it owes him much. Until the breaking out of the civil
war, he always voted with the Democratic party, and his
sympathies are with that party, except inasmuch as they
have been changed by the events of the war. When
peace was declared between the United States and Mex-
ico, General Halleck was perhaps the most influential and
best known man in California ; but he is not fitted for the
arts of the successful politician, otherwise he would un-
doubtedly have been sent as one of our first Senators to
the National Capital. As it was he received 18 votes
for U. S. Senator, which were almost enough to elect.
He is a member of the Society of California Pioneers, and
is President of the Society of Veterans of the Mexican
War, an organization in which he seems to take much
interest. His home is in California, and we may well be
HENRY WAGER HALLECK. 383
glad that we have so sagacious and so able a man ready-
in war or in peace to aid and to guide us. This is not
the time to discuss his qualities as the great general, nor
are we qualified for the task ; but w^e may be permitted
to say that it is by no means proven, that under the same
circumstances he would not have been the equal of the
best soldiers the war has produced.
One Napoleonic quality, we certainly know he pos-
sessed in a high degree — the power of judging and choos-
ing men. Always, from the first, he recognized the lofty
military merit of such men as McClellan, Sherman, Lee,
Thomas, and others, and the qualities of that most suc-
cessful of all of them — our present President.
History will do justice to the great services he ren-
dered his country, while performing his arduous and deli-
cate duties at Washington during the war. His negative
services were, perhaps, even more valuable than his pos-
itive. Officially associated with civillians claiming to un-
derstand the whole art of war, whose policies and plans
were constantly changing, a ''break" and a balance-wheel
were both absolutely needed. We believe that General
Halleck was the right man in the right place at the right
time, and did as much as any human being could do under
those anomalous and fearful circumstances ; and posterity,
when all is known, will honor him for what he prevented
as well as for what he accomplished.
DAYID C. BRODERICK.
IT is a remarkable absurdity for an American biography
to commence with the humbleness of the birth of its
subject. In this land, it is doubtful if the scion of any
family can show a coat-of-arms with quarterings sufficient
to entitle him to Maltese knighthood, or satisfactory to
an Austrian chamberlain. Almost all family lines, pre-
tentious or honest, will be found not only '' waxed at the
other end," but nearer still to the gentle propositus, ''by
some plebeian vocation." There is something ridiculous
in the long, barren lines of Ebenezers and Ezekiels hung
about the loins of Mayflower progenitors that, like the
strings of dried fruit in a New England kitchen, form the
pride of the inglorious but not mute Puritan genealogical
minds. It is not how long the trailing root has crept
below the shallow soil, but how high the oak towers
above, that measures our admiration of ancestral qualifi-
cations.
Nor is gentility south of Mason and Dixon's line sub-
stantial enough to bear the pruning of a heraldic visita-
tion. American agrarianism has proved too much for
primogeniture and landed chiefs; and Sir Bernard Burke
would look with no small degree of suspicion at even the
most flourishing family tree, however illustrated by Vir-
ginian generosity or the punctiliousness of South Caro-
linian honor.
David Colbrith Broderick. therefore, need not pite-
ously and in forma pauperis claim additional credit for
obstacles surmounted by him as a poor man in a land
25
386 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
where all start alike comparatively equally light in purse
and family influence.
One fact, however, might be noted: he was of Irish
extraction. 'No Yankee angularity marred and narrowed
his soul at the outset in life ; no Calvinistic superstition or
bigotry barred his mind to generous impressions ; no New
England twang marred or prejudiced his tongue. He was
not obliged to carry the pro-slavery burden about, like a
hereditary hump, to be guarded from insult and injury.
He could therefore assume the character of a national
man with, more sincerity than most of those who were his
coadjutors in political life. Not stunted by New England
barrenness, nor rendered perverse by Southern impetu-
osity, Broderick may well be considered fortunate in his
breeding, in spite of the apparent disadvantages of im-
perfect education and a youth of toil.
He v/as born in the city of Washington, under the
very shadow, as it were, of the Capitol, on the fourth
day of February, 1820. His parents were Irish — his father
a stonecutter. In Broderick' s sixth year, the family
moved to New York city, where they settled permanently.
Broderick received but little instruction in those days.
Even before his father's death, which occurred in his
fourteenth year, he had learned to assist in the occupa-
tion his parent pursued. In his seventeenth year, he was
apprenticed regularly to the trade, and followed it sys-
tematically for some years.
At that period, as well by reason of the necessity
which proud poverty must meet to battle with the world,
as from the fact that he was an elder brother, and as such
had boyish battles to fight, and boyish airs of command
to aftect, he acqinred w^hat might be termed an honest
arrogance, not founded in conceit or egotism, but which
was a characteristic of physical temperament rather than
of his mind. It became part of his manner, as year by
year the circumstances which elicited it were changed in
character but not in force. But Broderick was a veritable
leader of men. Neither want of polish or wealth could
deprive him of his place in society, or prevent his stand-
ing forth a Saul among his brethren.
DAVID C. ERODERICK. 387
Accident, more than any personal taste, made him a
publican. In 1841, he kept a place called " Subterranean
Hall;" and the year after, another, known as '' Republican
Hall." This employment, however, must have been a
mere makeshift, such as every man in California, how-
ever prosperous, has at times been obliged to seize — a
sudden and disagreeable refuge from the storms of pov-
erty. He was meanw^hile rapidly working his way through
the temporary crust of ignorance, and making himself
respected and understood among his fellows.
At that time, the Democratic party in New York and
elsew^here was gradually falling into two ranks, marked
by the energy of different generations — the Old Hunkers
and the Young Democracy. To the latter, Broderick
was joined; and with it, in the local politics, he soon
became identified.
He also was prominent in the Fire organization, and
was actively engaged as foreman in the Howard Engine
Company No. 34, corner of Christopher and Hudson
streets, in his District.
To the routine mind of the East that bends round-
shouldered over its ledger, and stares through its well-
to-do spectacles with disfavor at organized rufiianism, as
embodied in a volunteer Fire Department, there is some-
thing inexplicable in the idea that it should form a power
in the State ; that there should step forth from its ranks
men of moral courage, of heroic wills, of promptness in
speech and action, rendering their possessors no mean
antagonists in forensic dispute. Yet it was from such
sources that no small part of the power of the senatorial
ex-mason sprung, and by it that his character was some-
what tinctured. His command over men was not the
suave, polished, silvery-tongued utterance of cloistered
scholarship, nor the crafty hammering of ^ the special
legal pleader: it was rather the hoarse, startling outcry
that thrilled through the fireman's trumpet, and that
found its result in the instantaneous comprehension of
his hearers, and their almost involuntary acquiescence
therein.
In 1842, Broderick's mother died; and two years
388 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
after, his only brother, Richard, who had just been ap-
pointed to the United States Naval School, was killed by
the chance explosion of an old bomb that had been
thrown among the refuse iron of a foundry on Charleston
street, New York. Thus Broderick was without a rela-
tive in this country; and the solitariness of his bereaved
condition cast a melancholy almost bordering on morose-
ness over his whole manner and character.
It was during these years that he gathered the ele-
ments of political strength that never after deserted him.
Party friends, better fortuned as to literary and historic
learning, then opened their social circles and library doors
to him, and the opportunities thus offered were seized
and intelligently used by him to measurably repair the
gaps left by early neglect. Though, so to speak, of a
rude and unkempt turn as to bookish training, yet Brod-
erick was not a man utterly void of any culture of even
the highest order. However he may have found the
favorable time and circumstances, he read and appre-
ciated the highest and most sesthetic poets of his time
with an understanding that would have done honor to
the mellowest scholarship of the old country.
Such a man, with an earnest eye for knowledge, alive
to the thoughts and passions of great ones gone by, does
far more satisfactory honor to the book from which lie
receives instruction, to the page of history which he
searches, or to the bard in whom he finds the expression
of his heart, than the lazy saunterer through sterile text-
books, leaning on the crutches of grammatical discipline,
pushed and lifted along by weary instructors, until in due
time the barren academic degree drops into his lap like a
rotten windfall, for which he himself has not striven, and
which he has not deserved.
The Parthenon of Broderick' s intellect was never
finished. It was continually shooting up into new col-
umns that gave promise at some future day of approxi-
mate perfection ; and had his life been as long as those
of the average of English or even American statesmen,
we may well consider that its progressive and expanding
condition would have brought an old age tempered with
DAVID C. BRODEHICK. 389
all the refinement, as well of books as of polite conversa-
tion and communion.
In the year 1846, Broderick made his first loDg politi-
cal stride forwards. He was nominated for Congress by
the Young Democracy of his District; and though de-
feated, the fight only showed the partisan strength and
personal popularity then grasped by him.
In June, 1849, Broderick arrived in California, and
was for some time employed in the Assay Office or Mint
carried on by Samuel W. Haight on Clay street. Mr.
Broderick, though working as an operative in Mr. Haight's
establishment, became a candidate for the seat in the
State Senate left vacant by the election of the Hon.
Nathaniel Bennett to the Supreme Bench, and was
elected, and served as well the partial as the succeeding
full term.
His experience and tact in the matter of a volunteer
fire department became very acceptable to the new city
in those days of conflagrations; and he, together with
George W. Green, an ancient friend of the Atlantic side,
organized the first fire company in San Francisco, (Em-
pire Company, No. 1,) and became its foreman, with Mr.
Green for assistant.
He received a flattering evidence of his success as a
practical legislator at this time. On the resignation of
Governor Burnett, and Lieutenant Governor McDougal
becoming acting Governor, Mr. Broderick became Presi-
dent of the Senate, a position which he filled well, and
on the resignation of McDougal, a short time previous to
the expiration of his term, Mr. Broderick became virtu-
ally Governor of the State.
When Broderick was a State Senator, the election of
United States Senator became a duty of that Legislature,
and Broderick received a warm Democratic support from
his colleagues; but the caucus held showed one more
vote for Mr. Weller, and Broderick cast his vote at the
election for his rival.
Broderick now became a private citizen, and by steadi-
ness, tact, and ability, acquired a fortune sufficient to
390 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
place him at liberty to gratify his ambition in public
life.
He entered into the party struggles of the time,
bringing an energy and political tact that oftentimes in-
sured the success of his friends, otherwise doubtful.
Yet his method of concentrating his political forces
had nothing in it of the creeping style of trams and
snares. He made no concessions. He was no trimmer,
to yield to strength what weakness could not have ob-
tained. He planned with the political board fully con-
sidered, and his victories were as rigid as a game of chess.
No humble follower dared to intervene with variations
of the mode of attack or defence. The leader was the
same doiiiineering spirit who knew how to defend in
boyish days his weaker brother, and now stood by politi-
cal or personal friend against political or personal foe,
unflinching and unchanging.
Broderick wished a seat in the United States Senate.
It was a glorious ambition for one who as a boy had
known so much of the muddy side of life, and who had
now reached a pinnacle from which he might survey the
future, and choose the road preferable to him.
Broderick' s method of attaining his end brought upon
him all the personal and political hostility that for the
rest of his life closed about him.
Year after year, the Legislature met, now at Benicia,
now at Sacramento ; caucuses were held ; test votes were
cast; and Broderick failed to grasp the coveted honors,
retreating, however, only with the consciousness of no
defeat suffered. Now, it was his bitterest antagonist,
Dr. Gwin, now, it was Senator Foote that led a fragment-
ary opposition.
Broderick may have been wrong in all these fiery
political struggles. Ambition of every description has
its selfish side, at which attacks can be made, and the
citadel of its success forced. But the tenacity of the
man had something so honest about it, so frank and
glorious, that we, who sit and ponder to-day over the
battle which the single-hearted hero carried on — the
DAVID C. BRODERICK. 391
harshness, the vindictiveness, and the hates of which
have hardly yet been healed — cannot but feel rejoiced at
the final success that crowned Broderick in 1856 with
senatorial honors.
In March, 1857, he took his seat in the Senate. The
early months of Broderick' s senatorial career were vexed
with troubles as to the distribution of patronage on the
Pacific coast. He was virtually divested of the influence
which he should have wielded at Washington, backed, as
he was, by so fair a support to employ in the interests of
the Buchanan administration, then struggling to maintain
an undivided party more Southern in its affection than
practicable in its projects. The political enemies who
had been defeated in California were entrenched in the
Capitol. To them, the ground was familiar. Their leader
was conversant with every nook and corner from which
place or profit might be acquired for his adherents;
while Broderick stood alone, coldly received by the
Government, and utterly unable to do that for his friends
and party which a senator elected as he had been would
be entitled to expect. In short, the power of official
recommendation, without which a United States Senator
is little more than a member of a grandiloquent debating
society, had been snatched from Broderick by the ad-
ministration, and delivered entirely and exclusively to
Senator Gwin and the party whose exponent he was.
Mr. Broderick differed from the administration upon
the great issue at that time between the two divisions of
the Democratic party. He was an advocate of the doc-
trine or dogma of popular territorial sovereignty as
enunciated by Mr. Douglas. The wisdom of that theory
has never been tested. It is not for us to say that its
expounders were correct in whole or in part ; nor, on the
other hand, has the fiercest opponent the logical privilege
to proclaim it false. The Gordian knot has since been
rudely sundered by the civil war; and it is useless to-day
to follow out the strands and measure the strength and
tortuousness of every filament.
To us, Mr. Douglas and Mr. Broderick can be nothing
but prophets, uninspired perhaps, but honest, who cried
392 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE' PACIFIC.
aloud, whose words were not regarded, and whose pro-
phetic mission was assailed with a bitterness and violence
that succeeding years should hasten to forget.
Though unsupported by friends or party, Mr. Brod-
erick won the national respect in his short career in the
Senate. It is pleasant to find the patriarchal Seward on
the one hand, and the fiery Toombs on the other, join in
frank commendations of their young colleague's character
when the resolutions of respect for his memory were in-
troduced at the next session.
He returned to California to renew the battle which
his enemies now backed by administration patronage,
waged against him.
There is a physical sort of fervor about a Californian
political campaign. The materiality of the daily life of
the Pacific seems to swell and writhe about the forensic
disputants. Force claims its place as an element of the
fiery logic ; and words are rather the damascene flowers
upon the sabre than the steel itself.
It was such a canvass that Broderick undertook in
1859. It was an abnormal excitement that at that time
drove forth his. every utterance in defence of his views
on the question^ of the day.
A thorough gymnast wrought up to a pitch of physical
excitement feels but imperfectly the scratches and bruises
that to an unhealthy frame are serious injuries. He
gives and takes severe blows that are misprised, because
his exuberant health will, he knows, bring a rapid
healing.
To the political advocate, who steps trained and
warned upon the platform to struggle for ambitious grati-
fication, the same kind of indiff*erence should be expected
morally. The antagonist who comes up at each fresh
encounter with no smile on his face, and with rancor
growing in his bosom, violates the laws of the political
ring, and should be ruled out.
Broderick was abused in the harshest manner by his
political opponents. Expressions of contempt were
showered on him with a disregard for any personal
feelings or personal purity that he might have claimed.
DAVID C. BRODERICK. 393
On the 24th of June, 1859, the Hon. David S. Terry,
then the senior Judge on the bench of the Supreme
Court, delivered a speech at Sacramento, eulogistic of
the Buchanan party and its principles, and claiming it
and them as the only really Democratic and consistent
organization, followed with a sharp criticism of the Re-
publican party; and animadverting to the Douglas party
in the State, used the following language:
What other party have we opposed to us? A miserable remnant
of a faction sailing under false colors, trj^ng to obtain votes under
false pretences. They have no distinction: they are entitled to none.
They are the followers of one man — the personal chattels of a single
individual whom they are ashamed of. They belong, body and
breeches, to David C. Broderick. They are yet ashamed to ac-
knowledge their master, and are calling themselves, forsooth, Douglas
Democrats, when it is known — w^ell known to them as to us — that
the gallant senator from Illinois, whose voice has always been heard
in the advocacy of Democratic principles, who is not now disunited
from the Democratic party, has no affiliation with them, no feeling
in common with them.
When Broderick read this speech at the table of the
International Hotel, he was hurt at the contemptuous
tone in which he himself was alluded to as the party
leader; and in the presence of the assembled company
gave way to a burst of bitterness as to Judge Terry, from
whom he had expected a kinder mode of expression. Mr.
D. W. Perley, a partner of Terry's, took up the defence
of his friend, and offered to challenge Broderick, who,
in a note, refused a hostile meeting with Mr. Perley,
or any one else, until after the political campaign was
ended.
The political canvass, in which Broderick and his ad-
herents were unsuccessful, was closed ; but unfortunately
the hasty and violent remarks made by Broderick, when
stung by Judge Terry's sneer, were not forgotten.
On the 8th of September, 1859, Judge Terry wrote
to Broderick, referring to language used by him at the
International Hotel two months previously. This note
to Perley, declining a meeting until the campaign was
over, had been published, and the time having elapsed,
Judge Terry took the earliest opportunity to demand,
394 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
through his friend Calhoun Benham^ a retraction of the
offending remarks.
To this letter, Mr. Broderick made immediate answer,
requesting particular mention of the language deemed
offensive, in order to prevent future misrepresentation.
A letter followed from Judge Terry, stating that the
remarks alluded to were in substance as follows: ^^ I have
heretofore considered and spoken of Judge Terry as the only
honest man on the Supreme Court Bench ^ but I now take it cdl
hackr The retraction of language calculated to reflect
upon his character as an officer or a gentleman was again
demanded by Judge Terry.
To this Broderick replied that his words were occa-
sioned by offensive allusions concerning him made by
Judge Terry in the convention at Sacramento, and that
as nearly as possible the language he (Broderick) used
was as follows: '"^During Judge Terry's incarceration hy the
Vigilance Committee^ I paid two hundred dollars a iveek to sup-
port a newspaper in his defence. I have also stated, heretofore,
that I considered him the only honest man on the Supreme Bench,
hut I take it all hack^ Ko retraction was made, and he
added that Judge Terry himself was the proper one to
decide whether this language afforded grounds for offence.
This letter was followed by one from Judge Terry,
demanding, through his friend Mr. Benham, the satisfac-
tion usual among gentlemen. Mr. Broderick named Hon.
J. C. McKibbin and D. D. Colton as his friends on the
occasion, and the terms of the meeting were arranged.
On the 12th of September, they met at the Lake
House Ranch, near Laguna Merced, about six miles from
San Francisco, and were arrested. No offence having as
yet been committed. Police Judge Coon released the
parties, and the meeting took place the next day, near
the same locality.
Some sixty or seventy persons witnessed the duel.
The morning was a clear, bright, sunny one, and a little
after six o'clock both parties arrived on the spot.
Mr. Broderick was attended by Hon. J. C. McKibbin
and D. D. Colton, his seconds, and Dr. Loehr as surgeon;
while Judge Terry was accompanied by Calhoun Benham
DAVID C. BRODERICK. 395
and Col. Thomas Hayes as seconds, and Drs. Hammond
and Aylette as his surgeons.
Both seemed in good spirits, standing apart in con-
versation with their attendants. The weapons used were
eight-inch Belgium pistols, both set with hair-triggers,
and the distance marked off ten paces. In pursuance
of the arrangements of the day before, the choice of
ground belonged to Mr. Broderick and the selection of
the pistols to Judge Terry.
When the articles of the meeting were first drawn
up, it was objected to on the part of Judge Terry that
the word 'Tire!" was not to be followed by the usual
''One — Two — Three!" but by simply the words " One —
Two!" The friends of Broderick, however, insisted upon
this article remaining as it was, and the point was carried.
The code dudio being read aloud, the contestants took
their places. While Broderick' s position seemed careless
and somewhat awkward, that of his adversary was rather
studied and his manner cooler.
Just before seven o'clock, the words, "Fire! — One!
Two!" were spoken. Broderick raised his weapon, but
it exploded before he could take aim, probably owing to
the delicate touch of the hair-trigger, the ball from his
pistol striking the ground only four or five paces in ad-
vance of where he stood.
A moment later, Judge Terry fired, the ball from his
pistol striking Broderick full in the right breast, causing
him to fall before his seconds could reach him.
He was taken to the house of his friend, L. Haskell,
Esq., at Black Point, and visited there by many friends.
The best of medical attention could do little for him.
His sufferings were great, and about nine o'clock of
Friday morning, September 16th, he died.
All the various Courts, Federal, State, and Municipal,
adjourned upon hearing of the death of David C. Brod-
erick.
The feeling throughout the city and the State was
intense, and many public men paid tribute to the dis-
tinguished senator's memory by eloquent words of praise
and regret.
396 REPEESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The committee having in charge the arrangements
connected with the funeral, refused the kind offer of
General Haven to furnish a military escort, deeming it
better that the ceremonies should be strictly of a civic
character. His body lay until his burial in the Union
Hotel on the Plaza, and was visited by almost every
citizen, and shown marks of respectful attention by all.
The funeral took place on the afternoon of Sunday,
the 18th of September. Col. Baker was selected to
deliver the funeral eulogy, and Broderick's remains were
escorted to Lone Mountain Cemetery by an immense
assemblage, who showed the feelings of deeply seated
regard and sorrow. The city was draped in mourning,
the flags on buildings and in the harbor were at half-mast,
and every thing wore a solemn and impressive appearance.
The train of events which seemed to make the death
of the Senator the irresistible necessity of the tragedy,
pointed to Dr. Gwin rather than to Judge Terry as his
veritable opponent. It was not on the same plane with
Terry that Broderick's acts were projected. The offence
rankling between them was an episode rather than the
absorbing emotion ; and the frightful unities of the
drama would seem to have been better met, had Gwin
rather than Terry pointed the fatal pistol that finished
the career of our hero.
The duel that closed the life of Broderick has been
the theme of much political and personal scandal, affect-
ing the characters and standing of the prominent men of
the ultra wing of the party of which Broderick was the
partial expositor in the State of California.
The minutest details of the combat have been sifted
to find material for exciting paragraphs in the journals;
and even a sort of superstitious glamor has been thrown
about the remote cause of the strife.
But the issues can be narrowed down to a few propo-
sitions : It is wrong to engage in duels ; Broderick com-
mitted the ^vrong; it is wrong to use language for which
nothing but a personal meeting can atone; Broderick
used such language. Hp attempted to evade the meeting
with a dignity, far different from cowardice; but failing
DAVID C. BRODERICK. 397
to do SO, went out like the brave heart that he was, fear-
lessly, seriously, with no mean repinings, no mawkish
sentiment, no driveling about the morality of the act,
and met his death, dealt under the code which he himself
had recognized, and at other times invoked. Whether
one pattern of pistol has a mechanical advantage or disad-
vantage over another; whether one combatant has a
steadier eye or hand or more or less skill than another,
are questions that cannot be raised on the field of
rencontre without turning prudence into something worse.
Broderick scorned to raise such quibbles himself, and
this is no place for their discussion.
A little more generosity in pressing home the offence,
a little less anxiety for the vulgar satisfaction of the day,
a grander peering into futurity to see the dim reflection
that the years threw back of the motives and feelings that
then urged him in his course, would have cast no stain
and given ground for no mean imputation on the personal
character or courage of his antagonist. The bitter poli-
tical strife that followed in after years, between North
and South, would have swallowed up in a more catholic
struggle the feverish hostilities that in those times ex-
ploded fitfully in California, between the impetuous
spirits of either faction.
The bravery which led Broderick out to a meeting, from
which it was the sum of possibilities that he could not
return alive, was the same fire that a few years after blazed
in the heart of one of his eulogists at the fatal cannon's
mouth on the field of battle. It is the spirit that has
made the Californian the boyish hero among his peers of
the other States — reckless of his risks, ready to resent
injuries, and obedient to the law,, only when that law was
in keeping with its original purpose, and not the foi^tifi-
cation planted about greater wrong.
Broderick was, in the broadest sense of the hackneyed
phrase, a representative man. In him could be marked
the effect of the fullest liberty upon an Irish intellect.
The weight of ignorance, poverty, and sorrow once flung
from him, there was no mark of the shackles left. There
398 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
was as much of the sovereignty of will about his mental
actions as ever developed from a royal cradle.
Sprung from a race from whom prosperity, mental
improvement, and creed almost have been snatched,
instead of being a cringing follower in the wake of others'
errors, Broderick was more thoughtful of the interests of
true republicanism, more considerate and unswerving in
his regard for the interests of his fellows, a nobler citizen
in fact than more pretentious children of the Republic,
w^ho used the lap of the national mother as a ground
whereon to battle for their toys of theories — unsubstantial
products of fallacious sentiment. He acknowledged all
the defects and failings which could possibly be ascribed
to him; and having thus stripped himself of every conceit
and pretension not in accordance with the character upon
which he was to build his life, and having accepted the
position into which circumstances had thrown him, with
all its asperities, he marched forward upon a career of
pure glory, closed as in the days of ancient chivalry on
the field of battle.
Delivered over the dead body of David C. Broderick,
AT Portsmouth Square, San Francisco, on the 18th
of September, 1859.
Citizens of California:
A Senator lies dead in our midst ! He is wrapped in ;i bloody
shroud, and we, to whom his toils and cares were given, a:e about
to bear him to the place appointed for all the living. It is not fit
that such a man should pass to the tomb unheralded; it i^ not fit
that such a Life should steal unnoticed to its close; it is not fit that
such a death should call forth no rebuke, or be followed by no
public lamentation. It is this conviction which impels the gather-
ing of this assemblage. We are here of every station and pursuit,
of every creed and character, each in his capacity of citizen, to swell
the mournful tribute which the majesty of the people offers; to the
unreplying dead. He lies to-day surrounded by little of funeral
DAVID C. B RODERICK. 399
pomp. No banners droop above the bier, no melancholy music
floats upon the reluctant air. The hopes of high-hearted friends
droop like fading flowers upon his breast, and the struggling sigh
compels the tear in eyes that seldom weep. Around him are those
who have known him best and loved him longest ; who have shared
the triumph, and endured the defeat. Near him are the gravest
and noblest of the State, possessed by a grief at once earnest and'
sincere ; while beyond, the masses of the people whom he loved,
and for whom his life was given, gather like a thunder-cloud of
swelling and indignant grief.
In such a presence, fellow-citizens, let us linger for a moment
at the portals of the tomb, whose shadowy arches vibrate to the
public heart, to speak a few brief words of the man, of his life, and
of his death.
Mr. Broderick was born in the District of Columbia, in 1819.
He was of Irish descent, and of obscure and respectable parentage;
he had little of early advantages, and never summoned to his aid
a complete and finished education. His boyhood and his early
manhood were passed in the City of New York, and the loss of his
father early stimulated him to the efibrts which maintained his sur-
viving mother and brother, and served also to fix and form his
character even in his boyhood. His love for his mother was his
first and most distinctive trait of character, and when his brother
died — an early and sudden death — the shock gave a serious and re-
flective cast to his habits and his thoughts, which marked them to
the last hour of his life.
He was always filled with pride, and energy, and ambition — his
pride was in the manliness and force of his character, and no man
had more reason than he for such pride. His energy was manifest
in the most resolute struggles with poverty and obscurity, and his
ambition impelled him to seek a foremost place in the great race for
honorable power.
Up to the time of his arrival in California, his life had been
passed amid events incident to such a character. Fearless, self-re-
liant, open in his enmities, warm in his friendships, wedded to his
opinions, and marching directly to his purpose through and over
all opposition, his career was checkered with success and defeat :
but even in defeat his energies were strengthened and his character
developed. When he reached these shores, his keen observation
taught him at once that he trod a broad field, and that a higher
career was before him. He had no false pride: sprung from a
people and of a race whose vocation was labor, he toiled with his
own hands, and sprang at a bound from the workshop to the
legislative hall. From that time there congregated around him
and against him the elements of success and defeat — strong friend-
ships, bitter enmities, high praise, malignant calumnies — but he
trod with a free and a proud step that onward path which has led
him to glory and the grave.
It would be idle for me, at this hour and in this place, to speak
of all that history with unmitigated praise : it will be idle for his
4.00 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
enemies hereafter to deny his claim to noble virtues and high pur-
poses. "When, in the Legislature, he boldly denounced the special
legislation which is the curse of a new country, he proved his cour-
age and his rectitude. When he opposed the various and some-
times successful schemes to strike out the salutary provisions of the
Constitution which guarded free labor, he was true to all the bet-
ter instincts of his life. When, prompted by ambition and the ad-
miration of his friends, he first sought a seat in the Senate of the
United States, he aimed by legitimate effort to attain the highest
of all earthly positions, and failed with honor.
It is my duty to say that, in my judgment, when at a later pe-
riod he sought to anticipate the Senatorial election, he committed
an error which I think he lived to regret. It would have been a
violation of the time principles of representative government, which
no reason, public or private, could justify, and could never have met
the permanent approval of good and wise men. Yet, while I say
this over his bier, let me remind you of the temptation to such an
error, of the plans and reasons which prompted it — of the many
good pur^ooses it was intended to effect. And if ambition, " the
last infirmity of noble minds," led him for a moment from the bet-
ter path, let me remind you how nobly he regained it.
It is impossible to speak within the limits of this address, of the
events of that session of the Legislature at which he was elected to
the Senate of the United States; but some things should not be
passed in silence here. The contest betw^een him and the present
Senator had been bitter and personal. He had triumphed. He
had been wonderfully sustained by his friends, and stood confess-
edly ' ' the first in honor and the first in place. '' He yielded to an
appeal made to his magnanimity by his foe. If he judged unwisely,
he has paid the forfeit well. Never in the history of political war-
fare has any j^ublic man been so pursued; never has malignity so
exhausted itself.
Fellow-citizens! the man whose body lies before you was your
Senator. From the moment of his election his character has been
maligned, his motives attacked, his courage impeached, his pat-
riotism assailed. It has been a system tending to one end: and
the end is here. What was his crime ? Review his history — con-
sider his public acts — weigh his private character — and before the
grave encloses him forever, judge between him and his enemies!
As a man — to be judged in his private relations — who was his
superior? It was his boast, and amid the general license of a new
country^ it was a proud one, that his most scrutinizing enemy could
fix no single act of immorality upon him! Temperate, decorous,
self-restrained, he had passed through all the excitements of Cali-
fornia, unstained. No man could charge him with broken faith or
violated trust; of habits simple and inexpensive, he had no lust of
gain. He overreached no man's weakness in a bargain, and with-
held from no man his just dues. Never, in the history of the State,
has there been a citizen who has borne public relations, more stain-
less in all respects than he.
DAVID C. BRODERICK. 401
But it is not by this standard he is to be judged. He was a
public man, and his memory demands a public judgment. What
was his public crime? The answer is in his own words : ' '/ die be-
cause I loas opposed to a corrupt administration, and the extension of
slavery. " Fellow-citizens, they are remarkable words, uttered at -a
very remarkable moment: they involve the history of his Sena-
torial career, and of its sad and bloody termination .
When Mr. Broderick entered the Senate, he had been elected
at the beginning of a Presidential term as the friend of the Presi-
dent elect, having undoubtedly been one of his most influential sup-
2)orters. There were unquestionably some things in the exercise
of the appointing power which he could have wished otherwise;
but he had every reason to remain wdth the Administration, which
could be supposed to weigh with a man in his position. He had
heartily maintained the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, as set
forth in the Cincinnati Platform, and he never wavered in his sup-
port till the day of his death. But when in his judgment the Pres-
ident betrayed his obligations to his party and countiy — when, in
the whole series of acts in relation to Kansas, he proved recreant to
his pledges and instructions — when the whole power of the Ad-
ministration was brought to bear upon the legislative branch of
the Government, in order to force Slavery'' upon an unwilling peo-
ple — then, in the high performance of his duty as a Senator, he
rebuked the Administration by his voice and his vote, and stood
by his principles. It is true, he adopted no half-way measures.
He threw the whole weight of his character into the ranks of the
Opposition. He endeavored to arouse the people to an indignant
sense of the iniquitous tyranny of federal power, and, kindling with
the contest, became its fiercest and firmest opponent. Fellow-cit-
izens, whatever may have been your political predilections, it is
impossible to repress your admiration, as you review the conduct
of the man who lies hushed in death before you. You read in his
history a glorious imitation of the great popular leaders who have
opposed the despotic influences of power in other lands, and in
our own. When John Hampden died on Chalgrove field, he sealed
his devotion to popular liberty with his blood. The eloquence of
Fox found the sources of its inspiration in his love for the peojDle.
W^hen Senators conspired against Tiberius Gracchus, and the Tri-
bune of the peojDle fell beneath their daggers, it was jDOwer that
prompted the crime and demanded the sacrifice. Who can doubt,
if your Senator had suiTendered his free thought, and bent in sub-
mission to the rule of the Administration — who can doubt that in-
stead of resting on a bloody bier, he would have this day been re-
posing in the inglorious felicitude of Presidential sunshine ?
Fellow-citizens, let no man suppose that the death of the emi-
nent citizen of whom I speak was caused by any other reason than
that to which his own words assign it. It has been long foreshad-
owed — it was predicted by his friends — it was threatened by his
enemies : it was the consequence of intense i^olitical hatred. His
death was a political necessity, poorly veiled beneath the guise of a
26
402 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
private quarrel. Here, in his own State, among those who mtness-
ed the late canvass, who know the contending leaders, among those
who know the antagonists on the bloody ground — here, the public
conviction is so thoroughly settled, that nothing need be said. Test-
ed by the correspondence itself, there was no cause, in morals, in
honor, in taste, by any code, by the custom of any civilized land,
there was no cause for blood. Let me repeat the story — it is as
brief as it is fatal : A Judge of the Supreme Court descends into a
political convention — it is just, however, to say that the occasion
was to return thanks to his friends for an unsuccessful support.. In
a speech bitter and personal he stigmatized Senator Broderick and
all his friends in words of contemptuous insult. When Mr. Brod-
erick saw that speech, he retorted, saying in substance, that he had
heretofore spoken of Judge Terry as an honest man, but that he
now took it back. When inquired of, he admitted that he had so
said, and connected liis words with Judge Terry's speech as prompt-
ing them. So far as Judge Terry personally was concerned, this
was the cause of mortal combat ; there was no other.
In the contest which has just terminated in the State, Mr.
Broderick had taken a leading part ; he had been engaged in con-
troversies very personal in their nature, because the subjects of pub-
lic discussion had involved the character and conduct of many pub-
lic and distinguished men. But Judge Terry was not one of these.
He was no contestant ; his conduct was not in issue; he had been
mentioned but once incidentally — in reply to his own attack — and,
except as it might be found in his peculiar traits or peculiar fitness,
there was no reason to suppose that he could seek any man's blood.
When William of Nassau, the deliverer of Holland, died in the pre-
sence of his wife and children, the hand that struck the blow was
not nerved by private vengeance. When the fourth Henry passed
unharmed amid the dangers of the field of Ivry, to perish in the
streets of his capital by the hand of a fanatic, he did not seek to
avenge a private grief. An exaggerated sense of personal honor — a
weak mind with choleric passions, intense sectional prejudice unit-
ed with great confidence in the use of arms — these sometimes serve
to stimulate the instruments which accomplish the deepest and dead-
liest purpose.
Fellow-citizens ! One year ago to-day I performed a duty, such
as I perform to-day, over the remains of Senator Ferguson, who
died as Broderick died, tangled in the meshes of the code of honor.
To-day there is another and more eminent sacrifice. To-day I re-
new my protest ; to-day I utter yours. The code of honor is a de-
lusion and a snare ; it palters with the hope of a true courage and
binds it at the feet of crafty and cruel skill. It surrounds its victim
with the pomp and grace of the procession, but leaves him bleed-
ing on the altar. It substitutes cold and deliberate preparation for
courageous and manly impulse, and arms the one to disarm the
other ; it may prevent fraud between practiced duelists who should
be forever without its pale, but it makes the mere "trick of the
weapon " superior to the noblest cause and the truest courage. Its
DAVID C. BRODERICK. 403
pretence of equality is a lie — it is equal in all the form, it is iinjust
in all the substance — the habitude of arms, the early training, the
frontier life, the border war, the sectional custom, the life of leisure,
all these are advantages which no negotiation can neutralize, and
which no courage can overcome.
But, fellow-citizens, the protest is not only spoken, in your words
and in mine — it is written in indelible characters ; it is written in
the blood of Gilbert, in the blood of Ferguson, in the blood of
Broderick ; and the inscription will not altogether fade.
With the administration of the code in this particular case, I am
not here to deal. Amid passionate grief, let us strive to be just. I
give no currency to rumors of which personally I know nothing ;
there are other tribunals to which they may well be referred, and
this is not one of them. But I am here to say, that whatever in the
code of honor or out of it demands or allows a deadly combat
where there is not in all things entire and certain equality, is a
prostitution of the name, is an evasion of the substance^ and is a
shield, blazoned with the name of Chivalry, to cover the malignity
of murder.
And now, as the shadows turn toward the East, and we prepare
to bear these poor remains to their silent resting-place, let us not
seek to repress the generous pride which prompts a recital of noble
deeds and manly virtues. He rose unaided and alone ; he began
his career without family or fortune, in the face of difficulties ; he
inherited poverty and obscurity : he died a Senator in Congress,
having written his name in the history of the great struggle for the
rights of the people against the despotism of organization and the
corruption of power. He leaves in the hearts of his friends the
tenderest and the proudest recollections. He was honest, faithful,
earnest, sincere, generous and brave ; he felt in all the great crises
of his life that he was a leader in the ranks, that it was his high du-
ty to uphold the interests of the masses ; that he could not falter.
When he returned from that fatal field, while the dark wing of the
Archangel of Death was casting its shadows upon his brow, his
greatest anxiety was as to the performance of his duty. He felt
that all his strength and all his life belonged to the cause to which
he had devoted them. *' Baker," said he — and to me they were his
last words — ** Baker, when I was struck I tried to stand firm, but
the blow blinded me, and I could not '* I trust it is no shame to my
manhood that tears blinded me as he said it. Of his last hour I
have no heart to speak. He was the last of his race ; there was no
kindred hand to smooth his couch or wipe the death damp from his
brow ; but around that dying bed strong men, the friends of early
manhood, the devoted adherents of later life, bowed in irrepressible
grief, *'and lifted up their voices and wept"
But, fellow-citizens, the voice of lamentation is not uttered by
private friendship alone — the blow that struck his manly breast has
touched the heart of a people, and as the sad tidings spread, a
general gloom prevails. Who now shall speak for California? — who
be the interpreter of the wants of the Pacific coast ? Who can ap-
404 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
peal to the communities of the Atlantic who love free labor ? "Who
can speak for masses of men with a passionate love for the classes
from whence he sprung? Who can defy the blandishments of
power, the insolence of office, the corruption of administrations?
What hopes are buried with him in the grave !
** Ah ! who that gallant spirit shall resume,
Leap from Eurotas' bank, and call us from the tomb ? "
But the last word must be spoken, and the imperious mandate
of Death must be fulfilled. Thus, O brave heart ! we bear thee to
thy rest. Thus, surrounded by tens of thousands, we leave thee to
the equal grave. As in life, no other voice among us so rung its
trumpet blast upon the ear of freemen, so in death its echoes will
reverberate amid our mountains and valleys, until truth and valor
cease to appeal to the human heart.
Good friend ! true hero ! hail and farewell.
ISAAC N. ROOP
By Judge y^ T. jBi^ucE.
ISAAC Newton Roof was born in Carroll County, Mary-
land, on the thirteenth day of March, 1822. His
parents were natives of New York city, and of German
origin. They lived for some time in the State of Penn-
sylvania, and in the year 1790, removed to the State of
Maryland. Isaac was reared on a farm, and though his
father was wealthy, he enjoyed such limited opportuni-
ties for education that, when he left home at the age of
eighteen, he could scarcely write his own name. This
defect, however, was in due time quite remedied, through
the instrumentality of a Miss Nancy Gardiner, a graduate
of the Transylvania College, with whom, in December,
1840, he established at once the twofold relation of hus-
band and pupil. Under her tutorage he received a thor-
ough English education, and laid the foundation work
for that period of usefulness that succeeded to him in his
later years.
Miss Nancy Gardiner was born in Pennsylvania,
December 22d, 1822. In the same year of her marriage,
she, with her husband, moved to Ashland County, Ohio.
Ten years later she died, leaving. her husband with three
children, two sons and a daughter. Both of these sons
enlisted in the service of their country, during the late
war, and participated in the North-Western campaign
under Gen. Rosecrans. The 3^oungest^ Isaiah Roop, was
severely wounded at the terrible battle of Stone River,
and died from its effects the following year. The re-
maining son, John Y. Roop, is now living in the State of
406 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Iowa. The daughter, Mrs. Susan Arnold, came to Cali-
fornia in the year 1862. She was much beloved by her
father, and has stood by his side to cheer him and ad-
minister to his comfort since the day of her meeting him
here. She resides in Susanville, Cal., in the home made
beautiful by the hand of her illustrious father. On the
ninth day of September, 1850, and but a few months after
the loss of his wife, Gov. Roop started for California.
He arrived in San Francisco on the eighteenth day of
October of the same year, and in June following went to
Shasta to keep a public house. His first three years in
California were spent in Shasta County, in farming and
trading. During this period he also held the situation of
Postmaster and School Commissioner. He had accumu-
lated in that time upwards of fifteen thousand dollars,
worth of property, but in June, 1853, lost it all by fire.
Stripped of everything but an unconquerable will, and
being of an adventurous disposition, he turned his back
upon civilized life, and journeying across the Sierras,
took up his abode in Honey Lake Valley — at that time
a long distance from any settlement, and solely inhabited
by Indians. Here he located the land upon which the
city of Susanville now stands, built a saw mill near by,
and continued to reside here up to the day of his death,
February 14th, 1869. During his residence in Honey
Lake Valley he was engaged in lumbering, farming and
trading, filled many offices of profit and trust, and, to a
considerable extent, followed the practice of the law.
The beautiful valley first settled by him has grown up
into a flourishing county^ and the little village which he
laid out has become a large and prosperous commercial
town, and the county seat of Lassen County. Honey
Lake Valley, as lately as the year 1858, was considered
by its settlers as a part of Utah Territory. Becoming in-
dignant at the insolence and petty oppressions of the
Mormons, these early settlers, with other residents of
western Utah, resolved, in the year 1859, to cut loose
from all political communication with a people they so
heartily despised. Accordingly, a convention was called
in July of that year, which, having drafted a Constitution
ISAAC N. ROOP. 407
for the new territory formed out of this part of Utah,
and christened Nevada, the same was adopted by the peo-
ple, and an election held in pursuance of its provisions
for choosing a Governor and other territorial officers.
At this election, held on the seventh of September,
Isaac N. Roop was chosen Provisional Governor of the
proposed territory by nearly a unanimous vote. The
first Legislature elected in this new territory met and
organized in the town of Genoa, Carson Valley, on the
fifteenth of December, 1859. 0. K. Pierson, of Carson
city, was elected Speaker, H. S. Thompson, Clerk, and
the Hon. J. A. McDougal, Sergeant-at-Arms. To this
Legislature Governor Roop delivered his first Message.
The Governor adjourned the Legislature to the first Mon-
day in January following, whereof he informed the people
by proclamation. In that proclamation Governor Roop
gave the reasons of the people of the proposed territory
for the organization of a provisional government. The
proclamation declared that ^^ under Mormon rule they had
no protection for life, limb, or property. They had no
Courts or County organizations except those controlled
by the sworn satellites of the Salt Lake oligarchy. Their
political rights were entirely at the will of a clique com-
posed of those who were opposed to the first principles
of our Constitution and the freedom of the ballot box.
Under these circumstances all endeavored to secure relief
from these impositions, and believing that a Provisional
Government would best assure protection of life, limb,
and property, an election was held and all necessary
arrangements made for the formation of temporary gov-
ernment until Congress should insure justice and pro-
tection."
A short time after, U. S. District Judge Cradlebaugh
succeeded in establishing his Court in the new territory;
a new Delegate to Congress, in the person of John J.
Musser, had been elected and dispatched to Washington;
extensive mines were discovered in the Carson Yalley,
which caused an influx of population wholly unexpected
at the time of the meeting of the convention — and only
a portion of the members of the first Legislature were
408 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
present at its first meeting — ^wherefore, in the language
of the proclamation, ''I, Isaac N. Roop, Governor of the
Provisional Territorial Government of Nevada Territory,
believing it to be the wish of the people still to rely upon
the sense of justice of Congress, and that it will this
session, relieve us from the numerous evils to which we
are subjected, do proclaim the session of the Legislature
adjourned until the first Monday in January, 1860; and
call upon all good citizens to support with all their ener-
gies the laws and Government of the United States."
During his gubernatorial term many wise measures were
adopted for the better security of the early settlers in
western Utah, and quite extensive campaigns carried on
against the hostile Indians all along the border. He be-
came very intimate with Gen. Lander, and was joined by
him in many of his efforts for the suppression of Indian
outrages upon the early settlers.
After the formation of the Territory of Nevada, in
1861, Governor Roop was elected to the Territorial Sen-
ate. There he acquitted himself honorably and won the
lasting esteem of the entire population of the Territo-
ry. In 1862 he became the leading spirit in a move-
ment to join Honey Lake Yalley with the Territory
of Nevada. For three or four years previous thereto
the boundary line between California and Nevada had
been in dispute. During that time many of the citizens
of Honey Lake Valley acquiesced in the jurisdiction
of Nevada. The Legislature of the Territory passed a
bill fixing the boundaries of a new county to be called
Roop, so as to include Honey Lake Yalley, having its
county seat at Susanville. A conflict of jurisdiction al-
most immediately ensued. The Nevada Legislature there-
upon appointed three commissioners, R. M. Ford, Jas. W,
Nye and I. N. Roop, to present its memorial to the Cali-
fornia Legislature, with a view to obtain a change of the
boundary line in accordance with the recommendation
of Congress. The Legislature of the State of California
refused to grant the request, and two years afterward
Governor Roop had the satisfaction of seeing Honey
Lake and its adjacent sister, Long Valley, erected into a
ISAAC N. ROOP. 409
separate, independent county government. If he could
not succeed in placing his home where it naturally and
properly belonged, he had been successful in making it
independent of the snows and summits of the Sierras.
With this he was partially content, as previous to this
time the county seats of the Counties claiming jurisdic-
tion over Honey Lake Yalley were separated from it by
the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which were impassable
two-thirds of the year. At an early day, as soon as a
Post Office was established in Susanville, he was ap-
pointed its Postmaster, which position he held up to
the day of his death.
In politics. Governor Hoop belonged to the Whig
party as long as it had an existence. In 1860 he voted
for Stephen A. Douglas. At the outbreak of the civil
war in America he heartily espoused the Union cause, and
was identified with every movement among his neigh-
bors, to render aid and comfort to the soldier in the field.
In 1864 he supported Lincoln, both with his voice and
his vote. In 1865 he was elected to the office of District
Attorney for the County of Lassen, receiving the entire
Democratic vote and nearly two-thirds of the Republican
vote. In 1867 he was reelected without opposition,
From his earliest settlement in the country he took a
leading part in all measures tending to the welfare of its
citizens, and has had much to do toward shaping the affiiirs
of this coast. He was a man of enlarged mind and noble
charities, true to his friendships, kind in his disposition,
and manly in his character. He possessed the elements
of popularity in a high degree, being frank, sociable and
courteous, and of unbounded hospitality. Naturally he
w^as a man of quick perception, sensitive, high-minded,
and of approved courage. Though owner at various times
of large property, and surrounded with a rude abundance,
such had ever been his liberality in dealing, and so nu-
merous his kind offices, that at no time was his condition
one of financial independence. He was, moreover, a man
of fine physical development, standing nearly six feet
high, and w^ell proportioned. He possessed regular fea-
tures, and an intelligent, cheerful, good-natured counte-
410 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
nance. His florid complexion and light-blue eyes in-
dicated his active temperament and love of out-door
pursuits. He died at his residence in Susanville, Feb-
ruary fourteenth, 1869, after an illness of six days. He
was buried with Masonic honors, and the following ex-
tract from the resolutions passed by the Lodge of which
he was a member shows the esteem in which he was held,
and finds an echo in every heart that knew him.
" In the death of Isaac N. Koop the Masonic Order has lost an
ardent friend, one ever attached to its precepts, one whose heart
and hand were ever open to the melting appeals of charity, whose
benevolence, knowing no bounds, seemed to embrace the vast sea
of humanity, whose generous will extended itself for the good of
Masonry, and whose enlarged mind was ever impressed with the
controlling tenets, Charity, Belief and Brotherly Love. The be-
nevolent impulses, the charitable disposition, the generous prompt-
ings — emanations of a noble heart — the persevering will and manly
attributes that adorned the intellect and character of Isaac N.
Boop, will ever be deeply esteemed, fondly cherished and remem-
bered by his brethren of Lassen Lodge. "
THOMAS H. SELBY
J3y yriLLIAM y. ]^ELLS.
EXPERIENCE has shown that municipal affairs are never
so faithfully administered as when removed from the
control of professed politicians. A familiarity with party
tactics, which has generally been deemed the stepping-
stone to National as well as State official preferment, is
not essential to the well-being of a city which requires
especially the exercise of common sense, economy, and
executive ability. The qualities indispensable to the
management of a large commercial firm are not less
demanded in the governing head of a community, and the
most successful rulers of American cities have been those
who were chosen from among business men, irrespective
of politics, and solely with reference to honesty and capa-
bility. Elected by the right influences, such men have
usually been popular while in office, and, retiring, have
carried with them the confidence and esteem of their
fellow-citizens.
An illustration of this is found in the present Mayor
of San Francisco, who has been for twenty years the head
of one of her first commercial houses. Mr. Selby was born
and educated in New York city. He was for some time a
clerk with A. T. Stewart, having entered that establish-
ment at the same time with the afterwards celebrated
Cyrus W. Field. At the age of nineteen he was elected,
after an exciting campaign, a director of the Mercantile
412 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Library Association, of which he and his young friend
Field were members.
On attaining his majority he commenced business for
himself, in New York, and at twenty-five was a partner
in an establishment with upwards of forty employes.
After a few years the house, yielding to the financial
pressure of that period, suspended ; and its affairs having
been temporarily arranged, Mr. Selby, taking upon him-
self the entire burthen of its debts, joined the tide of
humanity then setting towards the Pacific Coast, with the
sole and avowed object of paying off the liabilities of the
firm.
Animated by this laudable purpose, the young man
landed in San Francisco in August, 1849, and true to
his resolve he devoted the proceeds of his business to
settling up the indebtedness. The profits of three years
of lucrative speculation and trade were thus consumed.
Like thousands of others, he had originally intended to
return as soon as this obligation had been fulfilled ; but,
as it became evident that San Francisco was destined to
be one of the world's emporiums — a grand commercial
centre, with every inducement for a permanent location —
he decided to cast his lot in California. In the summer
of 1850 he erected a substantial brick building — still
standing — on the north " side of California street, near
Montgomery, which was one of the earliest of its kind in
the city and attracted much attention at that time as a
costly novelty in architecture. Here he established the
present house of Thomas H. Selby & Co., and commenced
the importation of metals and merchandise, which he has
followed until the present time, under the same name
and style, in connection with his New York partner,
Mr. P. Naylor. One of the most active members of the
First Presbyterian Society of San Francisco, he was
especially influential in building their church on Stockton
street, near Broadway, which was commenced in the fall
of 1850. Services had originally been held in a tent, the
Rev. Albert Williams officiating. The edifice, completed
early in 1851, was destroyed by the great fire of that
year, and was rebuilt in the same place. Many of the
THOMAS H. SELBY. 413
leading members, Mr. Selby among them, withdrew sub-
sequently and built the well known Calvary Church, on
Bush street, which in turn has disappeared before the
march of improvement. His own building was in the
desolating track of the fire of 1851, but was saved by the
exertions of Mr. Selby, who, with a few others, shut him-
self up there, and fought the destroyer with water
obtained from a well dug in the basement for just such
an emergency. For some time the iron shutters were red
hot, and the party would fain have escaped from their
perilous position had it been possible ; but by the courage
of desperation the building was preserved, and the whirl-
wind of flame passed on.
The preferences of Mr. Selby have usually been averse
to politics; but nevertheless, his great personal popularity
and evident availability have repeatedly been made use
of to draw him into public life, though always against his
own earnest protest. In each instance he has been
triumphantly elected, and has filled the requirements of
the position with the same conscientious fidelity that has
ever characterized his actions. The one objection that
his friends could name was, that prior to election, he
invariably retired from active participation in the contest,
and left the issue with the public, shunning all contact
with politicians, and failing to exert even the legitimate
amount of electioneering influence sanctioned by political
usage. His tastes, avoiding the thankless turmoil of
public office, leaned rather to the quiet of private life,
and the rivalries of trade and commercial pursuits.
In April, 1851, he was elected Assistant Alderman of
the Fifth Ward, and took his seat in the Board a few
days after the conflagration above mentioned. As a
member of the Common Council, his name appears on
many committees, and the record shows that he was one
of the most industrious members of the Board. By the
terms of the new City Charter, then lately gone into
operation, the officers chosen at the annual election in
September of that year, were installed soon after ; Mayor
Brenham giving place to Dr. Harris, and the old Board
vacating for the newly elected one, by decision of the
414 REPRESENTATR^E MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Supreme Court, thus limiting their official term to about
six months.
Released from public duties, Mr. Selby gladly re-
turned to his more legitimate business; from which
retirement he was again brought forth in the fall of the
following year ; when, against his strongest protestations,
he was nominated as Alderman of the Fifth Ward, and
was, of course, elected by a great majority. He was at that
time an '' Old Line Whig," belonging to a party of glorious
memories, including in its numbers the most illustrious
men of America, but destined, after the defeat of Scott
and the death of Clay and Webster, to decline and dis-
appear; many of its adherents, like Mr. Selby, eventually
joining the Democracy and imparting a leaven of strength
and patriotism to that organization. Mr. Selby' s name
appeared on nearly all the tickets in the campaign of
1852— the "Regular Whig," the '^Independent Whig,"
the '^ People's Favorite," the "Independent," and the
"Union," (the latter composed about equally of Whigs
and Democrats.) jSTational, State, county and city candi-
dates, from President and Yice-JPresident down to the
smallest local officers, were on the same ticket, and were
voted for together. In San Francisco alone there were
eighty-seven offices to be filled, and for these there were
one hundred and eighty candidates in the field. Seven
out of eight wards returned Whig Aldermen — a note-
worthy fact, considering that the State and county went
Democratic — the incoming Legislature having a majority
for that party of thirty-four on joint ballot. This result
in the election of local officers was due to the great num-
ber who voted the Independent ticket; and when, years
afterwards, a similar influence elected Mr. Selby to the
Mayoralty, it furnished the second instance of his having
been chosen to office by a spontaneous popular movement.
On the 12th of November, 1852, the new government
was duly installed, with C. J. Brenham — elected for the
second time — as Mayor. The previous City Council had
the summer before purchased the Jenny Lind theatre
(the present City Hall) in defiance of the wishes of the
people and the veto of Mayor Harris ; and the incoming
THOMAS H. SELBY. 415
administration held their first session there. The county
of San Francisco at that time extended to San Francis-
quito Creek, its southern boundary — the present county
of San Mateo having been subsequently created. The
municipal government proper consisted of the Boards of
Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen, while the affairs of
the county were especially managed by a Board of Super-
visors, (composed partly of the Board of Aldermen) of
whom the Mayor was the presiding officer. The newly
elected Common Council entered upon their duties with
a curious array of complications to contend against. A
wide range of local business and city improvements, some
beneficial and others concealing corrupt jobs, demanded
prompt action to aid or defeat. Yenal legislation at Sac-
ramento, to an alarming extent, threatened the prosperity
of the city. The gigantic State Prison appropriation;
the City Slip Bill; the infamous Extension Project, in-
cluding a raid upon the whole tidal front of the city, and
a change in the grading from the highlands to the bay;
the State printing expenditures, in the payment of which
San Francisco was largely interested ; the Stamp Act and
Notary Public bills — all designed as exactions upon the
property-holders of that city, required clear-headed ability
and the devotion of time to counteract their baneful
tendency. Other perplexing subjects were soon to arise,
such as an amended or new city charter, and the removal
of the State capitol. The outgoing City Council had
left affairs in the worst possible condition, and the press
teemed with denunciations of their acts. Gas and wharf
contracts, originating in barefaced favoritism, and a waste-
ful use of the public money, both by needless contracts
and appropriations, formed the burthen of the articles.
" There can be no doubt," said a writer of that time,
^^ that during the three years past, there has been more
corruption, fraud, and dishonesty in the municipal affairs
of this city than in any other city in the world. Ignor-
ance, inability, and stupidity, have only been varied with
crime, fraud, and corruption. More wicked schemes for
personal advancement, without the flimsiest pretext of
desire for the public good, have passed our City Council
416 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
tlian any other modern legislative body in Christendom.
City hospital — Merchant Street — grading and planking
operations — old city hall — funding scheme — water lot
legislation — Colton grants — Jenny Lind theatre — each
and every one calls to the mind of our old citizens entire
chapters of scheming iniquity. * * A city entering upon
its career with a richer patrimony than any other of
modern times, having, under the Mexican law, a landed
property that would have enriched a State, is not only
destitute of ornaments and conveniences, but is saddled
with a debt of one million six hundred thousand dollars,
to anticipate our revenues and grind us with taxes for
twenty years to come." The ingenious Peter Smith and
Limantour swindles, alarming the community by their
magnitude, and involving the titles to most of the valu-
able real estate in San Francisco, were rearing their men-
acing heads in the courts. Property was insecure, and
the public mind harassed by doubts, uncertainties, and
conflicting interests.
Upon the organization of the Board of Aldermen, Mr.
Selby was placed on most of the hard-working com-
mittees, of some of which he was chairman, and his busi-
ness talent and industry were manifest throughout his
official term. At that time the Board of Education was
composed of the Mayor, one member from each branch
of the Common Council, and two citizens at large. Mr.
Selby represented this body from the Board of Aldermen,
and found ample scope for the advancement of his favorite
subject of free public schools. The Board of Education
had the appointing of a Superintendent of Public In-
struction. Mr. Selby was also especially active in re-
organizing the Police Department, a work to which he
applied himself at once upon taking his seat. When
the Extension Bill was passed by the Assembly in April,
1853, and the five Whig members of the San Francisco
delegation resigned their seats, he supported them in their
appeal to the people, and gave all his energies to reelecting
them as an expression of the public sentiment. And the
record of those early days points to him invariably as a
steadfast and watchful friend of the best interests of the
THOMAS H. SELBY, 417
city, as he was ever the uncompromising opponent of all
schemes for depleting the public treasury.
One of his first acts in the Board of Aldermen was
in defence of the city to the lands covered by the Peter
Smith claim. Soon after the induction of the new Com-
mon Council into office, the Supreme Court rendered its
famous decision adverse to the city in the above-named
suit. Public feeling ^vas wrought up to the highest pitch.
Mayor Brenham called an extraordinary meeting of the
Council, and in a brief message set forth the danger and
recommended immediate action. Alderman Selby submit-
ted a series of resolutions, which were published in all the
newspapers, warning innocent parties against purchasing
titles to property under the Peter Smith sales, and giving
notice that all titles acquired under them would be con-
tested by the city government. The City Attorney was
also empowered to act in conjunction with the attorney
of the Board of Commissioners of the Funded Debt, in
adopting measures for contesting the validity of the title
acquired under the sale. This was the commencement
of the memorable Peter Smith contest, which, after several
years of costly litigation, resulted in favor of the munici-
pality. Alderman Selby was the first to strike officially at
the ordinance imposing a tax upon every passenger ar-
riving at San Francisco, and introduced a resolution for
its repeal. He was also instrumental in procuring the
donation by the city, in 1853, of a lot at Rincon Point to
the United States Government, as a site for a Marine
Hospital, and was the originator of the idea of establish-
ing '' fire limits," within which wooden buildings could
not be erected. His influence against bad legislation was
not confined to local affairs, but numerous iniquitous
schemes ; among them, the deep-laid plot for dividing the
State, found in him a powerful and persistent enemy.
Had that measure been successful, slavery would have
been introduced into the proposed new State of ^' Southern,
California," and the evil effects experienced during the
late civil Avar. In short, Mr. Selby brought to the
management of public affairs the same shrewdness, sound
judgment, and economy that he exerted in his own: and
27
418 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
his official record bears the closest examination for the
vigor and administrative ability which distinguished it
throughout. As at that time he consented with reluct-
ance to engage in politics, so in 1869, it was only after
repeated solicitation, by the various nominating conven-
tions, to which were added the urgent appeals of personal
friends, that he was finally induced to become a candidate
for the mayoralty, it being generally conceded that no
other citizen combined so completely the elements of suc-
cess. The result was in keeping with the past, and
showed that his personal popularity was not overestimated.
He was elected in the face of a combination of partizan
engineering and moneyed influence such as has rarely been
concentrated against a political candidate. Never defeated
before the people, the stamp of success seems to be inevi-
tably affixed to every thing with which he is associated.
Seventeen years before, when he was elected Alderman,
the city contained about 45,000 inhabitants, and polled
8,023 votes: in 1869, with a population estimated at
about 160,000, the vote was 21,600, a falling off of 4,000
from the Presidential vote of the previous year.
The positions of honor and trust which Mr. Selby has
filled in mercantile and social life, it would be difficult
to enumerate. President of the Merchants' Exchange,
and the first President of the Industrial School Associa-
tion, he was foremost in organizing those bodies, and was
an active member of the committees that superintended
the erection of the buildings for both. President of the
Board of Trustees of Calvary Church, and of the City
College, a life director of the Mercantile Library Associa-
tion, and an establisher and liberal supporter of two
seminaries of learning in San Mateo county, his name is
honorably connected with the progress of enlightenment
and education in California. In a number of instances,
he has been appointed executor of valuable estates, and
always without bonds.
/with an activity and healthy vigor of mind and body
which honors the most exacting demands on their power
of endurance, Mr. Selby systematises his time so as to
transact a surprising amount of business. No accumula-
THOMAS H. SELBY. 419
tion of labor seems to embarrass or annoy him^ wbile a
habit of directing the efforts of others enables him to
keep every part of the complicated machinery in motion
without hurry or confusion. Besides the establishment
on California street, which is his financial headquarters,
Mr. Selby has branch stores at Marysville and Stockton,
with their ramifications extending to all parts of the
State. His Silver and Lead Smelting Works at North
Beach, San Francisco, which cost $100,000 to erect, are
the means of keeping not less than twenty mines in ope-
ration in California, Nevada, and Arizona, this being
their only market. Ores and crude metal, worth $150,000,
may at any time be seen piled up, awaiting reduction at
the works, which give constant occupation to about
seventy-five men; while, indirectly, several hundred
miners are kept employed by this ready consumer of
the product of their labor. Add to this another branch
of industry, his San Francisco Shot Tower, and some
idea may be formed of the extent and variety of his en-
gagements. This establishment employs a large number
of men, both at the works, and in the mines supplying it
with lead. The manufacture of shot in California is due
to the energy and persistency of purpose of Mr. Selby,
who commenced it amid manifold discouragements, and
the general prediction of his failure to compete with the
Eastern States. It has proved successful, however, and
nearly the whole Pacific coast is supplied from this
source, while a powerful impetus is given to California
industryTl
AbrJut thirty miles from San Francisco — ^an hour and
a quarter by rail — is the country seat of Mr. Selby — a
place of about five hundred acres, and a model of rural
attractiveness and high cultivation. The eye is never
wearied admiring the landscape of broad fields waving
with fertility, blending the richest foliage, tropical in its
luxuriance, with a pleasing diversity of grain and pasture
land, and the view bounded in the distance by pictur-
esque, wood-crowned hills. The estate produces an-
nually from five to ten thousand bushels of the cereals,
and an orchard — the largest in San Mateo county — ^yields
420 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
two thousand bushels of choice fruits. Amid the continual
demands upon his time, Mr. Selby finds leisure for a per-
sonal supervision of this extensive property, which, for its
genial climate and quiet pastoral beauty, is a favorite
resort after the cares of the day, in preference to his city
residence. Adorned with every appliance that art and
refined taste can suggest, this mansion is the summer re-
treat of the family, and while its fortunate proprietor may
felicitate himself in the contemplation of a successful and
honorable business career, he is equally happy in the
companionship of that personal loveliness and amiability
wdiich, when they grace the social circle, hallow and
endear the sacred name of home. Under Mr. Selby, San
Francisco entered upon a new era of prosperity. Con-
ciliatory and popular in manners, liberal alike in theory
and practice, with a record for integrity that has always
stood above the breath of suspicion, and thoroughly con-
versant with the requirements of the city where he has
spent his best years, he commenced his official duties
under the most favorable auspices, and his term as Mayor,
when reviewed hereafter, will exhibit the same beneficent
motives and practical intelligence that have hitherto
guided his actions in the walks of private and public life.
JAMES ISISBET AJJD FRANKLIN TUTHILL.
IN the month of August, 1865, the San Francisco Even-
ing Bulletin chronicled a loss which is quite remarka-
ble in the history of journalism on the Pacific coast.
Two of its proprietors and leading editors, who had done
much to give the paper the high character it still main-
tains, were lost to it by death — the one by a dreadful ma-
rine disaster on the northern coast, the other by disease on
the eastern side of the continent, and both within a few
days of each other. James Nisbet, who was long the
news and literary editor of the paper, and who deserves a
place in this work as the first historian of San Francisco,
was lost at sea on the steamship Brother Jonathan ^ July
30th, 1865. This vessel was on the way from San Fran-
cisco to Victoria, Y. I., with almost two hundred souls on
board, when she struck a sunken rock off St. George's
Point, eight or ten miles north-west from Crescent City,
and went down about forty-five minutes afterwards. All
on board were lost except about a score of persons.
Among the passengers who perished, besides Mr. Nisbet,
were Maj. Gen. George W. Wright, of the United States
Army, and wife ; Gen. A. C. Henry, of Washington Ter-
ritory ; Major E. W. Eddy, of the United States Army, sev-
eral other army and navy officers, and a number of citi-
zens of California prominent for worth and talent. Amid
the terrible scene transpiring around him at the wreck,
and with the horror of sudden death staring him in the
face, with hardly a possibility that it would be averted,
Mr. Nisbet was calm and thoughtful enough to write out
422 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
a will in pencil, and to address notes of farewell to some
of his friends, even remembering some children of whom
he was fond by their pet names. The act was character-
istic of his unselfish and courageous nature. His remains
were recovered, brought to San Francisco, and interred in
Lone Mountain Cemetery, where rest those of his former
associates on the Bulletin — its founder, James King of
Wm., C. J. Bartlett, and C. 0. Gerberding, who preceded
him a few years.
Mr. Msbet was born in Glasgow, Scotland, about the
year 1817. His parents were of high respectability and
considerable fortune, and he enjoyed during youth every
desirable opportunity for that intellectual training which
developed his naturally vigorous mind to form a very use-
ful character. On arriving at the proper age, he chose
the profession of law, and after graduating, traveled over
the principal countries of Europe. Subsequently he be-
came a partner in a prominent Glasgow firm of lawyers.
He was more inclined to seek literary pursuits than to con-
tend for the rights of clients in the legal tribunals, and
always abstained from appearing as an advocate. His
strong tendency to literature is shown by the fact, known
to only a few intimate friends, that he was the author of
an elaborate and meritorious novel, published before leav-
ing Scotland, under the title of The Seige of Palmyra. He
always cherished the purpose of devoting himself to some
literary work that might give him a permanent reputation.
In about the year 1852, having previously lost a consid-
erable property by an unfortunate investment in railroad
stock, he decided to seek a reparation of his fortune in
some remote portion of the world, where there might be
better opportunities for profitable personal exertion than
in his native land. With this view he first visited Austra-
lia, but was disappointed in the aspect of affairs there pre-
sented, and after spending a few weeks in inspecting the
gold mines, returned to England. A few weeks later he
set sail for California, where he arrived in November,
1852. In San Francisco he first found employment in
writing a work historical and descriptive of this city — the
well known Annals of Sari Francisco^ in the authorship of
JAMES NISBET AND FRANKLIN TUTHILL. 423
which Frank Soule, Esq., and Dr. J. H. Gihon were as-
sociated, though Mr. JN'isbet did a large part of the work.
The writing for this was very hasty, and he never attach-
ed any value to it, although time is giving it considerable
interest. While engaged on the Annals his industry, dis-
criminating judgment, and power thoroughly to perform
great intellectual labor, at once surprised and delighted
his employers and associates in the book, one of whom,
Mr. Soule, about the same time became part proprietor
of a prominent daily newspaper. The California Chronicle^
to which circumstance is due the fact that Mr. Nisbet,
while still engaged on the Annals^ was transferred to a
desk in the editorial rooms of that paper. He continued
in that position until March, 1856, when, at the solicitation
of James King of Wm., he accepted a higher position on the
Bulletin^ and ultimately became one of its proprietors.
For nine years afterward, until the date of his fatal voy-
age, he filled the position of supervising editor of the
Bulletin^ evincing great industry, taste, judgment and de-
votion. He was a purist in the matter of selections and
language, a singularly independent critic in literature,
music and the drama, and master of a terse, vigorous Eng-
lish style. His theory of journalism was above passion
and personality, and conformed to the honorable rules
which regulate the intercourse of gentlemen. Although
he did not write the leading editorials, and never wrote on
political topics at all, confining his labors almost exclus-
ively to the news desk and the supervision of other de-
partments, he used his influence to modify the asperities
of contests that the paper could not avoid. Puffery in
any degree found in him a stern foe, and he was almost
morbidly sensitive lest the paper should be prostituted to
unworthy uses, its reading columns made a medium for
personal or business matters, or its advertising columns
opened to any kind of impurity. He elevated the paper
into an ideal institution, with a strict code of morals to
which all were made to conform. In his own character
he possessed the best elements to maintain the peculiar
authority he exercised in the office. He led a pure and
chaste life, free from every vice, and was possessed of a
424 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
singularly robust constitution. ^^ His innate love of justice
was so great that no personal friendship could tempt him
to desert the right or excuse a wrong ; and yet he loved his
friends with a devotion that w^as not counterbalanced by
hatred for enemies. No journalist of this country was
ever so continuously reviled for the faults or pretended
faults of others, and yet he would not deviate in the slight-
est degree from the straight line to seek redress for an in-
jury. Those who made themselves his enemies he wished
to forget and dismiss from recollection. If he had a
weakness, it was extreme sensitiveness as to his personal
honor. He freely confessed that he could never clothe
himself in iron mail so as not to feel the effects of unjust
criticism — indulgence in which he characterized as pecu-
liarly American — and this sensitiveness becoming known
to newspaper men generally, served to incite attacks from
that class of them who, having no independent reasoning
powers or ideas of justice, are ever seeking opportunities
for notoriety by stinging whatever innocent and unresist-
ing objects can be made to feel their spite." Although, as
stated above, he was not one of the leading writers of the
paper, and was not responsible for its political course, he
was yet held accountable, during several years, for what-
ever in its columns provoked animosity, and was made
the victim of some of the crudest slander. When he died,
his surviving partners said of him : ''It is due to justice
that we now admit and chronicle the fact, that any excel-
lencies which the Bulletin has heretofore possessed result-
ed from Mr. Nisbet's labors more than from those of any
other person, while he is perhaps responsible for fewer of
its faults than any of the other writers that were imme-
diately associated with him. It was his labor that made
the Bulletin instructive and attractive in its news and lit-
erary departments ; his finishing strokes were seen in al-
most every column, all of which he made consistent one
with the other. The editorials upon local and national
politics and upon the passing topics of the day, many of
which have doubtless provoked a multitude of resent-
ments, were none of them the production of Mr. Nisbet.
He engaged in no strife, assailed no one, was offensive to no
JAMES NISBET AND FRANKLIN TUTHILL. 425
one, but was useful and serviceable to his partners, of val-
ue to the State and country, and an honor to his kind.
Such men as Mr. Nisbet, and particularly in the profes-
sion which he adorned on this coast, seldom gain appre-
ciation or reward from the busy world, that knows so little
how much it is their debtor. They devote their lives to
constant labors which are the most exacting upon body
and brain, and require a large amount of self-abnegation,
and their quiet, modest usefulness is disregarded amid the
selfish excitements and passions that whirl about them.
Happy, indeed, are they if slander and abuse do not dis-
turb their still lives, and follow them to the grave. But
we believe that in spite of his own sensitive and retiring
nature, our departed friend and co-worker was better
appreciated in this community than he himself knew,
and will be sincerely regretted by all whose natures sym-
pathize with what is most pure and lofty in our common
humanity."
Franklin Tuthill, one of Mr. Nisbet's partners and
editorial associates in the Bulktin^ died in New York on
the 27th of August, 1865 — the same day that the latter's
remains were conveyed to their final resting-place in San
Francisco. He left this city in October, 1864, for a trip
through Europe, hoping to recover from an organic dis-
ease which had long preyed upon his health. He return-
ed to i^ew York in July, 1865, after a rapid and pleasant
journey through England, France, Spain, It-aly, and some
of the German States, apparently almost restored to
health, and confident of his ability to return at an early
day to his editorial post. But while engaged in correct-
ing the proofs of his History of California^ which was then
being printed in New York, he was seized with a relapse
and soon passed away. The BuUeiin published the follow-
ing sketch of his life :
Dr. Tuthill was born April 3d, 1822, in Suffolk county,
on the east end of Long Island, of a highly respectable
family, which was among the earliest settlers on the Island.
426 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
He entered college when only fourteen years old, and
graduated when eighteen. He subsequently studied
medicine under such distinguished Professors as the
late Yalentine Mott, Sr., Doctors Draper, Revere, and
their associates, and graduated at the New York Uni-
versity in 1844. He immediately began to practice his
profession near his native place, and followed it with
success for seven years, taking to it that conscientious
devotion to duty, patience, kindness, and nicety of per-
ception, which are essential to the character of a good
physician, and which in his character were always leading
traits. Without the least obtrusiveness or desire for pub-
licity. Dr. Tuthill became, through his genial nature, his
intelligence, and his zealous attention to the best interests
of the community, a very popular man. Although a
Whig in politics, he was for five successive years appointed
Town Superintendent of Schools by a Democratic Board
of Supervisors. In 1860, he was elected by a handsome
majority to represent his district in the Assembly of
New York, and was the first Whig, with a single excep-
tion, ever sent to the Legislature from that ancient strong-
hold of Democracy. While in the Legislature, he distin-
guished himself by his ability and tact in debate, by his
industry, by his i:itegrity amidst much corruption, and by
his earnest labors in favor of the revised School Act, a
measure of great benefit to the cause of popular educa-
tion in the Empire State, the passage of which was large-
ly the fruit of his exertions. He was also an earnest and
eloquent advocate of the canal enlargement policy, the
success of which, despite the strong opposition of the Dem-
ocracy at a special legislative session, greatly increased
the commerce and wealth of the State. He strove to get
through a bill legalizing dissection of the human body, as
a means to facilitate anatomical studies, in conformity
with the practice in some foreign countries ; but the meas-
ure was killed by amendments after it passed the pre-
liminary stage in both Houses, though it became a law
a year or two later. He made a lengthy report upon an
absurd petition to make bleeding in medical practice a
penal offence, provoking thereby a spirited discussion in
JAMES NISBET AND FRANKLIN TUTHILL. 427
the profession at home and abroad, and a slashing review
which extended through three numbers of the English
Quarterly — an organ of the Chrono-Thermalists.
While a member of the Legislature, Dr. Tuthill re-
moved to New York, intending to resume the practice of
medicine in that city; but at the end of a year he fol-
lowed his stronger bent to literary pursuits, and became
one of the editors of the Daily Times^ in which position
he labored until 1859 with peculiar ability and success.
Indeed, he developed the most admirable capacity for jour-
nalism, and gave to it the best energies of his life. He
continued in his new sphere his interest in popular educa-
tion, and was an active friend of medical science and of
the various benevolent institutions of the city, showing
the most liberal feeling in regard to the admission of wo-
men to all the advantages of a thorough medical educa-
tion aftorded by the clinics and colleges. He was cred-
ited with exercising a decided influence upon municipal
affairs, and urged with great ability some of most impor-
tant measures of public policy, including the new City
Hall, the Central Park, and other public improvements.
He probably did more by his articles in the Times than
any other person to convince the people and the authori-
ties of that city of the value and need of a great park,
and to induce the action which resulted in creating what
is destined to be one of the finest city parks in the world.
His facts and arguments were so pertinent and well ar-
ranged, his style so pointed, yet graceful and attractive,
that whatever he wrote on local topics was sure to be read
attentively by all, and to secure through cotemporary
journals a wider circulation than even the vast edition of
the l^hiies could secure.
His public spirit and usefulness led to his being elect-
ed to the Legislature from New York city in 1858, when
he again became conspicuous for his devotion to measures
of vital importance to the State, and for the rare grace,
tact and ability with which he advocated them in debate.
At this time, also, he was among the most earnest of the
early Republicans. His instincts were always opposed to
slavery, as to every other form of injustice, and he had
428 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
watched with concern the retrogressive policy on this
question of the Southern Democracy. His opposition to
slavery extension was earnest and radical, without a trace
of fanaticism. On this subject he agreed in opinion with
that far-sighted and cool-headed statesman, Gov. Seward,
whose personal friendship he enjoyed, and of whose poli-
cy the Times has always been an able defender. He lived
long enough to be gladdened, as over a private joy, at the
final and complete removal of the nation's shame, without
wrong-doing or rashness on the part of the Government
which he loved.
Dr. Tuthill came to San Francisco, and his connection
with the Bulletin commenced, about November, 1859. In
January, 1862, he purchased a proprietary interest in the
establishment. While he remained in the State he was
constantly engaged as a writer of editorials or general-in-
formation articles for the second and third pages of this
journal, or as legislative correspondent from Sacramento.
In whichever capacity he labored, his work was brilliantly
executed. His mind sparkled with genius, and his frail
physical system obeyed its demands by almost ceaseless la-
bor, until, alas ! the body wore out at the early age of
forty-three. It seemed as though he could not sleep, for
fear some valuable thought might be lost for the want of
a ready hand to record it. Coming to California in re-
sponse to an invitation from this office, he resolved to
make his permanent home here, and at once absorbed the
spirit of the country. He speedily made himself familiar
with every institution and capability of the State, and
within a year after his arrival possessed an amount of his-
torical knowledge and local information concerning men
and things that would have shamed most pioneers who
might have ventured to compare knowledge with him.
This intellectual achievement was accomplished by a vast
amount of dry and uninviting ''head work." After each
day's newspaper labor had been finished, and after his
evening entertainments were over, he devoted a large share
of the night to poring over the bound files of old Califor-
nia newspapers, carefully noting each fact and circum-
stance that had historical value, or that could be made
JAMES NISBET AND FRANKLIN TUTHILL. 429
useful to him as a journalist. He followed up this prac-
tice until all the files in the Bulletin office, in the Mer-
cantile Library, as well as the mass of bound volumes of
newspapers in the State Library at Sacramento, were
essentially read through, and their contents treasured in
his mind. It was a work of years, mostly performed while
others slept.
The fruits of this labor were largely enjoyed by the
BuUetin; but since Dr. Tuthill left California, the fact
has been ascertained that he had a higher ambition to
gratify than could be gained as a newspaper writer, and
which accounts for his persevering investigation. It
seems that while he was performing an extraordinary
amount of intellectual labor in connection with this jour-
nal — and while as an active church member, teacher in
the Sunday schools, occasional lecturer before benevolent
institutions and temperance societies, his leisure hours
were apparently fully employed — he was engaged in still
another labor, which absorbed the highest capacities of
his mind. He was devoting a certain number of hours
each day to collecting materials for and WTiting a history
of California. What the scope and design of his history
may have been we have no means of knowing, further
than the title imports, for he seems to have admitted no
one into his confidence on the subject, outside of his
family and the publisher whom he consulted. We learn
to-day, for the first time, that when Dr. Tuthill left Cali-
fornia he took with him the manuscript copy of his
history, embracing matter enough for a large volume,
which was placed in the hands of the printer in Xew
York before he left that city for Europe. While trav-
eling in foreign countries, it appears that he visited the
principal libraries where manuscripts concerning the early
history of California are preserved, and it is presumable
that his history is to be enriched and made authentic
by much valuable data not hitherto published. After
his return to New York from Europe, he was employing
his time in superintending the printing of his book, when
death terminated his earthly duties. We can assume
with certainty, however, that his history is written with
430 REPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the same purity, clearness, compactness and grace which
characterized his style as a writer for the press, and which
lent a charm to everything that came from his pen.
In our invigorating climate, and surrounded by the
fascinating circumstances of life in a new country, he
seemed to develop in the course of his newspaper writ-
ing a different and higher capacity. The critical reader
of the Bulletin's columns while he was employed upon
them, will remember the keen wit, the playful fancy, the
original and apposite illustrations, the abundant flow of
humor, the fund of information, the felicitous use of
words, which gave beauty and influence to his daily pro-
ductions. These traits were observable in all he did,
either as editor, correspondent or reporter. His reports
of public meetings, speeches and debates were peculiarly
graphic, picturesque and entertaining, giving the very life
and spirit of the scenes or utterances reproduced. His
happy reports of the earliest lectures and sermons of
Thomas Starr King first introduced and popularized on
this coast that distinguished man, who acknowledged to
Dr. Tuthill how much he esteemed this brilliant labor in
his behalf, and who also expressed his admiration for the
Doctor's own rare merit as an extemporaneous speaker, in
which capacity he was often called upon to serve some
charitable, religious or literary institutions in this city.
His gifts were fatal to him: for while he was entirely
averse to display, and never courted notice in any man-
ner, he loved to do with all his might what his heart and
intellect prompted, and thus sacrificed the physical vigor
that could alone sustain him even at the single task of
journalism.
It is impossible for those who recently labored with
Dr. Tuthill in connection with this journal, to adequately
express their high appreciation of his character, or the
depth of their sorrow at his loss. None but those who
knew his pure and guileless nature, his genial ways, his
unvarying cheerfulness, his truthfulness, his benevolence,
his utter lack of malicious or sinister traits, can under-
stand how he was beloved and how keenly his loss is felt.
But it is some consolation to reflect that a very large num-
JAMES NISBET AND FRANKLIN TUTHILL. 431
ber of people in this State knew him personally, many
of them intimately — for he was accessible to all — and that
they, as well as ourselves, recognized him as a friend, while
they appreciated his great value to society, ^^o man in
his position could have enjoyed more of public esteem
than he had earned. In the church where he regularly
attended, and in the private circles drawn around him, he
was sincerely beloved. Whatever antagonisms were pro-
voked by the course of the BulMin on public questions,
never extended to him personally ; and yet he made no
concessions of principle or action to win the esteem that
everywhere flowed to him, and which we are sure must
have been peculiarly grateful to his feelings. His writings
and his daily walks were guided by convictions of duty,
and his life has been offered on its shrine.
-2ri7BR-IT
rti""
SERRANUS CLINTON HASTINGS.
^Y JhOMAS f*> yVlADDEN.
THE ancestry of this gentleman can be traced to times
far remote. He is a lineal descendant of the Gen-
eral of his name who led the Danish forces into England
during the Heptarchy. His grandfather emigrated from
England to Rhode Island early in the seventeenth cen-
tury. His father, Robert Collins Hastings, a man of
considerable intelligence, was bred a mechanic, but his
ardent temper drew him away from his laborious pursuits
to a wider field and higher sphere of usefulness. During
the War of 1812, he commanded a company of soldiers
at Sackett's Harbor. He was conspicuous in the exciting
political events of his day, and was a firm friend and sup-
porter of DeWitt Clinton. After that noble patron of
virtue, learning and labor, he named his son. His wife
(mother of S. Clinton) was a Miss Brayton, of the pioneer
family of that name, who were the first settlers of Jef-
ferson and St. Lawrence counties, New York.
Serranus Clinton Hastings was born in Jefferson
county, New York, Nov. 22d, 1814. In early youth, he
passed six years in study at Governeur Academy, At
the age of twenty, he became the principal of the Norwich
Academy, Chenango county. New York. This position,-
after one year's successful teaching, he resigned, having
introduced the Hamiltonian system of instruction in the
languages, the Angletean system of mathematics, and
other branches of education.
28
434 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
He commenced the study of law with Charles Thorpe,
Esq., of Norwich. In the office of this gentleman he
prosecuted his studies only a few months, when, in 1834,
he emigrated to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where, in the
office of Daniel S. Majors, Esq., he completed his legal
studies. He did not enter immediately upon his profes-
sional labors. During the bitter presidential contest of
1836, he edited the Indiana Signal^ an influential journal
which gave a spirited and effective support to Martin Yan
Buren.
In December, 1836, Mr. Hastings resumed his march
westward. Arriving at Terre Haute, Indiana, he presented
himself to Judge Porter, of the Circuit Court, and stood
the test of a severe legal examination at the hands of that
able jurist.
He continued his journey until he reached the Black
Hawk Purchase, (now the State of Iowa) and arrived at
Burlington in January, 1837. In the following spring he
took up his residence on the western bank of the Mis-
sissippi, where has since sprung up the city of Muscatine,
Iowa. At that time this vast stretch of country was
attached to the Territory of Wisconsin for judicial pur-
poses. Mr. Hastings now resolved to commence the
practice of the profession for which he had prepared him-
self. He was examined by Judge Irwin, by whom he was
admitted to the bar in 1837. Shortly afterwards, he was
commissioned a Justice of the Peace by Gov. Dodge of
Wisconsin, with jurisdiction extending over the country
lying between Burlington and Davenport, a distance of
ninety miles. The western limit of his jurisdiction being
undefined, the grasping young magistrate, for his own
satisfaction, fixed it at the Pacific Ocean — not having the
fear of Mexico before his eyes. He had but one case
during his term of office — a criminal charge against a
man, who was found guilty by the Justice of stealing $30
from a citizen and $3 from the court. The sentence was,
that the prisoner be taken to an adjacent grove and tied
to an oak tree, and to receive upon his back thirty lashes
for the money taken from the citizen and three lashes for
the $3 stolen from the court, and to be thence transported
SERRANLTS CLINTON HASTINGS. 435
across the river to the Illinois shore and banished from
the Territory for ever; which sentence, in presence of
the court and of all the people, was duly and formally
executed.
On June 12th, 1838, Iowa was erected into a separate
Territory. Mr. Hastings became the Democratic candidate
of his district for the first Legislature to assemble under
the Territorial Grovernment. After a very spirited contest,
he was elected.
From time to time thereafter, and until 1846, (when
Iowa was admitted into the Union) Mr. Hastings con-
tinued in public life, representing his constituents either
in the House or Council. During one of these sessions
of the Territorial Legislature, he was elected President
of the Council, the duties of which position he dis-
charged with great dispatch. During another session,
while a member of the Judiciary Committee, and asso-
ciated with Hon. James W. Grimes, since United States
Senator, he reported from the committee the celebrated
statute known in Oregon and Iowa for many years as the
Blue Book. This work was accomplished in ninety days,
the limit of a legislative session. It was also during one
of these sessions that occurred what is known in the
history of Iowa as the ^^ Missouri War.'' This ''war"
originated in the attempt of the sheriff of Clark county,
Missouri, and other Missouri officials, to collect taxes
within the territorial limits of Iowa. Gov. Boggs of
Missouri and Gov. Lucas of Iowa were the acknowledged
and opposing leaders. Mr. Hastings took an active part
in this conflict. He left his seat in the Legislature, re-
paired to Muscatine, and took command of the ''Mus-
catine Dragoons" and three companies of militia. With-
out tents or sufficient clothing, with no arms except
pistols and bowie-knives, no forage for his animals, and
a scanty supply of food for his men, he led his forces in
the heart of a stern and bleak winter entirely through
the " enemy's country" towards the southern boundary
of Missouri. The result of this campaign was the blood-
less but glorious capture of the obnoxious sheriff, who
was taken triumphantly back to the outraged soil of
436 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Iowa, and lodged in the Muscatine county jail. Before
Major Hastings could again cross the Missouri line, where
the Missouri forces were preparing to meet him, the
difficulties were adjusted and peace fully restored.
Shortly after the termination of this serio-comic
campaign, Major Hastings was appointed on the Gover-
nor's staff, with the rank of Major of Militia.
Early in 1846, a convention of the people of Iowa
assembled at the Capitol, and accepted the boundaries
proposed by Congress for the new State. Major Hastings
was unanimously nominated for Congress, and elected
subsequently by the people.
Iowa being admitted into the Union, December 28th,
1846, Major Hastings took his seat as her representative
in the Twenty-ninth Congress. With one exception, he
was the youngest member of the House of Hepresenta-
tives — a body noted for the virtues and talents of its
members. John Quincy Adams had not yet been re-
moved from the theatre of his great triumphs. Abraham
Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Andrew Johnson, and other
bright names, shone on the roll of members.
In January, 1848, Major Hastings was appointed Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa. He held this
position a little more than one year, when he resigned
for the purpose of emigrating to California. He arrived
in this State in the spring of 1849, and settled at Benicia.
Shortly after his arrival, he was unanimously elected by
the Legislature Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and
served out his term of two years.
In 1851, Judge Hastings received the Democratic
nomination for Attorney General, to which position he
was elected by the people, receiving the highest vote cast
at the election, except that given to the candidate for
State Treasurer on the same ticket. Major Richard Roman.
This vote was considered highly complimentary, as the
field was occupied solely by his Whig opponent, who
eloquently canvassed the State. At the end of his two
years' term of office, he retired to private life, and has not
since been before the people as a candidate for office.
Judge Hastings is a married man, and has eight living
SERRANUS CLINTOX HASTINGS. 437
children — four boys and four girls. He is a man of nerv-
ouSj active temperament, genial manners, and agreeable
presence. He is tall in stature and of powerful build,
possessing great physical endurance. He is a ready and
racy debater, but lays no claims to oratory. He is not
particularly adapted to the legal profession, and his nature
rebels against the restraints of judicial office. His legal
attainments are, however, considerable. He is a fine
Latin scholar. His conduct and decisions, as the highest
judicial functionary of two States, have been generally
commended, and not once, in our presence or to our
knowledge, condemned. His conversation is decidedly
entertaining, and at times infused with wit and humor.
His heart cannot grow old. Politics and finances gene-
rally engross his thoughts.
While wearing the honors and cares of office, whirling
in the dizzy round of political agitation, he always hus-
banded his resources, and managed his private business
affairs with consummate wisdom. He is one of the few
pioneers of California who grasped the golden oppor-
tunity offered by the flush, exciting times when the State
was in her infancy, to lay broad and deep the foundations
of their future wealth. His entire career, whether viewed
from a political or financial standpoint, has been one of
unbroken, almost marvelous success.
Judge Hastings was the guest of Gov. Seward in his
tour of observation through Oregon, Washington, and
Alaska, in the summer of 1869; and private duties in-
terfered to prevent him accompanying that great friend
of the Pacific coast in his journey through our sister
Republic. He is addicted to travel, and, since he left
public office, the greater part of his time which could be
spared from the proper conducting of his children's edu-
cation and the management of his estates, has been spent
in extended visits to the Eastern States and Europe.
His residence is at San Francisco.
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH.
^Y THE Editor.
THIS early pioneer of Oregon occupies a prominent
place among the representative men of the Pacific
Coast. He is one of the few surviving public men who
sought the extreme west, impelled more by the love of
adventure than by a thirst for fame or fortune. He came
to these shores when a very young man, long before the
discovery of gold in California, and made his home in
Oregon, where he has passed the greater portion of his
life.
His remote paternal ancestors migrated from Argyle-
shire, in Scotland, and settled in Ireland, in the province
of Ulster, about the year 1612. His great, great gr^and-
father, James Nesmith, emigrated from the valley of the
river Bann, in North Ireland, to America, in 1718.
He was one of the first sixteen settlers in the town of
Londonderry, New Hampshire. In this town the father
of James Willis was born, and passed his early boyhood.
Before he had grown to man's estate, he moved to Ae-
worth. New Hampshire. Afterwards he married a Miss
Willis of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and emigrated to
the eastern frontier of Maine, where James Willis, their
only child, was born July 23d, 1820. His mother died
when he was but eight months old. At the age of nine
years, the boy was thrown upon his own resources, his
father, who was a merchant and trader, having been un-
fortunate and reduced to poverty some years previous.
By hard work of various kinds he kept himself above
want. At the age of fifteen he walked the entire distance
440 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
from Brooks, Maine, to AewortH, New Hampshire. In
summer, whenever he could find employment, he worked
upon farms, and devoted his winters to study at the dis-
trict school.
When eighteen years old he left Clearmont, New
HamjDshire, with all his worldly goods packed upon his
back, and twenty-five dollars in pocket, and traveled on
foot to Albany, New York. Thence he proceeded, partly
on canal boats and partly on steamboats as a deck passen-
ger, to Cincinnati, Ohio. Here his funds gave out. He
obtained employment as a farm hand near the Queen
City, and continued for some time to work at his old oc-
cupation, receiving twelve dollars per month for his serv-
ices. When the ''melancholy days" returned, he was
no longer required upon the farm, and was compelled to
look elsewhere for work. He soon secured a new ''en-
gagement" to cut cordwood, at fifty cents per cord.
From 1838 until the spring of 1843, Mr. Nesmith
followed a sort of nomadic life in the States of Illinois,
Missouri and Iowa. During this period he learned the
carpenter trade, at which occupation, being of a mechan-
ical turn of mind, he became very proficient. During
the latter part of 1842 and the beginning of 1843, the
young carpenter assisted in the construction of Fort
Scott, now in the State of Kansas.
In the spring of the latter year a number of men were
preparing to emigrate to Oregon from Missouri. Mr.
iVesmith determined to join them. He had concluded
that his prospects of acquiring a competence by hard
labor were dismal; and as he loved the adventures inci-
dent to a frontier life, he gladly embraced the oppor-
tunity which now offered to penetrate the solitudes of
the wilderness, and explore the vast unknown regions
which stretched to the west of the Missouri. The party
started overland from Independence. Among its mem-
bers were Peter H. Burnett, afterwards first Governor of
the State of California, Pierson B. Redding, Samuel J.
Hensley, and others who have attained distinction in the
States of the Pacific. Being expert with the rifle and
the shot-gun, Mr. Nesmith hunted for a mess of six or
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. 441
eight men, whom he kept supplied with meat in regions
where any game could be found. He arrived with his
companions in the valley of the Willamette, Oregon, Oc-
tober, 1843. For two or three years thereafter he worked
at the carpenter's trade. Soon after his arrival he determ-
ined to prepare himself for the legal profession. While
following his trade he devoted his leisure hours to read-
ing law.
In 1846, Mr. Nesmith was married, and settled on a
farm, which he cultivated for about two years. He ap-
pears to have always cherished a fondness for the life and
labors of a husbandman. But it was appointed that he
should not remain secluded from the observation of his
fellow men. From 1846 until 1866 he served the Terri-
tory and State of Oregon in many and varied capacities.
During that period and since, he has also been engaged
in many varieties of business pursuits : farming, milling
and merchandising have alternately received his attention.
In 1848, he was a captain in the expedition against;
the Indians of Middle Oregon, during what was known as
the '• Cay use War." In the latter part of that year he
visited California, and worked for more than twelve
months in the gold mines.
In 1853, he served as captain in the war with the
Indians of Southern Oregon.
In 1853 and 1854, he was United States Marshal for
Oregon.
In 1856, he commanded a regiment during the war
with the Yackama Indians in north-eastern Oregon and
Washington Territory.
In 1857 and 1858, he was Superintendent of Indian
affairs for Oregon and Washington Territory.
His patience and ability displayed in the management
of the complicated concerns of this department, attested
his practical wisdom and absolute integrity.
When the memorable controversy arose between
President Buchanan and Senator Douglas, Mr. Nesmith
adhered to the views expressed by the latter, to whose
course and conduct he gave a hearty endorsement.
Though holding a federal office, his sentiments concern-
442 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ing the events then disrupting the Democratic party were
candidly asserted, without malice yet w^ithout reserve.
In June, 1860, President Buchanan removed him
from the office he had held for more than three years,
and in the administration of which he had given so much
satisfaction. Three months had not elapsed thereafter,
when the people of Oregon selected him to represent
them in the national councils.
The Legislature of that State convened in September,
being divided into three nearly equal elements — the Doug-
las Democrats, Administration Democrats, and Republic-
ans, with the first-named party in a small plurality. Af-
ter a few ineffectual ballots, Mr. Nesmith was elected
United States Senator for the full term of six years from
the fouth of March, 1861. Col. E. D. Baker was chosen
for the short term of five years. During his Senatorial
term, Mr. ISTesmith served on the committees on Military
Affairs, Commerce and Revolutionary Claims. He was a
^^War Democrat," and supported most of Mr. Lincoln's
measures for the suppression of the Rebellion. He op-
posed the Emancipation Proclamation on the ground that
the Constitution did not warrant its issuance. He be-
lieved President Johnson's policy of reconstruction was
right, and endorsed it. He sympathized warmly with
Mr. Johnson in his disputes with Congress. In the last
Presidential election he supported Seymour and Blair, and
the weight of his name and influence, in that election,
probably turned the well-balanced scales in favor of the
Democracy in Oregon.
Mr. Nesmith is an earnest and forcible, though not an
eloquent speaker. He never wearies his auditors, and
has no difficulty in engaging their attention, no matter to
what subject he addresses himself. His bold, plain and
emphatic utterances carry the conviction that he is a prac-
tical and truthful man. He is a devoted son of the State
where he has so long lived, and his popularity is very
great throughout the new north-west. The speech which
follows this sketch, in which he urged upon Congress the
necessity of establishing a branch of the LTnited States
Mint at Dalles City, Oregon, will be found interesting on
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. 443
account of the view it presents of the mineral resources
of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, while his humorous
attacks on the principal enemy of his favorite measure
render its perusal anything but monotonous.
Delivered in the United States Senate, April 1st, 1864,
ON the Proposition to establish a Branch Mint at
Dalles City, Oregon.
Me. President : Early in the present session, impelled by a sense
of duty to the State which I in part represent, I introduced the bill
which has just been read; it was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nance for investigation. That committee did my colleagues in this
body and in the other House , and myself, the honor to in\dte us be-
fore them to present such facts as might be within our knowledge
bearing upon the question under consideration; and we w^ere not
without hope that the reasons we then presented would induce the
committee to give us a favorable report upon a measure of such
vital importance to our State as well as to our neighboring Terri-
tories of Washington and Idaho.
It appears that the committee, deferring to a usage so venerable
as to have almost become the common law of the Senate, after list-
ening to the representations of our delegation, who were supposed
to know something about the propriety of the measure, referred the
question to the decision of the Secretary of the Treasmy, who tac-
itly admitted that he had no information upon the subject, and who
in return referred it to one James Pollock, Director of the Mint at
Philadelphia, and who was the very man who knew less than any
other party consulted, or likely to be consulted, about the q aestion,
and who has sent here a communication adverse to the establish-
ment of the proposed branch mint in Oregon, and from which the
following luminous extract is made :
" Coinage is one of the highest and most important attributes of national sov-
ereignty, and should be exercised and controlled in such a manner as will tend to
strengthen rather than weaken the national Government. It is respectfully sug-
gested whether the providing of additional coinage establishments does not tend
toward national disintegration."
While the fate of the measure rested with the unbiased judg-
ment of the honorable Senators who compose the Finance Commit-
tee, I had no apprehensions of anything but a favorable result; but
444 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
when my bill was sent on a voyage of discovery, first to the case-
mates of the Treasury Department, and thence to the genius who
presides over the parent mint in the city of ' * brotherly love/' I was
ajDprehensive that I should never again behold the fair proportions
of my cherished offspring. My worst fears have been realized.
My bill has returned from its peregrinations hawked at, torn, and
dilapidated by the stupidity and ignorance of the company it has
kept, and its mangled remains are now before me in the shape of a
recommendation for an assay office.
Before I had ever beheld the American Congress I was so ver-
dant as to suppose tnat great questions affecting the country, or any
portion of it, were decided by the intelligence and good sense of
the members, without reference to the narrow, contracted, and an-
tiquated prejudices of some old fogy of some previous generation,
whose views could only be valuable as an illustration of what might
be said by an active, energetic, and successful competitor for the
capital prize at the world's fools' fair.
My constituents are an eminently practical and unsophisticated
sort of people. When I return to them I shall be called upon to
give an account of all the deeds and misdeeds done by me in this
body; and among other things I shall be called upon to explain why
their prayer for a branch mint was not responded to. Well, sir,
in my shame and confusion, I shall have to state that Mr. Pollock
was opposed to the measure. They will naturally enough say, "We
sent you to the American Congress to urge our claims, and cannot
see what Mr. Pollock had to do with the question. " You cannot
imagine, Senators, how the people, in their simplicity, will be
startled and surprised when I deliberately proceed to tell them that
before a branch mint can be established for the coinage of their
gold, the bill must be sent to one James Pollock for his approval or
disapproval. If I am so fortunate as to convince them that this
Pollock is a coordinate branch of this great and glorious Govern-
ment, they will very naturally desire to know upon what grounds
«nd upon what reasons he based his refusal to so just a demand.
-Then I shall be forced to unfold to them the mighty, profound,
*ind luminous reasons of the philosopical, astute, and recondite
^"ollock, in this wise : ' ' Oregonians, you might have had a branch
mint to coin your gold and your silver at your doors, and thus save
you from a loss of fifteen or twenty per cent, of the precious metals
for which you so industriously delve in the earth, and of which you
are daily being robbed, either by speculators or by reason of the risk,
expense, and delay incident to sending your gold and silver thousands
of miles away to be coined; but the truth is, that by some recondite
process beyond my comprehension, and known only to the great
political alchemists, the profound Pollock, after submitting branch
mints to the torturing process of decomposition and analysis, has
discovered that their component parts * consist of treason, secession,
withdrawal from the Union,' abrogation of constitutional compacts,
denial of Federal authority, disregard of oaths, usurpation of na-
tional prerogatives, stealing of public property, arson, and murder.
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. 445
all of which, when recombined into a modern branch inint, consti-
tutes the essence of all these crimes latterly known as disirdegrafion !
Why, sir, after this lucid statement of the evils which our people in
their simple credulity have invoked upon their own heads, when
again the people of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho Temtory pe-
tition you for the location of a monster of so hideous mien in their
midst, you will be enabled to silence their clamors at once by the
bare mention of ''Pollock Disintegration," or " Disintegration Pol-
lock. " Why, sir, its effect will be as instantaneously soothing as
the cabalistic invocation of the " 3Ianitoiva" which frightens the
young Indian to sleep, or the bare mention of that devil in English
which reduces white urchins to a state of propriety if not of slum-
ber. Mr. Pollock, it would seem, has not only found time to draw
his annual stipend with the greatest regularity, but has devoted
some of his leisure hours to an examination of the Constitution of
the United States, upon which instrument he assumes to become a
commentator, and with the greatest self-complacency proceeds to
inform us that ' ' coinage is one of the highest and most important
attributes of national sovereignty, and should be exercised and
controlled in such a manner as will tend to strengthen rather than
weaken the national Government," and then proceeds to suggest
that "additional coinage establishments tend toward national
disintegration."
It is true, sir, that our forefathers in forming the Constitution
of the United States did define the powers of Congress; and among
a variety of specified objects placed within its jurisdiction was that
"to coin money and regulate the value thereof;" but Mr. Pollock
is the first of the great commentators who has found it necessary to
raise his warning voice against a liberal exercise of this * ' one of the
highest attributes of national sovereignty," so essential to the pros-
perity and general welfare of a great and powerful nation. His
profound reasoning would seem to indicate that even the limited
exercise of this great prerogative was only a safe experiment when
conducted at the parent mint at Philadelphia, and under his own
personal care and supervision; and while no danger is to be appre-
hended from "disintegration" upon the slip of land between the
Delaware and Schuylkill, yet, from some occult reason, the most
dire and disastrous consequences were sure to follow the exercise
of this wonderful power beyond those magic limits.
The Constitution also authorizes Congress "to borrow money
on the credit of the United States," and no one seems disposed to
regard the unlimited exercise of this power as at all dangerous. It
also provides that Congress shall have power to levy and collect
taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to regulate commerce with for-
eign nations and the Indian tribes; to establish a unifoi-m rule of
naturalization, and uniform laws upon the subject of bankruptcy;
to fix standards of weights and measures; to provide for the pun-
ishment of counterfeiting the securities and cun-ent coin of the
United States; to establish post offices and post roads; to x^romote
the progress of science and useful arts; to constitute tribunals in-
446 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ferior to the Supreme Court; to declare war and grant letters of
marque and reprisal; to raise and support armies. Tliese are but
a few of the great powers confided to congressional jurisdiction, to
be exercised for the prosperity and development of a great and pro-
gressive people. It has remained for Mr. Pollock to discover that
at least one of these great j)owers cannot be exercised beyond the
boundaries of his own town. He might with the same propriety
propose to restrict the exercise of all the rest within the same
nan'ow limits.
Congress having availed itself of the constitutional grant to coin
money and fix the valae thereof, exercised this/ 'highest and most
important attribute of national sovereignty" by determining the
mode by which the thing should be done. Its functions ceased for
the time being when the mint, or factory to execute its mandates,
was set in motion for that purpose. No restrictions were placed
upon the quantity of coin to be made, that being left to be determ-
ined by the quantity of material furnished for the purpose and
the capacity of the factory to work it up.
No one but Mr. Pollock is impressed with the idea that every
time he applies the necessary physical force to the lever to swedge
a piece of nickel into the shape of current coin, he is any more
exercising the " attributes of national sovereignty" than is eveiy
day exercised by the stage driver who cracks his whip over the team
that draws the mail, or the coal-heaver that stokes the fire to gener-
ate steam for its propulsion by water. All these are simply doing
the physical labor necessary to accommodate the people with coins
and mails, in pursuance of different acts of Congress, predicated
upon a fundamental grant of power. The stage driver or the stoker
could, with quite as much propriety, give us their disquisitions upon
the constitutional power, or the dangers to be apprehended from its
exercise, by reason of "disintegration," resulting from the estab-
lishment of new mail routes or increased speed upon the old ones,
as Mr. Pollock has for his absurd attempt to prevent the people
upon the Pacific slope from being accommodated with pieces of metal
fashioned into money at a Government factory, by virtue of pre-ex-
isting authority.
Mints, and branch mints, notwithstanding all the mysterious
dignity with which Mr. Pollock attempts to surround them, are
mere workshops, or factories, established by the Government for
the accommodation of the people, and should be located at points
convenient to where the raw material is produced, in order that
those engaged in that production should enjoy at least some of the
benefits of the fabrication. The man who is so narrow-minded and
selfishly prejudiced as to desire to confine their operation to a single
and inconvenient point in this great country, so abounding in the
precious metals, might as readily urge that every iron-foundiy,
brick-yard, saw and grist mill, blacksmith, hatter, and shoemaker
shop necessary to accommodate more than thirty millions of people,
should be established in the same village, and thus check any in-
cipient tendency toward "disintegration."
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH- 447
Why, sir, when the patriotic people of Oregon, and Washington
and Idaho Territories, read Pollock's letter, and comprehend that
his report against their proposed branch mint is based upon his
fears that so petty a consideration should shake their loyalty or in-
duce them to become traitors to their countiy and their flag, they
will simply treat his absurd theories with the scorn and contempt
they deserve. A public officer who, in the middle of the nineteenth
century, could descend to indulge in such imputations against a
loyal and patriotic people, under the guise of defending the Con-
stitution, has about as much conception of that instrument as the
grave-worm has of the intellect which once animated the body upon
which it feeds. The author of such vagaries could not excite the
anger of a sensible people, who, if he were present among them,
would be moved by the highest dictates of humanity and philan-
thropy to cut him for the simples.
We read in the Scriptures that Nebuchadnezzar fed upon grass,
but there is no evidence that he ever became fit for beef; so from
analogy we may infer that Pollock, though he directs and controls
a factory which he regards as embodying all the attributes of na-
tional sovereignty, will hardly ever attain a condition qualifying
him for the proper exercise of those high functions.
When my colleagues and myself went before the Committee on
Finance to urge upon tbem the propriety of this measure, we
found oirrselves laboring under some embarrassment in the produc-
tion of conclusive evidence in relation to the quantity of gold being
produced, and likely to be produced, in the region of country to be
accommodated by the proposed branch mint.
Owing to the great distance which separates us from our con-
stituents, the delays, difficulties, and uncertainties of communica-
tion with them, and in part to their own carelessness and neglect to
forward the necessary data upon which to predicate our statements,
we were only able to furnish an approximate estimate of the results
of their industry in mining pursuits during the last year. With a
consciousness that we were within bounds, we stated that our ex-
jDortations of gold for the last year amounted to more than an aver-
age of one million dollars per month. When called upon by the
honorable chairman of the committee to submit our views in writ-
ing, we offered the following communication :
Washington, January 20th, 1864.
Sir : At the suggestion of the committee, at its late meeting upon the sub-
ject of a branch mint proposed to be established at the city of Portland, State of
Oregon, the undersigned submit a statement of facts which have induced them to
ask the passage of the bill now before you.
PreUminary to this we will remark that, owing to the fact that from the local
situation of the mining region which will be tributary to the proposed branch
mint, a large share of the treasure passes out of it by private hands, we cannot
pretend to give accurate statistics of its mineral products. The mines lie along
the eastern boundary of Oregon, and extend thence north and into the British
Possessions, and east to the summit of the Kocky mountains. This region embrac-
ing all of Idaho on the western slope, and a large share of the Tenitory of Wash-
ington and the State of Oregon, finds its outlet by way of the Columbia river, and
448 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
draws its supplies by the same channel. A mint located at the city of Portland,
which is the commercial mart of all the country drained by the Columbia, would
accommodate the whole of this vast region, now rapidly filling with a population
whose principal, almost exclusive, business is that of mining.
The Territoiy of Idaho, organized last March, did not till within eighteen
months contain to exceed five hundred white persons. In the month of October
last the census taken by the United States Marshal showed a population of thirty-
four thousand. This increase seems to indicate that the existence of rich and ex-
tensive mines is well established. A fair, candid estimate of the population en-
gaged in mining and to be accommodated by this measure would probably place the
number at fifty thousand. And we may add that in proportion to the labor employ-
ed, we believe no mines on the western slope yield so well.
Much of the treasure taken fron tlfese mines finds its way out of the country
in the hands of private individuals. There is no common place of deposit for
it where it can be credited to its source, thus making it almost impossible to estimate
its amount justly. The various express companies can give the amount which
they transport, but this leaves an immense amount, which any one knows to ex-
ist who is acquainted with the independent mode in which a great many persons
transact their business, thus entirely unaccounted for. As an instance of this, a
late Portland (Oregon) paper states that the express company brought down by the
daily steamer of the Columbia river only $1,000 in gold dust, while the same pa-
per gives the names of two passengers who had over three hundred pounds in their
possession, and others mentioned had smaller amounts. We say, therefore, that
while the books and receipts of express companies show the only accurate statis-
tics on the subject, they give no idea of the vast resources in mineral of the section,
the interests of which will be accommodated by this measiure.
Such data as we have we now submit. There are three private assay offices in
the city of Portland. The amounts received by them, as shown by their books,
an abstract of which is published in the ' ' Oregonian ' ' newspaper for November
last, from January 15th, 1863, to October 20th, following, is $2,486,496.65. As an
evidence of the growth of the product of gold we may mention that one office,
making monthly statements of the amount received, gave for each of the two
months preceding the last account almost double that of those earlier in the year.
Mr. Benjamin HoUaday, of New York, who is the owner of the line of steam-
ships plying between San Francisco and Portland, informs us that he has trans-
ported from Portland an average of from six to seven hundred thousand dollars
per month during the past summer and autumn. This statement does not include
the amounts in the hands of passengers, of which he knew nothing, but which,
owing to the high insurance, we must conclude were large.
There being no regulation at the branch mint in San Francisco requiring the
depositor of bullion to designate whence it came, there is no other means of
obtaining any just estimate than by reports of the kind to which we refer. The
recently published reports from San Francisco, made by a commercial board of
that city, of the amount of bullion received there for the past year, credits Ore-
gon and British Columbia with a product of five millions. This, of coiu'se, is
based upon the receipts by shipments and through express companies, and leaves
a vast amount — the whole that is diffused through the mining region and that por-
tion which enters the circulation of business and agi*icultural parts of Oregon, and
that shipped in the hands of passengers— unaccounted for. This, we do not hesi-
tate to say, we believe amounts to as much more.
Om-s is a growing State. Capital is finding many new avenues of employment
and investment, and even as far back as 1860, when our mining interest was in its
infancy, the city of Portland was, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants,
the wealthiest city in the Union. So the census of that year will verify. We might
give many items showing that the mines tributary to the proposed branch mint are
very productive; but we refer to only one, and that only because it came directly
to the knowledge of one of the undersigned. That was an instance where three
men in six weeks' time, with their own hands dug out $180,000. These instances
are not common, we admit, but they serve to show the exceeding richness of some
portions of this northern region, and indicate the wealth which must soon there
be developed. For the purpose of stimulating this development by providing the
miner with a place for the assay of his gold without the loss of time, the risk of
transmission by sea to San Francisco, and the payment of expressing and insurance
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. 449
fees, and to prevent the swindling dealer in coin from robbing tbe miner of his
fair earnings by his unjust discoiint, which many prefer to submit to rather than
the inconvenience just alluded to, we ask you to consider the proposition favorably^
J. W. NESMITH,
B. F. HARDING,
JOHN K. McBRIDE.
Hon. W. P. Fessenden,
Chairman of Senate Finance Connnittee.
As auxiliary to this statement, we laid before tlie committee tbe
following extracts from well known and credible Oregon newspa-
pers relative to the production of gold solely within the State of
Oregon :
The Gold and Silveb Mixes of Owyhee. — The news from the Owyhee mining
district is sufficient to warrant the proud assertion that Oregon and Idaho territory
will soon be recognized as the richest countries in mineral wealth on the face of the
globe. Mr. Luther Hasbrook, a gentleman who has just returned from the Owy-
hee, called upon us on Thursday last and exhibited to us a sack full of quartz speci-
mens, taken mostly from the Oro Fino, Morning Star, Evening Star, and Noonday
lodes. Contrary to the usual custom of selecting the richest specimens for assay,
Mr. H. brought down with him every character of rock which had been obtained
in the lode, from the richest to the poorest. A chemical analysis of that taken
from the Oro Fino shows a valuation of $22,000 per ton, with the proportion
of §3,000 per ton in silver. From the Morning Star an average of $11,000 in gold
and $2,000 in silver has been taken from a ton of the rock. The Evening Star is
said to equal the Morning Star, while the Noonday, it is believed, ^vill surpass all
the others in richness. The above mentioned are all the lodes that have as yet
been thoroughly prospected, though many others have been located and will be
opened as soon as labor will accompUsh it. Mr. Hasbrook could not recollect the
names of all the different lodes which have been claimed, but mentions the follow-
ing : Oro Fino, Morning Star, Evening Star, Noonday, Union, Whisky Gulch,
Last Chance, Claremont, Highland, War Eagle, North Pole, South Pole, New York,
Empire, Silver Gray, and Moonhght.
The above and a large number of others are found in a district of about five
miles square, though Mr. Hasbrook assures us that there is not the slightest doubt
of the entire Owyhee valley proving equally rich. Nor is the mineral wealth con-
fined to the Owyhee exclusively, but to the whole country for fifty miles around.
Aside from the gold-bearing quartz lodes, several ledges have been discovered
which rival the richest of the Washoe or Esmeralda districts.
If the above reports be true, (and there is very httle reason to doubt them) we
may rest assured that the following season will witness the largest emigration to
that region ever yet known. The great success of the miners during the past sea-
son has given encouragement to enterprising men everywhere, and instead of be-
ing regarded as a humbug, the richness and extent of our mines is acknowledged
by all.
Mormon Basin. — From Mr. Perry, a gentleman who has spent the summer in
Mormon Basin, we derive the following in relation to this mining district. About
two hundred and fifty men have been at work in the Basin during the summer, and
their average pay has been fully up to the Boise standard. Indeed, it is thought
that if they had an abundance of water in the Basin it would be the best mining
camp in the northern country. Working with a rocker, the best day's work made
was $225. The average pay was ten dollars per day to the hand. The gold is of
a superior quality, and assays over seventeen dollars per ounce. On Clark's Creek,
distant seven miles from the Basin, one hundred men have been at work, making
good wages. Many of the miners have come out to winter, and it is thought that
not more than one hundred and fifty men wiU winter in the mines. All through
the summer there was a great demand for men. To laborers five dollars per day
29
450 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
•was paid, and considering the difference in the cost of living, this is quite as good
as six dollars in Boise. In the spring there will be a great demand for hands, and
it is not unlikely that wages will go up to Six dollars. Mr. Perry brought down
with him several plethoric purses, filled with Mormon Basin dust. It is coarser
than that from Boise, and in the lot that we examined there were many pieces that
would weigh from one to two dollars. "Without doubt. Mormon Basin is a rich
mining district, and with another year a large amount of treasure will be taken
out. — Mountaineer.
Tons or Gold. — The Nez Perce Chief brought down last evening the richest
freight that any steamer on the Columbia river ever bore. Wells, Fargo & Co. had
183 pounds, ($35,000); one party of six miners had 800 pounds. ($150,600);
another party of six men had 700 pounds, ($134,400 ;) another partv of two men
had 300 pounds, ($57,600) ; while one man had 150 pounds, ($28,000). Thus we
have a total of 1,950 pounds ($370,600) in the hands of fifteen " honest miners,"
and 183 pounds ($35,000) in the hands of Wells, Fargo & Co. All of these fif-
teen persons our informant, who came down in the Chief, saw and conversed with.
He also learned that nearly all the passengers had plenty of money. So it is fair
to conclude that two tons of gold dust came down on the Chief last evening. — Dal-
les Journal.
From our own personal knowledge of that country, and our ac-
quaintance with gentlemen making these and similar statements, we
are satisfied of their reliability.
The region of country which will be accommodated by the estab-
lishment of the proposed branch mint extends from the forty-sec-
ond to the forty-ninth parallels of latitude, and from the Pacific
ocean to the Rocky mountains, embracing an area about eight times
the size of the great State of New York, or about six times as large
as the New England States. Throughout the length and breadth of
this vast region, with the exception of but a few localities, both gold
and silver abounds in inexhaustible quantities. But a few short
years since I saw it an uninhabited wilderness, except that portion
occupied by Indians, much of it apparently sterile and unproduc-
tive, and as was then thought by many, perfectly valueless. To-
day it contains two hundred thousand busy, enterprising, indus-
trious, and intelligent people, forming a nucleus around which mil-
lions will be found within a few brief years. During the last year
its scattered and meagre population, with but few conveniences or
facilities, and with rude appliances, produced $15,000,000 in gold.
This year that product will be more than trebled, and that ratio of
production will continue in the proportion that an industrious and
energetic population is supplied from the older States and from for-
eign countries, until the production of the precious metals of that
auriferous region will amount to $1,000,000,000 per annum.
Who, sir, would have had the temerity a few short years since to
have predicted the vast revolution to be wrought in commerce, in-
dustry, national prosperity, and general enterprise by the discovery
of gold upon the Pacific slope?
One morning in the year 1848, Bennett and Marshall, two indi-
viduals unknown to fame, picked up some pieces of yellow sub
stance in Captain Sutter's mill-race, on the American river near
Coloma, California. Those men, quite as unconscious of the mag-
nificent results to flow from their discovery as was Columbus when
JA3IES WILLIS NESMITH. 451
he first beheld the glimmering light upon the shores of America,
held in their hands the germ that was to give a new impetus to the
progress of the world. What has resulted from the discover}^ made
by those two almost unknown men, though it has astonished and
filled mankind with amazement, is but the precursor of what is to
follow when the vast mining regions of Oregon, Washington, and
Idaho have their mining resources more fully developed. As yet
nothing has been accomplished upon the Pacific coast but a mere
scratching of the surface. With machineiy, capital, systematized
labor, and good roads afibrding facilities for ingi-ess and egress, and
the cheaper transportation of necessary supplies, the production of
gold and silver will be increased a thousand fold, and the nation
will have in its own public domain, so rich in precious metals, re-
sources ample for the liquidation of our public debt, even if we
should be compelled to battle with treason and secession for another
generation to come.
It does seem to me, Mr. President, that the Government, instead
of pursuing a niggardly policy toward the hardy pioneei*s engaged
in developing the region to which I have referred, should extend
toward them all reasonable facihties for the successful promotion of
an entei-prise so fraught with the present and prospective interests
of the nation.
The world changes, and he who attempts to oppose its mutations
in place of accommodating himself to them, can lay no claims to
statesmanship. When the Alleghanies were the western limit of
the Union, and our annual gold production and coinage was about
two hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars, as it was on an aver-
age for the twenty-four years from 1793 to 1817, then, when Presi-
dents, Cabinets, and members of Congress, together with the more
respectable portions of mankind, refused to send messages by tele-
graph, use postage stamps, or ride upon railroads, then the JVIint at
Philadelphia was at the hub of the American universe and in a
central position, and could accommodate the nation. At present
there is no more use or propriety in its being there than there
would be in sending warming-pans to the East Indies, temperance
lecturers to the State of Maine, Christian missionaries to Massa-
chusetts, or steam cotton-presses to Terra del Fuego.
The little old man who so complacently sits in the little old Gov-
ernment workshop in Philadelphia, exercising ** the highest func-
tions of national sovereignty'* by coining $3,000,000 of gold a year,
while the Pacific slope is producing $100,000,000 and wants it
coined into a circulating medium, will eventually have to yield to
the logic of current events and take his shop to the gold, for the
reason that the gold will not come to his shop.
This is a progressive world and a progressive people in a pro-
gressive age. Commerce, enteq^rise, and the great interests of
mankind will not be trifled with or retarded by the theories of a by-
gone era. Those who are too prejudiced or too stubborn to yield
must clear the track, or be crushed by the car of progress. The
adoption of a liberal and magnanimous policy on the part of Con-
452 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
gress toward the remote States and Territories is calculated to cher-
ish and foster the innate love of our people for our G-overnment
and institutions. No recipients of such generous favors are likely
to regard them as an inducement to secession or " disintegration/'
especially when the disturbing causes which have led to our present
difficulties have no existence with them. This is true of the States
and Territories upon the Pacific. It is true that a branch mint was
one of the institutions conferred upon the southern States by the
liberality of Congress, and was located at New Orleans. That bless-
ing, like any other conferred upon that region, was perverted and
abused in the mad career of a people determined to make slavery-
general and freedom local; but there is not a j)article of evidence
that it furnished any more inducement to the consummation of seces-
sion and rebellion than any other of the thousands of blessings that
the southern people derived from their connection with the Union.
This folly had its origin in other causes, prominent among which
was the absurd claim that State sovereignty was paramount to na-
tional authority. The seeds of secession and rebellion, with all their
concomitant curses and crimes, had been sown broadcast by promi-
nent southern statesmen for a period of more than thirty years, un-
der the fascinating designation of State's rights, and were assiduously
cultivated by pretenders who claimed to be the embodiment of all
that was chivalrous.
Mr. President, in order to refute the visionary theories of what
I regard as an insane man, I have thus been led to repel mere asser-
tions which would not be of the slightest consequence, were it not,
imf ortunately, for the official position which by accident he happens
to occupy. I regret exceedingly that circumstances beyond my con-
trol have compelled me to waste so much ammunition upon such
very small game.
It may possibly be urged, sir, that with a parent mint at Philadel-
phia, and a branch mint at San Francisco, no more mining facilities
are required, and that gold will seek the locality where it can be
coined the cheapest. I dispose of all such arguments by stating
that during the last fiscal year the branch mint at San Francisco, by
being worked to its utmost capacity, was only able to coin gold to
the amount of $17,510,963, while only $3,340,931.74 reached and
was coined at Mr. Pollock's old curiosity shop in Philadelphia. It
should also be borne in mind that at Philadelphia the Government
charge for ''parting " as it is technically called, was only five cents
per ounce, while at San Francisco it was fourteen cents per ounce.
This data proves conclusively that gold seeks the nearest mint for
coinage, and that the extra charge of nine cents per ounce for
"parting" bears no sort of proportion to the expense and delays of
transporting gold to the parent mint at Philadelphia. When, be-
sides, it is taken into consideration that the Government levies and
collects a tax upon all money coined at their establishments equal to
the expense of coinage, I am unable to perceive how she can lose in
a pecuniary point by the adoption of a measure which provides for
reimbursing her for all her outlay. Surely the amount asked for by
JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. 453
the bill is a paltry sum. You expend Tnthout a murmur a larger
sum every month in what is called "decorating the subterranean
passages" of this building with gaudy daubs, intended, as I suppose,
to represent mountains, cascades, beasts, birds, and pei*sons, which
never existed except in the distempered brain of the artist engaged
in producing them.
The wealth, the population, and political power of this Repub-
lic are progressing westward with as much certainty and resistless
power as causes the light and heat of the morning sun to flow in the
same direction. You can neither ignore the fact nor retard its con-
summation, but you may for a brief period embarrass it by a refusal
to comply with the just demands of our people, for the same na-
tional benefits conferred by the common Government upon older
and more favored portions of the country.
With a firm consciousness of the justice and propriety of my
amendment, I invoke the aid of Senators to procure its adoption.
^Y/^^^^a^^
SAMUEL BRANNAN
^Y )VlLLIAM J. ]VeLLS.
Ij^EW names among the prominent pioneers of California
have been more intimately associated with the his-
tory of the State than that of Mr. Erannan. A review of
many of the principal enterprises for internal or metro-
politan improvement during the last twenty years, would
reveal him as their zealous advocate and master mind,
either as the originator or the active promoter ; and it
may be truly said of him that he has not been surpassed
by any individual in. the State in his encouragement of
industrial progress.
Mr. Brannan was born in Saco, in the State of Maine,
in 1819. He immigrated to Lake County, Ohio, in 1833,
where he entered upon an apprenticeship to letter-press
printing. Before the term of his indenture was com-
pleted, he bought up, in 1836, the remainder of his time,
and although a mere youth, entered into the great land
speculations at an era when the whole country was seized
with the mania of making fortunes without the worrying
need of time, trouble, or capital. A year later he turned
again to the press, and traveled the country as a journey-
man printer. In the course of the five following years
he visited most of the States of the Union. In 1842, he
established and published in New York a weekly news-
paper, styled the New York 2fessenger.
As early as 1846 he formed a company of pioneers to
settle upon the distant and then unknown shores of Cali-
456 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC),
fornia, and the ship BrooMyn^ in which, with two hundred
and thirty immigrants, he sailed from New York, arrived
at San Francisco in July of the same year. When Mr.
Brannan first landed in California he was about twenty-
six years of age. He at once became a leading and
influential member of the isolated little community, and
soon after his arrival he erected the machinery of two
flour mills, in a locality answering to what is now Clay
street. These were the first introduced into the country.
He also, in January, 1847, projected and published a
weekly newspaper, called the California Star^ which was
the first journal that appeared in San Francisco, and was
the parent of the present Alta California. All this was
before the discovery of gold, and when the early settlers
little suspected that the progress and development of
their new and distant home would be aided by any of
the remarkable events that soon after made California a
centre-point of attraction for the whole world.
In the fall of 1847, Mr. Brannan opened a store at
Sutter's Fort, under the name of C. C. Smith & Co.
This was the first establishment of the kind formed in
the Sacramento Yalley. In the spring of 1848, he
bought out Mr. Smith, who shortly afterwards returned
to the Atlantic States possessed of a handsome fortune.
Mr. Brannan continued the business during the heat of
the gold excitement, and there laid the foundation of his
present great wealth. In 1849, he returned to San Fran-
cisco, where he had preserved a residence and citizenship,
and, under the firm of Osborn & Brannan, conducted an
extensive business for nearly a year in Chinese merchan-
dise. In the noted affair of ''the Hounds," about mid-
summer of that year, he took a leading part, and was
active in extirpating that band of desperadoes from
the city. In August following, he was elected a member
of the first regular Town Council; and in 1851 was
chosen President of the famous "Vigilance Committee."
About the end of 1851, Mr. Brannan visited the Sand-
wich Islands, where he bought extensive properties in
farming land, and real estate in Honolulu. In 1853, he
was elected a State Senator of California.
SA31UEL BRANNAN. 457
It is impossible in our narrow limits even to allude
to the numberless public affairs in which this gentleman
has been engaged. The cause of education always found
in him an ardent supporter. He was one of the founders
of the first school in San Francisco, and contributed
liberally to the edifice. Many of the most elegant
structures in the city were built by him, and there is
scarcely an institution of public usefulness that has not
experienced the benefits of his impulsive generosity.
Libraries; institutes; lectures for charitable purposes;
churches; Sunday schools; works of art; literary so-
cieties; military companies; hospitals; poor artists,
authors, and editors; needy inventors, and suffering
humanity generally, of whatever religion or nationality,
have had cause gratefully to remember his liberality.
N^ot only associations of public beneficence have found a
friend in Mr. Brannan, but he has been a pioneer in, and
a liberal encourager of, a curious variety of enterprises,
embracing some of the most useful branches of California
industry. The importation, via Panama, of rare breeds
of French and Spanish merino sheep, at a time when
the success of such investment was problematical; the
collection throughout France, Spain, and Italy, of choice
varieties of grape cuttings, he having visited Europe in
1857 for that and other purposes; the reclaiming of tule-
land along the San Joaquin river, thus setting the ex-
ample to others; the raising of blood stock, and the
improvement of his extensive farming lands in various
parts of the State, have divided his attention with the
management of his real estate in San Francisco. The
Pacific Railroad, Overland Telegraph, Express Companies,
banking and insurance and loan associations — enterprises
connected with and forming the very essence of the pros-
perity of California — all of these have found in Mr. Bran-
nan one of their most ready and intelligent cooperators.
In 1868, he purchased the entire landed estates of
Abel Stearns in Los Angeles county, embracing an area
of about one hundred and seventy thousand acres, which
resulted in the opening of those extensive tracts to set-
tlement by small farmers, thus greatly stimulating the
458 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
industry of that portion of the State. In the silver
mining regions of Eastern Nevada, Mr. Brannan's restless
business talents have also been exerted, in the erection
at Robinson District of saw mills, quartz mills, and
smelting works, the building of toll roads, and develop-
ment of one of the richest mineral districts in that State ;
together with the location of valuable tracts of timber
and agricultural lands near Mineral City and in Steptoe
Yalley.
From among his numerous enterprises, we may par-
ticularize the instance of Napa Yalley, where he is the
proprietor of the Calistoga Hot Springs, and a valuable
estate of three thousand acres surrounding them. Here,
his all-pervading activity has created out of bare nature
the principal watering place in California, not inaptly
termed the ^^ Saratoga of the Pacific Coast." This famous
place of fashionable resort is too well known in Cali-
fornia to require any extended description at our hands.
Its climate, rivaling the most celebrated localities of
Italy or the south of France, and the scenery, uniting
the grandeur of the loftiest summits of the coast range
with the pastoral features of the adjacent rich farming
country, have made Calistoga the favorite resort of tour-
ists and invalids from all parts of the country. This
costly scene of comfort and healthful recreation Mr.
Brannan has reared by his own unaided resources, and
the effect of his far-reaching enterprise is felt in the im-
petus he has given to the prosperity of all that section
of the State. The Napa Valley Railroad, connecting
Calistoga with tide water at Yallejo, is especially due to
his persistent energy.
We cannot close this imperfect sketch without record-
ing the unwavering and outspoken loyalty of Mr. Bran-
nan to the cause of the Union in the darkest periods of
its trial by fire and sword. On the stump, in the press,
among the people, his voice has been heard in emphatic
denunciation of the rebellion, and his contributions in
aid of the cause he espoused were unstinted in fitting
out officers for the war, in printing and disseminating
loyal documents, and in evexy way strengthening the
SAMUEL BRANNAN. 459
hands of the Government. In the second Lincoln cam-
paign, Mr. Rrannan was chosen as one of the Presidential
Electors from California. During that memorable con-
test he canvassed the northern part of the State^ and
aided materially in carrying the Union ticket. His gen-
erous sympathies were not confined to his native land.
The cause of freedom in Mexico, menaced by the French
intervention, received his substantial aid. In 1866, he
armed and equipped at his own expense a company to
join President Juarez, and these recruits, composed of
hardy and experienced frontiersmen, rendered important
services in expelling the foreign invaders.
Mr. Brannan is a signal example of the American
self-made man. Starting in life a poor boy, thrown early
on his own resources, and with few of the advantages
possessed by the youth of the succeeding generation, he
had the sagacity to foresee the mighty future of the
Pacific coast, and the pluck and energy to avail himself
of the circumstances of the times. As his influence in
the community has thus far been beneficial to the welfare
of California, so it is equally certain that it will continue
to be exerted for the best interests of his adopted State.
PHILIP L. EDWARDS
^ JlOBERT p. pi^PEI^
PHILIP Legget Edwards was born in Breckenridge
county, Kentucky, on the 14th of July, 1812; died
the 1st of May, 1869; hence he was fifty-six years, nine
months, and seventeen days old. His father and mother,
Thomas Edwards and Jane Edwards, (whose maiden name
was Jane Cunningham) were both natives of Virginia.
At quite an early period they bade farewell to their native
home, and marched westward to the then frontier State
of Kentucky. Enterprise, coupled with adventure — the
love of unrestrained freedom to enjoy the extended fields
of nature ere they had been incumbered with a dense
population — w^ere leading characteristics of the Edwards
family.
Virginia had, it is true, more of the comforts of life
and promises of leisure than the wilderness west of the
Alleghanies could ofier ; yet the father of Colonel Edwards
stopped not to consider a life of ease in the land of his
birthplace, but eagerly sought to lead the van of empire,
whose path was westward. His move from the scenes of
his childhood, instead of satisfying his desire to see new
places and fasten his attachment for a particular locality,
rather stimulated his inclination still farther west, for in
1824 he was again on the road of emigration, this time
to the outposts of the white settlements in the State of
Missouri.
462 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
He located at Old Franklin, in Howard county, on
the Missouri river; afterwards moved to Ray county, in
that State, where he resided until 1850, at w^hich time he
took up the line of march for California. He lived to be
quite an old man ; was resident of Nevada county several
years, where, two or three years since, his career on earth
was brought to a close.
Colonel P. L. Edwards, the subject of this sketch,
(the title Colonel was acquired during the Mormon
troubles in Missouri, 1841) commenced teaching school
at the age of twenty-one, in the village of Richmond,
Ray county, Missouri. That avocation, which of all
others is best calculated to discipline the mind, to incul-
cate method both of thought and action, systematize
reflection, and enable the inquiring mind to arrive at just
conclusions, was entered by him just as youth had
ripened into manhood. This is the most important point
in the life of every man, for at this period the tender
cares of the mother, the wise admonitions and counsel
of the father, culminate and unmistakably direct him to
assume responsibilities which he never before held, and
lay out the course which he would follow through an
active, living world.
With a full supply of common sense; naturally kind^
eager to learn ; faculties capable of receiving and inclina-
tion to acquire knowledge; he commenced the active
duties of manhood in that praiseworthy calling of im-
parting information to the innocent youth; and doubtless
he also commenced the cultivation of those traits of
character which endeared him to his friends, and formed
that frame-work of esteem and respect that elevated him,
wherever he resided, far above suspicion, even of the
most vicious. That honesty of purpose, love of truth^
independent thought, earnest action, gratitude to friends^
and leniency towards antagonists, which he taught the
young under his tutelage, he also practiced himself. Next
to that of character, his fondest theme for the study of
the young was the understanding of words. This theory
he strictly pursued in all his readings as well as his
writings. No man systematically analyzed the subject
PHILIP L. EDWARDS. 463
under consideration more completely than he. Its sev-
eral branches he would unravel in detail, and unite the
various collateral definitions as well as join the main line
in one aggregated conclusion, and express the same in
languag(5 sujfficiently terse, perspicuous, and comprehens-
ible to bring it within the scope of the simplest mind.
Frank, energetic, and industrious, he moved in any
cause in which he engaged with a zest and ardor to suc-
ceed, not only to the understanding of the surface, but
the cause, the wherefore, and the groundwork, as well as
the superstructure. The glittering varnish on the outer
lines of the work might please his eye, but the plan of
the architecture, the base and foundation of the whole
structure, were subjects of far greater importance to him.
The experience of those who had gone before him, the
theories of government, the life and character of states-
men, the mysteries of politics, the teachings of theology,
the works of the poets, the facts of the historian, the
tales of life and stories of romance, all received his at-
tention; and although the taste he nurtured for reading
while the bloom of youth was on his cheek may have
become somewhat abated as age advanced, yet he con-
tinued the habit of much reading down to the day of
his death. This, coupled with his abundance of kind-
ness for all, and ill-will towards none, is the explanation
of that remarkable faculty he had in making every one
easy in and fond of his company. If the man of letters
was present, he could readily draw upon the rich store-
house of information at his own command, and never fail
to entertain as well as inform his hearer. The illiterate
would feel easy in conversation with him, because in
his pleasant and unassuming style, he would anticipate
their deficiency, and supply it for them in such a friendly
manner, they would fail to discover their own ignorance
in their admiration of the Colonel's great good nature,
manifested in understanding them, however awkwardly
they expressed themselves. He was a man full of humor,
indulged frequently in anecdotes, and highly enjoyed a
good joke well told.
During the second year of his school, his health be-
464 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
came rather feeble. Just at this time, a party was
organized, some of the members intending to trade with
the Indians on the plains; others to perform missionary
duties among them west of the Rocky Mountains ; others
again were seeking to inform themselves of the topog-
raphy and resources of the wild, uninhabited ^'West."
Of the traders. Captain N". J. Wyeth was the most prom-
inent; Jason Lee had charge of the missionary division;
Townsend, and Nutall, the distinguished naturalist, and
Captain Steward, afterwards Lord Clyde, were seeking
pleasure and information. The Colonel joined the party,
mainly to improve his health, and at the same time to
satisfy an inclination to explore the unfrequented plains
and mountains of which at that time so little was known.
The party left Independence, Missouri, on the 25th
of April, 1834. On the 15th of July following, they ar-
rived at the point on Snake river since known as Fort
Hall. Here Wyeth and his party of traders remained ;
the others continued their journey to Vancouver by the
way of Walla Walla, arriving at the former place on the
15th of September of that year. The missionaries, after
receiving their supplies, (which had been forwarded from
Boston on the brig Mary Dacre) and being joined by those
in the same cause who came on the brig, established
their headquarters at Willamette Yalley, about seventy-
five miles above the mouth of the Multnomah. Colonel
Edwards remained with them. This fact likely gave rise
to the impression which has since appeared in public
print, that he was a member of the mission. He was at
that time a member of the Methodist Church, and may
have joined his efforts with those around him in dissem-
inating the truths of the Bible among the red men of the
Pacific coast, but he was not ofiicially connected with the
mission. In September, 1835, Daniel Lee, nephew of
eJason Lee, and Colonel Edwards, left the mission for
Vancouver; the former seeking to restore his health, and
the latter contemplating a return to the United States on
the brig Mary Dacre.
The change from the mission to Vancouver seemed
not to have the desired effect upon Mr. Lee's health, for
PHILIP L. EDWARDS. 465
instead of improving, he grew worse; hence his friends
deemed it advisable and did send him to the Sandwich
Islands. Colonel Edwards in the meantime changed his
intention of returning by sea, and went back to the
mission. In October of that year, he established a school
at Campment du Sable, or Champoeg, which he con-
tinued till the next spring. Other missionaries had
arrived from the States, which, by the spring of 1836,
increased their numbers to quite a settlement, sufficiently
so as to make it necessary to look after the means of
support and to provide against contingencies. Colonel
Edwards again visited Vancouver, and soon after joined
with others in the enterprise to obtain cattle and horses
from California to supply the pressing wants of the fast
increasing population of the Willamette Valley — Douglass,
Governor of British Columbia, being one of the inter-
ested parties in the venture. Captain W. A. Slocum, of
the United States Xavy, very kindly offered the interested
parties free passage to San Francisco. Colonel Edwards
and Ewing Young were appointed to take charge of the
expedition. They arrived in San Francisco the 1st of
July, 1836.
What a change! A few huts here and there, standing
on the margin of the bay, not of sufficient importance to
deserve the name of village when first he saw the place,
had grown to a populous and wealthy city when last he
visited it in 1869.
The party delayed no time in purchasing and gather-
ing together a band of cattle and horses, and started
across the country for the settlement of the missionaries.
The Indians frequently annoyed them, and on several
occasions seemed determined not only to take their prop-
erty but also their lives. They succeeded in stealing part
of their band; yet, through the perseverance and un-
daunted courage of the managers of the expedition, near
1,200 head were taken through, which were distributed
among the settlers, and laid the foundation for a rapid
accumulation of the comforts of life and future wealth.
In March, 1837, the Colonel, in company with the
Rev. Jason Lee and two Indian boys, whom they had.
30
466 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
educated in the English language, took their leave of the
mission and started across the plains for Missouri. After
undergoing the hardships incidental to such a trip, they
finally arrived safely at the Colonel's home in the sum-
mer of that year.
. Of course, after an absence of four years, the rejoin-
ing with relatives and friends necessarily demanded many
conversations relative to his travels and experience during
that period, which left but little opportunity for him to
, consider his future course. However, his active mind
was ill at ease while idle, and no considerable time was
lost in arriving at some conclusion. He settled upon the
study of law, and placed himself under the instruction
of Amos Reese, of Richmond, in that State. Like every
thing else with which he dealt, he commenced the read-
ing of law with a determination to fathom its mysteries
and understand its complications. After close applica-
tion for more than two years, he was admitted to the bar
in 1840. He began the practice of law at Richmond,
before a strong bar, meeting antagonists learned in the
law and experienced in the practice. Carrying with him
native urbanity, cultivated fine taste, penetrative intellect,
an unflinching will for the right, and no countenance for
' the wrong, he soon acquired a high standing among his
fellow-members of the bar. Unlike many lawyers who
i regard their calling no higher than ingeniously combined
1 manoeuvres to defraud innocent parties, and all the while
' hunting up the tricks to victimize some one, he looked
( upon his profession as one of the most responsible known
j among men: the leading objects of which are, as he re-
garded it, to allay broils between neighbors, adjust un-
avoidable disputes between parties upon the broad and
honorable premises of equity, and to deal out even-
handed justice between man and man.
As a practitioner, he was at all times fair with his
adversary, scorning to take any advantage of technical-
ities, preferring to meet the issue boldly and rely upon
the merits of the case. As an advocate, he was zealous,
energetic, and persevering for the interest of his client.
His cases were always well prepared ; his argument to the
PHILIP L. EDWARDS. 467
Court, whether oral or written, invariably presented his
theory of the case in that concise language too plain for
any to mistake his meaning. His appeals to the jury
were animated and full of pathos ; strongly persuasive to
the side of his client. As a counselor, none were more
careful, always preferring a thorough investigation of the
law in contemplated application of the facts in the mat-
ter, before giving his opinion. Of course, like all lawyers,
he had at times very doubtful cases, but under no cir-
cumstances would he advise a client to commence litiga-
tion, if he considered the facts of doubtful application
and insufficient to sustain the case: he would frankly
tell him so, and counsel him against the danger of com-
mencing in the law on precarious grounds ; for, said he,
even a good cause of action is attended with annoyance,
trouble, and cost, and a bad one with still more annoy-
ance, beside indefinite outlays of money.
In August, 1840, soon after being admitted to the bar,
he married Miss Mary Y. Allen, and entered upon the
duties and responsibilities of a husband, which he never
relinquished or neglected. His conduct in business mat-
ters and his social demeanor never failed to attract the
admiration of those with whom he came in contact, and
his domestic relations may well be pointed to as a perfect
model of that union of love and affection equaled by few,
surpassed by none. The pledges of good faith and con-
fidence made to each other while yet they were young,
lost none of their binding force as age increased, but
rather grew stronger and deeper-seated in love and affec-
tion for each other.
In 1843, he was elected to represent Ray count}^ in
the lower branch of the Legislature by the Whig pafty,
to which he adhered from his majority. His force of
character, together with his admitted ability, attracted
attention, and he was selected as the Chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, which is the most important posi-
tion in any Legislature. He filled the place with dignity
and marked ability. At that time, politics was not the
dirty pool it has since become. The two great parties of
the country were honorable in their actions among them-
468 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
selves, as well as towards .each other. Both parties had
leaders upon whom the members ( doted, and were eager
to do them honor. Henry Clay, the great leader of the
Whig party, had his admirers and friends, among whom
none were stronger in their attachment than Colonel Ed-
wards. The writer has often heard him speak of Clay,
and he would admit that Mr. Clay, as a matter of course,
had some faults; "^but," he would say, ''Clay had the
great, good man in him." Without "the good," he always
insisted, " no man was great."
The Whig Convention of 1844 selected him as dele-
gate to the National Convention to be holden in Balti-
more, which nominated Clay for the Presidency. He was
Chairman of the Missouri delegation, and availed himself
of the opportunity to express his admiration of the only
candidate before that convention, as well as to predict
the result of the ensuing campaign, which seemed appar-
ent to all the friends of their chieftain, unquestionably
in favor of Harry of the West. In this, however, he,
like his comrades, fell short of the realization, for not-
withstanding the flattering prospects of success when the
canvass opened, their heau ideal of a man and statesman
failed to be sustained by the people.
It will be remembered that just at that time Morse
had about completed the first telegraph line ever made,
which was between Baltimore and Washington City, and
the nomination of Clay and Frelinghuysen was among the
first dispatches sent over the line to Washington. Tele-
graphing at that time was regarded as among the wonders
of the age, and the nomination of Mr. Clay was looked
upon by his friends as an epoch in American history which
ought to be commemorated; therefore his more ardent
idmirers seized upon duplicated telegrams of his nomina-
tion as appropriate mementoes of the Convention that
'.ad done the noble work. The Colonel, visiting AYash-
ngton after the adjournment of the Convention, procured
a duplicate of the telegram referred to, as well as other
samples which were in telegraphic characters as then
used in the art, and had them for many years afterwards,
if not up to the time of his death. After seeing the
PHILIP L. EDWARDS. 469
places of interest in the capital city — listening to the
discussion had in the United States Senate upon the
tariff and other prominent subjects then agitating the
country — he returned to Missouri, and entered the can-
vass between Clay and Polk, which soon became intensely
exciting. As did his brother Whigs generally, he fought
gallantly for the chivalric leader of the ''American sys-
tem;" but the tide of opinion was against them, and all
their hopes of placing the country under his administra-
tion fell prostrate under a defeat of their idolized states-
man. Though beaten and defeated, he never yielded his
good opinion and attachment for Mr. Clay, but insisted
that he ought to have been President. The canvass over,
he took a trip to Texas, with an intention, should some
locality suit him, to move his family and permanently
settle there. Seeing San Antonio, Galveston, and other
prominent places of business, he returned pleased w^ith
the country ; but the inducements were not sufficient to
justify a change of residence, therefore he entered again
upon the practice of his profession in Richmond, where
he continued till 1850.
The gold mines of California by this time had become
known, and were famous for their rich and unprecedented
yield. Thousands were flocking to her shores to take a
chance at fortune's wlieel in this fabulously rich land of
gold. The stories of sudden wealth acquired by many
who came to California, may have had some influence
upon the subject of this sketch; yet they certainly were
not the leading cause of his immigrating hither, for he
came prepared and evidently intended to make California
his home. He brought his family along with him, arriv-
ing in Sacramento in September, 1850, where his home
continued through all the ups and downs of the city, until
he was called to render that final account which must
sooner or later occur with all that live. The wild excite-
ment of the mines, the big strikes and rich diggings, did
not lead him to engage in what he regarded the pursuit
of fickle fortune within their precarious precincts. His
attention was directed to his profession, and he soon
470 REPRESENTATrV^E MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
established a reputation as a first-class lawyer in his new
home.
In 1852^ the Whigs made their last big fight for the
Presidency, General Winfield Scott being the candidate.
Colonel Edwards was selected by that party as a candidate
to Congress. He made the canvass of the State, and from
his energetic manner, and bold and argumentative
speeches made from the stump, he was denominated the
^' war horse" of the Whig party. As before, his party
failed. The failure on this occasion, however, he never
seemed to regret so much as he did that of Mr. Clay.
In 1854, Colonel Edwards was elected by the Whig
party as a Representative of Sacramento county. The
Legislature met January, 1855. Attention was soon
directed to him for the Speakership, but he declined the
position, and accepted the appointment by Speaker Stow
as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a position for
which he was well qualified, and which he filled ably and
creditably to himself, as well as to those who elected him.
This session was the one in which the memorable struggle
occurred between Broderick and Gwin for a seat in the
United States Senate. In joint caucus of their party,
Gwin received the nomination, but Broderick' s friends
bolted, and both of them came before the Joint Conven-
tion of the two houses. Col. Edwards was nominated by
his own party in opposition to both of the Democratic
candidates. He needed a few votes of an election at the
beginning of the contest, but the parties were well drilled,
and those few were not obtained. However, the required
number could have been had, for the proposition was made,
on the condition that the Colonel would pledge the ap-
pointment of several parties to Federal positions in Cali-
fornia. His friends received the proposal, and consulted
with him concerning it. He indignantly scorned the idea
of permitting his hands to be tied by any one, or barter-
ing for a position which should be untrammeled, and
particularly screened from the machinations of that class
of men who, like cormorants, liang upon the skirts of all
political parties, seeking no higher distinction than to be
PHILIP L. EDWARDS. 471
the recipients of the spoils. What a contrast between
his opinion as to what should be a candidate's position,
and what really is their course now !
The joint convention of the two houses convened from
day to day, when it was well understood no choice could
be made. The Colonel would not vote for himself, and
not being disposed to vote for the opposite candidate,
would cast his vote for any one he happened to think of
at the time his name was called. At one time some
fellow-member suggested the name of a party, and the
Colonel cast his vote for him. He afterwards learned
that he had voted for Mr. Broderick's servant, and some
of the members regarded it as a good joke. '^Well," he
remarked, ^'I am not certain but he would do about as
well as any of us."
The Whig party to which he belonged and to whose
doctrines he had unwaveringly adhered, just at this time
went into dissolution, and other and different isms sprang
up. He never afterwards had any strong attachment for
either of the political parties that were claiming the suf-
frage of the people. The Know-Nothing, or American,
party being in opposition to the Democratic party, he
favored the former on the ground of continuing his op-
position to the latter, which he had been fighting all his
life, yet he condemned all secret political associations.
As a partisan, he was so on the broad ground of prin-
ciple, and not capable of resorting to the narrowly con-
tracted view too often entertained and practiced by those
who, in deciding a proposition, first inquire how much, or
the number of dollars they can make out of it. "After," he
w^ould remark, "the chivalric and noble Whig party died,"
he had to choose between his life-long foe and the new isms
of the day. This, however, he did not do until after the
Presidential fight in 1856, at which time he strongly
advocated the claims of Millard Fillmore. Political par-
ties then divided principally on propositions of a sectional
character, and from that time he voted and acted with
the Democratic party. Except the speech he delivered
in the Democratic Convention in 1861, his political ad-
dresses were impromptu, and always to the point at
472 EEPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
issue — strongly persuasive to the cause he espoused. On
that occasion, lie was careful lest he should be misrepre-
sented by the reporters of the press, and wrote out his
speech on the issues involved and the condition of affairs,
before delivering it.
In his public as well as his private life, all had full
opportunity to understand his position. Scorning deceit,
condemning vanity, abhorring egotism, frank and sincere,
with a religious faith not hampered by the sectarian limits
of favorite dogmas, but broad and extended as the
pleasing fields of charity, love, and truth. The old, the
little children, the young man, as well as the damsel just
blushing into womanhood, were fond of enjoying his
society. He never spoke ill of any one, nor did ever
charity appeal to him in vain. His desire to assist others
doubtless injured him in a pecuniary point of view, but it
demonstrated the good impulses of nature which marked
his course through life.
HUGH CAMPBELL MURRAY.
Py the ^ditoi^
All Calif omians will find interest in a simple sketch, however
prosaic, of the life of one who came to the shores of the Pacific in
early manhood, friendless and penniless; who, after a very brief
residence, impressed his fellow men with a high sense of his worth
and splendid abilities; who became a leader in the early political
movements in California; who was a Judge of the Supreme Court at
the age of twenty-six years; who became Chief Justice of that tri-
bunal at the age of twenty-eight; and who died, not "full of years'*
but *'full of honors," in the service of the State.
HUGH Campbell Murray was born at St. Louis, Mis-
souri, on the 22d day of April, 1825. He was of
Scotch ancestry. While he was yet in his infancy his
parents removed to Alton, Illinois. At Alton, Hugh
passed his boyhood days, where he received his education
and grew up to manhood. Upon leaving school he re-
solved to embrace the study of law, and, with that view,
entered the office of Hon. N. D. Strong. He had not
commenced the practice of law, when the Mexican War
broke out. Mr. Murray joined the army and received the
appointment of Lieutenant in the Fourteenth Regiment of
Infantry. He served during the war in Gen. Scott's line,
and, upon the conclusion of peace, returned to Illinois.
The Editor has been unable to obtain any incidents in his
military career, and cannot say with what distinction, if
any, he served in Mexico ; but his disposition was ardent
and adventurous, and he doubtless entered with spirit and
enthusiasm into that short conflict.
474 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Before he had commenced the prosecution of his pro-
fession, his attention was again diverted. Upon the dis-
covery of gold in California, he was among the first to
leave Illinois for the far West. He came to California by
way of Panama. The voyage severely tried his patience
and endurance : not being able to secure a through ticket,
he was detained some time on the Isthmus; at length he
embarked at Panama on the ship Two Friends^ for San
Francisco. This vessel was very old and very slow. Mr.
Murray spent six months in coming from Panama to San
Francisco, and would have been even longer on the way
had he not left the vessel at Cape St. Lucas. In com-
j^any with some of his companions he walked the entire
distance from the point last named to the place of his des-
tination — several hundred miles. Upon this journey the
little party of indomitable pioneers suffered incredible
hardships and privations. At last, in September, 1849,
they arrived at San Francisco. Mr Murray at once com-
menced the practice of law. He soon formed a large cir-
cle of friends, and was distinguished for his social and
convivial qualities. He was not long in obtaining a
lucrative practice. When the Superior Court of the city
of San Francisco was organized by the first Legislature of
the State in 1850, Hugh C. Murray and J. Caleb Smith
were elected Associate Justices, Judge Morse having been
appointed to preside. Judge Murray discharged the
functions of his office in a manner that convinced the bar
and the people of his capacity and fidelity.
In 1854, upon the resignation of Judge Bennett. Mr.
Murray was appointed by Governor McDougal as one of
the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Judge
Murray was then only twenty-six years of age. It is safe
to predict that many years will elapse before the Supreme
bench of this or any other State will be occupied b}^ a
man as young as was Judge Murray at that time. Upon
the expiration of his term of office, in 1853, our subject
was nominated by the Democracy for Supreme Judge, and
was elected by the people. Shortly after his electron, he
became, upon the resignation of Judge Lyons, Chief Jus-
tice of the Court.
HUGH CAAH^BELL MURRAY. 4:15
The term for which he was elected having expired in
1855, Judge Murray became a candidate for reelection.
The ^N'ative American, or Know-Nothing, party had just
perfected its organization in California. Judge Murray,
with many of the brightest intellects of the State, em-
braced the principles of the new party. The first State
Convention of that party met at Sacramento, in the sum-
mer of 1855. It was a very enthusiastic body and large-
ly attended. Judge Murray received the nomination for
Supreme Judge for the long term — six years. After a
desperate contest, in which every appliance was brought
to defeat him, he was again elected by a small majority.
He continued to be the presiding justice of the Court up
to the time of his death. In the summer of 1853 he made
a visit to Illinois, and spent a few months with his mother.
With that exception, ever since his appointment in 1851
until he succumbed to disease in 1857, he devoted all the
energies of his great mind to the* proper discharge of his
official duties.
Judge Murray died of consumption, at his residence
in Sacramento, on September 18th, 1857. For a long
while before his death he had suffered much, and often
occupied his seat on the bench when his health did not
justify it. He was confined to his room for about ten
da}' s in his last sickness. By the force of will he bore up
against the working of his disease until the evening pre-
vious to his death, when the consciousness of his situa-
tion was first fully manifested to him, and he calmly re-
signed all hope of life. From that hour he sank rapidly,
and at a quarter past twelve o'clock the next day, expired.
A post mortem examination showed the cause of death to
be the perforation of the left lung by the ravages of dis-
ease. A violent fit of coughing, with which he was first
attacked, caused a rupture of the tegument and the open-
ing referred to. The following extract is taken from the
obituary notice of Judge Murray which appeared in the
Sacramento Union the day after his death.
''As a man. Judge Murray has always been noted for
his extremely positive character, ^o one in the State
possessed more warm and devotedly attached friends,
476 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and probably no one more bitter enemies. He sought no
disguise of his preferences or dislikes, nor did he strive
to conceal the faults of his nature. He was consequently
subjected to severe criticism — as much so as perhaps any
man who has occupied so exalted a position. The vio-
lence of assault had, on the other hand, the effect of
drawing his friends to him more closely, and we doubt
not the tears shed at his grave will flow directly from
the very depths of the heart.
"As a jurist, Judge Murray occupied an unequivocal
position. Xo one — not even his most bitter enemy — has
ever questioned his capacity. He had a peculiarly legal
mind, sufficient to grasp all the points of a case with won-
derful scope. His legal knowledge seemed to have been
almost intuitive. From chaos he drew forth order, and
resolved the most intricate propositions into clear and
concise form. His decisions were always terse and pun-
gent, free from circumlocution and directly to the point.
The last judicial act of his life — the decision in the case
of Welch vs. Sullivan— ^wsiS his most elaborate one, and
serves better than any commentary to display the strong,
positive character of the Judge and the man."
At the time of his death, the only surviving relatives
of Judge Murray, were his mother and brother, who
resided at Alton, Illinois. His mother is represented
to have been a lady of strong intellect and estimable
character.
More than twelve years have elapsed since Judge
Murray's body was committed to the earth. A noble fra-
ternity of professional men, constantly augmenting in
numbers, continues to study with unflagging interest his
learned expositions of law. His fame is established as an
honest man, a great lawyer, and an upright judge. Those
who bear his name may smile at the harmless shafts with
which his enemies, in their bitterness, dared to assail even
his honor. The record of his life will bear the closest
scrutiny, and will lead the candid foe to confess, that he
was UNCORRUPTED and incorruptible.
HUGH CAMPBELL SILTiRAY. 477
Proceedings of the Supreme Court, had upon the Death
OF Chief Justice Ml^rray. Sacramento, California,
October 5th, 1857. Present — Dayid S. Terry, C. J.,
^nd Peter H. Burnett, J.
On the opening of the Court, W. T. Wallace, Esq.,
Attorney General of the State, arose and said :
May it please your Honors : —
. Since your last adjournment, it has pleased an all-wise Provi-
dence to remove from our midst the Hon. Hugh C. Murray, the late
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California. Arriving upon
our shores a youth, unknown and unheralded, unaided by any of the
fortuitous circumstances which sometimes lend success to men, he
commenced his high career ; but he was not even then unnoticed.
One who heard his first effort here as a lawyer, has often in other
years related to me the deep interest which his eloquence threw
around the first cause which he argued upon these shores. After
his arrival in this State, Judge Murray did not long remain at the
bar. It was early discovered that he was fitted for a loftier posi-
tion. He was first elected one of the Judges of the Superior Court
of the city of San Francisco. In that position his great abilities as
a jurist were so signally displayed, that in accordance with the gen-
eral wish of the bar, at the earliest opportunity which offered, he
was transferred to the bench of the Supreme Court, in which posi-
tion, having been twice elected by the people of the State, he con-
tinued until death put a period to his usefulness. He was gifted
by pature with an intellect capable of graspin^^ the mightiest sub-
jects ; he had a mind which passed with ease through the meshes in
which ingenuity or sophistry had interwoven a cause to the con-
trolling point ; and he Was possessed of an analysis under the magic
operation of which the most intricate legal problems were solved
as if by intuition. At the early age of thirty-two years, it is not to
be denied that his position was in the jfront rank of the j mists of
our country. In view of so much accomplished while he was yet
in the morning of life, who could tell what he might have effected for
his country, and himself, when years and experience had fully ma-
tured his great powers? But he is gone ! G-lassy and dim now is
the eye that we have seen here so often lit up with the hash of ge-
nius and intelligence. That generous and kind heart is stilled for-
ever. That noble form, which we have so long seen presiding over
the judicial destinies of a great State, has passed away, and of the
loved and honored and gifted departed, nothing is left but the bright
page in the judicial history of the State which his genius adorned,
and the memory of the man, most fomily cherished by those who
knew him best. He had no negatives in his nature. He never
478 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
shunned responsibility, and never turned aside in his pathway to
avoid consequences ; and, like all men of such strongly marked
and positive character, he had bitter enemies and devoted friends.
But friends and generous foes alike, gathering around his early
tomb, pronounce his untimely death the greatest calamity that has
yet befallen the fortunes of our young commonwealth.
I move, your Honors, that the resolutions of the Sacramento Bar,
which I have the honor now to read and present, may be entered
upon the minutes of the Court ; and that this Court do now adjourn,
as a mark of respect to the memory of the lamented deceased.
In response to the motion of the Attorney General,
Chief Justice Terry said : —
The death of the Hon. Hugh C. Murray, who for five years past
has occupied, with distinguished ability, the position of Chief Jus-
tice of this Court, has filled us with unfeigned regret.
Called early in life to an important position in the Judiciary of
a new State, he was eminently fitted for the discharge of the oner-
ous and responsible duties of the post. His quick perception,
sound judgment, and vigorous intellect, enabled him to master
with ease the most difficult questions ; and the possession of great
moral courage prevented his being swayed or influenced, in the
conscientious disfcharge of his official duties, by any considerations
of policy or regard for personal popularity. He has left his mark
in the history of our young State, whose judicial reports, bearing the
impress of his genius, will remain a lasting monument to his mem-
ory. As a judge, he was just, impartial, and fearless. As a man,
he was remarkable for the possession of social qualities which won,
in a peculiar degree, upon the confidence and a£fection of his asso-
ciates. He was frank, candid, and ingenuous, almost to a fault ;
generous to prodigality, and firm and faithful in his friendship.
We deplore his early death, as an irreparable loss to the State ; and,
cordially approving the resolutions you have just read, order that
the proceedings of to-day be entered on the minutes of the Court,
and as a mark of respect for the memory of our late distinguished
brother, order that the Court stand adjourned until Monday next.
'-O^ Of TSS
'c4^'?zA
7^^,
HENRY M. GRAY.
J3y y/lLLIAM y. y/EI-L-S.
THE name of Dr. Gray, surrounded by endearing recol-
lections, has for twenty years , been cherished as a
household word in San Franc i'sco, where, in the relation-
ship of friend and benefactor, his good deeds are enshrined
in unnumbered hearts. He wa^,' born in New York, in
1821. His father, the Rev: William- Gray, aScotch Pres-
byterian clergyman,.remoyed tO' Seneca' Falls, N. Y., soon
after the birth of this son, who passed his boyhood there.
He was graduated in 1842 at Geneva Medical College,
having previously studied at Almyra with Dr. Boynton,
his private preceptor. He went thence to New York,
commenced the practice of his profession, and was soon
known for the brightness and thoroughness of his intel-
lectual acquirements, rendered the more effective by a
pleasing frankness of manner which drew about him the
best influences. As Visiting Physician at the New York
Dispensary, in Centre Street, he gave a certain number
of hours daily to gratuitous practice among the poor, and
by some of them his assiduous attentions are still grate-
fully acknowledged.
With an assured and enviable social position, and the
certainty of speedy eminence as a physician, his love of
adventure could not resist the excitement of the Califor-
nia gold discovery; and closing his office in New York,
he organized a party of ten congenial spirits — college
mates, friends and associates — who purchased the bark
Ho^e, and sailed in July, 1849, for California, he acting as
480 REPRESENTATIVE I^IEN OF THE PACIFIC.
surgeon of the expedition, Touching at Rio de Janiero,
they reached their destination in the following December.
Some of the party, including Dr. Gray, visited the mining
regions, but returned to San Francisco after a few months,
where he immediately commenced the practice of medi-
cine, to which he thenceforth devoted himself.
Almost as soon as political organization began to as-
sume shape on the Pacific coast. Dr. Gray identified him-
self with the Whig party in San Francisco, but never to
an extent that could interfere with his professional pur-
suits. He had brought with him from his native State
the traditions associated with the great names of the
Whig party, and to that faith he adhered as long as the
party maintained an existence. He was a member of the
Whig State Central, and of the Whig General Committee,
having been Secretary of the former and Chairman of the
latter. His popularity bringing him prominently before
the Nominating Committee as a candidate for Mayor in
1852, he lacked four votes of the nomination, which was
awarded to Mr. Brenham, who, in the ensuing campaign
was elected over his Democratic competitor. About the
same time, Dr. Gray was chosen to deliver the oration at
the American theatre, before the assembled Masonic
lodges of San Francisco, on the occasion of the centennial
of Washington's initiation into the Order. Of this no
other record remains than a few meagre paragraphs in the
newspapers, by which it appears that the address was a
shining testimonial of the eloquence and culture of the
orator, who, with that disregard for the applause of the
public, which, unfortunately, too often distinguishes gen-
ius, modestly withheld the manuscript from publication.
It impressed itself upon the audience by its accomplished
scholarship and the unstudied gracefulness of the deliv-
ery. His addresses before the Grand and other Masonic
Lodges were of the same finished type, but were not re-
garded by their author as of sufiicient merit to deserve
perpetuation in print. On the anniversary of St. John the
Baptist, June 25th, 1860, he delivered the oration at the
laying of the corner-stone of the Masonic Temple in San
Francisco. His notes he was induced to write out for
HENRY M. GRAY. 481
publication only at the earnest request of his brother
Masons, who claimed the production as the property of
the Order. This is the sole address by Dr. Gray that has
been preserved, and is hereto appended as a fair specimen
of his polished and fervid eloquence.
His practice, which at first had been limited, grew to
be the most considerable of any in San Francisco, and so
lucrative that in a few years he had made a large fortune
despite his proverbial remissness in making collections,
his own expensive habits, and his liberal contributions to
the many charities that appealed to him for aid. Wher-
ever the voice of pain and anguish was heard, there the
good Doctor was foremost with his cheerful presence, ten-
der sympathies, and kindly ministrations. As in earlier
days in New York he had ever been ready to assuage the
sufferings of the poor and wretched, so in the home of his
adoption he distinguished himself by the extent of his
gratuitous practice. With him it was no theoretical ab-
straction, but he daily carried into practical illustration
the Scriptural and Masonic teachings which raise charity
to the first of the cardinal virtues. Until his last day he
was a Surgeon of the Fire Department, and at any time
some of its members were to be seen in his ante-room
awaiting attendance, for which he desired no other reward
than the consciousness of doing good to his fellow man.
He was long a member of the "San Francisco Association
for Medical Enquiry" — a body of physicians, who, in a
quiet way, did more to alleviate distress in California
than can ever be acknowledged or known beyond their
own beneficent circle. Hundreds of poor creatures of
either sex who came to him for treatment, he prescribed
for without fee or reward, but sending them away with the
means of buying not only the necessaries, but the luxuries
so grateful to the sick, and beyond the reach of many a
longing patient. In kind offices he was omnipresent. On
board ocean steamships he found his way into the crowded
steerage to attend the helpless and afflicted, and on his
visit to the Yosemite, in 1861, he went far out of his route
to prescribe for a wounded hunter lying in his cabin among
the lonely fastnesses of the Sierras. Carrying his good
31
482 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
deeds beyond the term of his existence, shortly before his
death, he charged a professional friend with the care of
the health of poor and worthy persons who had long re-
ceived gratuitous practice at his hands. He made a point
of inquiring into the circumstances of needy-looking
people — especially women and children — seeking medical
advice ; and how many have gone down the familiar wood-
en steps at the corner of Dupont and Clay streets, lead-
ing from his office, with blessings on their lips for the
cheery words and more substantial tokens of his kindness,
no tongue can ever tell, nor pen record.
He entertained at one time a worthy ambition for
political preferment. These aspirations originated not in
a sordid craving for the emoluments of office, nor the
dazzling allurements of popularity ; but in the conscious-
ness of fitness for position — an innate sense of intellectual
power such as could draw towards it the best elements
for efficient government. In the fall of 1853, he was
nominated for Mayor by the Whigs, and shared in the
final defeat sustained by that party throughout California,
from candidate for Governor, down. It was the last
Whig campaign. From that time he renounced politics
except during the civil war, when he was a pronounced
Unionist, aiding the cause by speech, money and example,
and holding an official position on the staff of Greneral
Allen until the close of his life. Failing in the election
for Mayor, he thereafter gave all his energies to science;
and however much the city may have lost in him as a
ruler, it is beyond question that the community was
largely the gainer in the exclusive possession of his great
professional usefulness. His father, who was still offici-
ating as a clergyman in New York, visited him in San
Francisco in 1856, and died there in October the same
year, at the age of seventy.
Dr. Gray never left California except for a brief visit
to New York late in 1859, where, during the ensuing
winter, he suffered intensely from pneumonia, and by the
advice of his medical friends, returned speedily as a
means of preserving his life. His recovery was regarded
as extremely doubtful — and sharing in these doubts him-
BJENRY M. GRAY. 483
self, he characteristically ordered his coffin, which was
]ined with lead, and had preparations made for embalming
in case his decease should occur before reaching Califor-
nia: such was his repugnance to the idea of being buried
at sea. His health was improved, however, by the voyage.
He was President of the Society of California Pioneers in
1861-2, before whom, in 1856, he had delivered the an-
nual address. This alone, among numerous similar ora-
tions by others, has not been preserved, neither in pam-
phlet form nor in the columns of the press. He spoke
for upwards of an hour from a few notes which he had
arranged only the night before, and which, with his usual
carelessness where his own fame was concerned, he failed
to prepare for publication. It is remembered as a deeply
interesting discourse, rich in historical allusions, clothed
in the most captivating forms of eloquence, and picturing
the past and future of California with a wealth of classical
imagery and glowing beauty of diction.
It was in the theory and practice of his profession that
his mind and heart were especially engaged. He was in-
defatigable in studies rendered necessary by the advance-
ment of the medical and its associate sciences. Endowed
with peculiar graces of mind and person, his manner in
the sick room showed consciousness of his own ability,
and at the bed-side his presence inspired a confidence al-
most marvelous. Not seldom has his genial manner and
kindness of voice arrested the course of disease by a mag-
netic power eminently his own. Master of his own feel-
ings and mighty in his sympathies, how often has he
buoyed up the sinking heart of agonized parent, child,
and sorrowing friend. In times of danger he showed a
courage and fearless use of means sometimes called he-
roic in practice. Nature seemed to have designed him
for the work of a physician. He investigated disease al-
most intuitively, arriving very quickly at conclusions;
though where there was the least doubt in his mind, or
obscurity in the symptoms, he was careful, patient and
untiring, seldom giving an opinion that was not verified
by the progress of the case. After recognizing disease he
was never at a loss for remedies, and had a happy faculty
484 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of making combinations to suit each individual case,
never combining without being able to give a most satis-
factory reason therefor. His health was such as to forbid
constant application to professional duties for a year pre-
vious to his death. He was industrious however, and
applied himself assiduously until October, 1862, when he
found it necessary to resign the more arduous portion of
his practice. Thenceforward until his death he alternately
worked and rested, frequently going into the country for
a brief relaxation, and returning, recommenced work with
a determination far beyond his powers, until again forced
to retreat. He visited San Luis Obispo and San Rafael
during 1863, always working hard while at home, despite
the remonstrances of his numerous friends. It seemed
impossible for him to remain in the city without being
engaged in active practice. His devotion to his friends
was, if possible, more than reciprocated; which a single
instance will illustrate, though only an example of very
many similar attachments between his patients and him-
self. He returned, broken in health, to attend an invalid
lady in a case of emergency, whom he had watched from
childhood through severe illness and much sufiferir.g. Al-
though worn down and enduring great pain himself, he
was with her almost constantly for a week, when death
terminated her sufferings. He was overwhelmed with
grief, and never afterwards recovered himself, following
his patient in about a fortnight. Three days before death
he had attended a number of patients, and was out in the
street thirty-six hours prior to his decease. He died on
the morning of September 24th, 1863. For eight hours
previous to dissolution he was speechless, but conscious
of all that was passing around him. He had often ex-
pressed a desire to die holding a Mason by the hand. In
his last moments he grasped the hand of a friend present,
motioning him to a seat, when he seemed content, and so
breathed his last.
The announcement that Dr. Gray was dead, though
it did not take his friends by surprise, fell like a pall
upon many a sorrowing household. Every one who had
known him seemed to take the event especially to heart.
HENRY M. GRAY. 485
as at the loss of a near and intimate friend. Associations
and public bodies met and passed appropriate resolutions.
The wealthy and the poor alike were mourners — those
for^the genial companion, these for the generous benefac-
tor — all for the skillful, sympathizing physician, who had
carried hope, life, courage and healing into despairing
hearts and homes. He died a bachelor, and upon the
Society of California Pioneers devolved the sad duty of
receiving the body at their hall, where it lay in state the
night preceding the funeral. Quiet footsteps came con-
tinually through the watches of that night — rustling silks
and the coarse habiliments of po^^'erty mingling, as one
after another lingered a moment and passed on — the sup-
pressed emotions of the refined and self-possessed not
less eloquent than more audible and uncontrolled grief.
The casket, piled high with ever-increasing floral offer-
ings, could at last hold no more, and the floor around was
strewn with them. The services at the funeral, in which
Civic orders and societies and Military organizations vied
with each other to do honor to the occasion, were mem-
orable and deeply impressive. The remains, with those
of his father, were sent to New York, where they rest in
Greenwood Cemetery, side by side.
We have endeavored thus briefly to depict Dr. Gray
as the scientist, the physician, and the member of society.
In conversation as in oratory he was singularly felicitous.
His voice possessed that modulated musical quality
rarely found except in superior organizations, and which
with him, whether in every-day intercourse among his
friends, in an after-dinner speech, or in the more formal
parlance of an organized assemblage, had the same fascin-
ating influence, enhanced by the charm of an unafl'ected
courtliness of manner that made his presence eagerly
sought in reunions of cultivated men and women. His
personal appearance was as strikingly handsome as his
manners were distinguished. He was a connoisseur in
music, books, and works of art, which he was always se-
lecting as gifts for his patients. He had a genuine ap-
preciation of the grandeur and beauty of nature, and the
correctness of an anatomist in the choice of fine horses,
486 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of which he was particularly fond. His tastes combining
the attributes of manliness and intellectual culture, were
those of the highly educated gentleman. His nearest as-
sociates recall him as one of the finest types of man^ in
his physical as well as mental qualifications. To have
enjoyed his intimacy may be regarded as one of those
legacies to which the mind, perhaps wearied with the
world's selfishness, instinctively turns when glancing
back into the near past for bright examples and pleasant
memories.
Delivered at the Anniversary of St. John the Baptist,
AT THE Laying of the Corner- Stone of the Masonic
Temple, San Francisco, June 25th, 1860, by the Grand
Orator for the Day — Sir Henry M. Gray.
Brethren : — Beneath the blue dome of this wide, unpiHared firm-
ament, and under the magnificent roof of a temple "not made with
hands," we are met in joyful assemblage, upon a day sacred to the
ancient memories of our Craft, to lay with appropriate and impres-
sive ceremonies the foundation-stone of a Temple, henceforth and
forever to be sacredly dedicated to the mysteries and work of
Masonry. •
In due form and manner the corn, wine, and oil, poured forth
upon that stone, have symbolized the great end and object of Ma-
sonic life ; the swell of joyous music with its exultant harmony
has awakened in our breasts the responsive echo ; the light in a
thousand earnest eyes, and the quickened throb of a thousand lov-
ing hearts, have told how deeply this scene and this hour have im-
pressed themselves upon our very souls ; and finally, the invocation
of the blessing of Almighty God, to direct and prosper this under-
taking to its successful completion, has, while it humbly acknow-
ledges our dependence upon His powerful aid, given us the trustful
hope that His paternal blessing shall be vouchsafed to us.
Brethren, the work is done ! In the deep foundations of this
structure you have placed your memorial. For the first time on the
western shores of this continent, you have set u]3 the pillars of your
faith in enduring stone. In the generations yet to come, who shall
gaze with pride upon this noble pile, and who shall under its secure
shelter prosecute the glorious mission which Masonry has entrusted
to their keeping, your labor will not be forgotten. They will recall,
HENRY M. GRAY. 487
with proud and glowing retrospects, the memory of this day. They
will pay due homage to the loyal faith, the loving interest, and the
deathless attachment which you held to the great work of Masonry,
and which promj)ted you, in the very infancy of our State, thus to
lay broad and deep the imperishable foundations of a Temple,
which, while it should be one of the most conspicuous adornments
of our city, should also sei've as a jjei'petual record of that faith
which, in all ages and in all countries, has, in its ' ' outward visible
fonn," illustrated itself to the world in all the triumiDhsof architec-
tural glory, as, in the manifestations of its inner life, it has been
the pioneer in the vanguard of civilization, charity, j^eace, brother-
ly kindness, and good will to men. If ever the light burns dim up-
on our altars, or the hearts of the faithful fail them "because of
fear"; if the doubter or the skeptic ask : "The Fathers, where are
they? " then shall this Masonic Temple answer : *' The same faith that
animated their hearts still survives in their descendants. This
goodly Tabernacle, which the ancient craftsmen builded, yet stands
in its pristine strength and beauty, a heritage to be sacredly
guarded and preserved by us and by those who shall come after us.
So, evermore, shall the faithful remembrance of our brethren yet to
be, preserve our memory green."
Ail creeds and faiths have their festal occasions. The State has
its days of patriotic jubilee, the Church its seasons of rejoicing. On
commemorative days, due homage is paid to all who, in every rank
and in every good work, have adorned the age they illustrated. Thus
religion, art, science, heroism, virtue, wherever their votaries have
ennobled life by grand achievements, have claimed the ready hom-
age of the world. They who have died on the bloody fields of bat-
tle for the liberties of their country, where thousands in the joyous
msh of death go down — they who in the fires of martyrdom have
yielded up their lives a sacrifice to principle — they who in toilsome
solitude have worked out the great problems of science, and given
language and interpretation to the mute voices of nature — they who
with strong hands and pure ambitions have guided the evolving des-
tinies of nations — they who, as the apostles of divinest charity, have
devoted life, substance, influence, all to the amelioration of human
wrong or suffering, are alike canonized in the world's great heart,
and com^Del the homage of the world's wide symj^athy.
This is our festal day, my brethren ; to us, a day of joy in a two-
fold sense. This happy hour is witness of a ceremon}^ of no small
import to the future of Masonry in this State and on this coast. We
have come up together, with one accord, to aid in the laying of the
corner-stone of the first Masonic Temple erected within the limits of
our national confederation, on the westward slopes of the dividing
mountains. For a brief space we have forsaken our usual avoca-
tions ; and from fields of waving grain, from work-shops of daily toil,
from the quiet retreats of scientific pursuits, from the busy marts of
commerce, from the sacred chancels of religion, we have come with
" one heart, and one mind," to swell the pomp of this festive hour.
Hallowed by oui* prayers and benedictions, we have placed the token
488 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of our affection to Masonry in the keeping of our mountain gTanite.
Our loves, our hojies, our aspirations, we place beside those memo-
rials : as soon may the one perish as the others. Not until the solid
rock fe-hall melt in the consuming fires of the final conflagration,
shall die out in our hearts the noble teachings of our Order. Not
even when the elements themselves shall yield to the inevitable
laws of decay and dissolution, shall the pure, eternal, imperishable
principles upon which our faith is based, perish or be lost.
There is no eternity to matter. The adamantine walls of earth
themselves must crumble into dust: and no work of man's hand
can withstand the silent tooth of time. The mighty monuments of
the forgotten past reveal themselves to us only in dim traditions or
in almost un distinguishable fragments, puzzling the lore of the an-
tiquarian and baffling the light of science. They leave us like the
mariners on the wrecking midnight sea, looking — and oh, how hope-
lessly — for the coming light. But principles cannot die. Truth is
eternal. Justice, equality, fraternal love, charity, faith, hope, are
all invulnerable, and immortal all. They are but the emanations of
the eternal good — sparks from the eternal fire — drops from the ever-
flowing river of immortal life. Like the deathless source from
which they sjorang, they also (albeit in clouded manifestation) must
claim the high prerogative of immortality. So, brethren, with the
inner life of Masonry. It cannot die. Its temples may totter to
the dust, and its visible tokens be utterly lost, but it will survive.
Its spirit is the spirit of the "All-working Good" — its work is the
practical embodiment of all-working benevolence — its mission on
this earth is but the reflection and exemplification of that divinest
of all virtues — Charity !
Aside from the event which has convened us together, we enjoy
another source of congratulation. This is one of our ''holy days,"
set apart and dedicated to the memory of the holy Saints John.
Since the early primitive rule of our first Grand Master, King Sol-
omon, with the passing away of the ancient dispensation — with all
its glorious sj'mbols, types, and shadows — with all its rigid enforce-
ment of the law as a penalty for disobedience — with all the magnif-
icent surroundings which environed the ancient Masonry, and the
rites and ceremonies of the early Temple worship — with all the
forms and restrictions and subordinations, working in their iron
channels — the lapse of ages and the changing conditions of society
brought an epoch in which milder laws and more tolerant systems
were demanded by the necessities of the time. The early morning
glow upon the eastern hill-tops announced the coming of a brighter
day; the softer airs that swept westward from the ancient home of
the stern wide-browed prophets and patriarchs, foretold the coming
of a more genial summer ; the dove, with the olive branch of peace,
was flying o'er the stormy water in search of a resting-i)lace for her
weary feet ; and then, when among the crumbling fragments of the
earlier civilizations Masonry could find no permanent abiding place,
she swept down the cloudy and perturbed centuries, until she rested
under the shadow of the new dispensation of ]Deacec
HENRY M. GRAY. 489
The earth had been convulsed for a thousand years ; thrones,
dynasties and empires were passing through all the mutations of so-
cial and political existence ; yet amid all this turbulent torrent of
change in our world, the precious Ark of our Covenant floated
safely down, until it rested securely upon the Ararat of perpetual
repose.
Then lived in Holy Land two holy men — two Johns. Tlie one,
the Baptist; the other, the Evangelist; men of extraordinary yet
diverse characters, but both the living embodiments of the highest
lessons of Masonic wisdom. The one, the impersonation of temp-
erance, courage, self-sacrifice and heroic suffering for conscience*
sake ; the other, the type of gentleness, meekness, sympathy, char-
ity, brotherly kindness, and holy love. These men, so exalted above
their fellows, so set aside and stamped with the mark of divine no-
bility, were eminently fitted to succeed the august King of Israel
as the patrons and exemplars of oui* Order. Hence they, not alone
and not chiefly as the forerunnei-s and disciples of a new ecclesias-
tical dispensation, but from the singular purity of their lives, their
devotion to the fundamental tenets of Masonic faith, and their sac-
rifice of all earthly good for the cause that engrossed their whole
being, have been for two thousand years the loved and venerated
high priests of our Masonic faith. He of whom we speak to-day
died a martyr's death. He perished in vindication of the teachings
of his life. He fell an heroic sacrifice to the principles upon which
our Order rests.
We speak of martyrdoms, and they are glorious. We speak of
heroisms, and they are glorious. How they stand out in the past,
like landmarks in the life-gloom, these martyrs for the good ! — these
heroes for the right ! Some have sunk on the battle-field ; some
have watered the scaffold with their blood ; others have perished in
the agonies of fire. These have been of one race and language ;
those of another. This endured all things for one faith; that for
another: but all, whatever their nation, or sect, or lineage, were
alike the warriors of humanity, and perished that mankind might
be free. The great and good of all eras form one great brother-
hood. Thank God, for having thus linked distant ages together by
the ties of a common sympathy. The great souls scattered along
the highway of history are bound one to the other by an electric
chain ; and thus the influence of heroic deeds tlirills from century
to century down the long avenue of Time.
This day, my brethren, is held in sacred commemoration of St.
John the Baptist, throughout the whole Masonic w^orld. Eveiy as-
piration and prayer that arises to-day from your own full heai*ts, is
met in the silent and illimitable fields of air by a million aspira-
tions in every land and clime, from hearts as full and deep as
yours.
All along the cloudy pathway of time, our Craft have left their
ever-enduring land-marks. While yet an operative organization,
spreading from land to land, in Lodges of Labor, they have erected
their mighty monuments, which, to this day, are the wonder and
490 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the glory of the world. The order and system which marked the
building of the first temple, followed them in the latter ages; and
although in^the erection of the vast creations of Masonic skill, the
busy sounds of labor were heard on every hand, as the grand arches
and pinnacles and towers rose from their solid foundations to the
heavens, yet the same beautiful plan of work by which the magnifi-
cent structure of the King of Israel
" Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet symphonies, and voices sweet,"
governed the Craft in the building of those colossal triumphs of
architectural genius, which shall forever demand the admiration and
worship of the human intellect.
Passing from this brief review of our subject, let us for a mo-
ment consider our institution in its adaptation to the wants of hu-
manity; its fitness as the almoner of the holiest charity; its laws
and precepts as the embodiment, not only of the purest morality,
but presenting likewise a frame of government fitted for all condi-
tions of life, for all races of people, and for all states of society.
It sprang into existence far back in the distaiit ages, over whose
history rests the pall of everlasting silence ; it gleamed out of that
darkness as the light of history began to irradiate the gloom only
in dim and fabulous traditions ; it took organic shape and practical
development in the earliest days of the ancient Kings of Israel ;
and its culminating point was reached in that perfect system of
work and government which presided over the erection of that mi-
raculous structure — that marble poem of consummate genius whose
lovely beauty, shining from the sacred mountain, gleamed to the re-
motest horizon like a star.
Thus it has come down to us from the earliest times. Through
all the changes of empires, and amid all the revolutions of govern-
ments, it has preserved its existence. The altar now stands where
it stood in the days of the first Masters; and the enkindled fires
and the emblematic lights still shed their beams to illuminate the
surrounding darkness. It has outlived the Temple which its an-
cient Craftsmen builded ; but the same laws that held it in harmo-
nious union then, alike preserve its unity and integrity now. The
forms of architectural beauty and design may have gone down in
the dust of the vanished ages, but the soul and spirit of the design,
order and beauty, yet lingers in our Cratt and hallows all its work.
From Praxitelean shapes, whose marble smiles
"Fill the hushed air with everlasting love ; "
from towers and arches, moldering among their mocking ivy ; from
the solemn cloisters of many an old cathedral ; from the dim aisles
of grand old woods, whose mighty trees are evermore repeating
" Their old poetic legends to the winds ; "
from the stupendous caves with all their sparry grots ; and from the
rock-invested gorges of the mountains, whose beetling walls might
serve as the bastions of a world, where the sublime Ai-chitect of the
HEXRY M. GRAY. 491
Universe has in the play of His omnipotence set those copies for
human genius to imitate ; from each and all, the lesson falls with a
deep significance on the Mason's heart Architecture, its first great
operative application, compelled the recognition of the laws of uni-
ty and order. From the study and contemplation of the principles
upon which the harmony of the material universe depended, the
transition was natural and easy to the recognition and adoption of
those laws governing the life, conduct, character, and actions, upon
which alone, as upon a comer stone, could be erected the moral and
spiritual Temple of Masonry.
Neither the time nor the occasion demand from me an exposition
of the tenets and principles of the Craft. I may, however, be allowed
for a brief moment to allude to some of the excellencies of our Order.
And first, its sublime equality. Its first principle is the recogni-
tion of the humanity of the man, and the acknowledgment of the
fraternal ties that bind all men together. AVithin its sacred enclos-
ure there can be no rank or caste. The royal ruler of a mighty
realm ; the mitred prelate ; the soldier, bearing upon his body the
scars and trophies of a hundred fights; the philosopher, whose
keen vision has explored all the intricacies of natural or political
wisdom ; the soul of science that hath sojourned among the stars or
dived into the nethermost depths — are all alike. Brethren all —
made so by the recognition of each individual humanity — and each
an equal scholar in the school of virtue. "Love one another" is
written upon the door-posts, and the word "Brother" embraces in
its comprehensive dialect all ranks, from the Neophyte to the Su-
preme Master.
While prejudice alienates — while sect and nation, lineage and
language, wealth and power, set up evermore the barriers which
keep men asunder — while political distinctions and religious difier-
ences but deepen animosities and engender bitterness — Masonry-
presents a platform and a principle broad and firm enough for all
the world to rest upon in peace.
In the grand Choral Hymn of the noble Schiller, I find these
lines, which could only have sprung from a heart incandescent with
Masonic heat : —
*' Spark from the fire that gods have fed —
Love — thou Elysian child divine —
Fire-drunk, our airy footsteps tread,
Oh, Holy One, thy holy shrine.
Strong custom rends us from each other.
Thy magic all together brings.
And man in man but hails a brother.
Wherever rests thy gentle wings.
Embrace, ye millions, let this kiss,
Brothers, embrace the earth below,
Yon starry worlds, that shine on this.
One common Father know."
Masonry is, in short, the highest expresssion of the idea of Fra-
ternity, and it is destined to be one of the most active agents in the
accomplishment of that world-wide fraternization which so espec-
492 HEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ially marks the tendencies of the present age, and whose pro-
gressive development will ultimately result in drawing to a nearer
and more perfect union all the children of the earth. It offends no
prejudice ; it opposes no sect. It stands aloof from all the noisy
clamors of the day. Its mission is in secret and in silence. It
*'does good and communicates/' but the right hand knows not
what the left hand doeth. It is the minister to want, the angel of
consolation to patient suffering, the handmaid of religion; for
what religion teaches from lofty pulpits, it practically performs.
Wherever there is want or sorrow, there is Masonry, the reliever ;
wherever is wrong or oppression, there is Masonry, the strong arm
of support ; wherever is death, or sickness, which is the shadow of
death, there also is Masonry, to bind up the wound, to close the
fixed and ghastly eye, and then, with reverent care, to commit the
dead body to the silence and retirement of the grave.
How often have you, in this land of strange vicissitudes, been
called upon to minister to such needs as these ? The strong, bold-
hearted adventurer, struggling amid discouragements and priva-
tions for his children's bread, is suddenly arrested by the palsying
hand of disease. Poverty and want environ him. A stranger in a
land of strangers, to whom shall he go for succor? The swift tides
of life rush by him, and he is cast a stranded wreck upon the shore.
In the desolation and agony of his heart, he lays down to die ; no
friend near that death couch — no ministering voice of consolation —
no brother's hand to clasp the nerveless fingers — no upward-point-
ing angel of hope to guide the way to immortal life.
But stay, some one knows that poor man ! Some one in all this
bright world out of which he is passing into the unknown land,
must know that man ! Surely, he shall not die, and make no sign !
Oh no ! He has found friends. In almost the last agonized con-
vulsions of his members, when his tongue could no longer syllable
his thoughts, he found a brother — a brother in a higher sense than
the claim w^hich our common humanity in suffering or sore distress
demands of every man — one, whose soul was knit to that vanishing
soul in all the gentle ministrations of love and charity, by ties as
strong, aye stronger, than those which knit the souls of Jonathan
and David.
This picture, brethren, is a picture of practical Masoniy. You
have it framed in all jowc hearts ; its colors cannot fade from your
memories. In your own dark hours of desolation, the light from it
will be a beacon pointing upward to Heaven !•
And now, the hour for our departure has arrived. Henceforth,
our paths diverge. From manifold pursuits in life, and from dis-
tant homes, moved by a common impulse, we have come up to wor-
ship near this sacred shrine, and to renew the vows of fealty to our
common faith. I trust the hour has not been spent in vain, and
that it has been good for us to have been together. In this inter-
change of kindly greeting, we have strengthened our fraternal ties,
and in this common labor dedicated to our common cause, we have
strengthened the hands of our Craft in every land.
HENRY M. GRAY. 493
As Masons of California, this hour is full of deep significance.
You are the representatives of the world. From distant lands and
climes, from eveiy rank and station in life, from the most dissimilar
conditions of phj^sical and political existence, you have assembled
on the western shore of our continent, a family of brethren bound
together by a common interest and protected by the glorious Con-
stitution of our common country. You are one, as citizens; and
owing allegiance to a common law, you share alike in the glory and
advancement of the State. In your Masonic relations you present
the same anomaly. Of various tribes and nations, of parentages and
educations the most diverse, with wide and high partition-walls
separating you one from the other, you yet, here, to-day, meet upon
common ground. We are all one — on earth, the great all-embrac-
ing, loving soul of Masonry claims us as her common children —
and in the heaven above us, the One Eternal Father !
Before we go hence, let us review our work. Upon a solid
foundation we have placed our memorial stone. It hides from mor-
tal eyes (we hope for ages yet to come) in its safe and silent tomb,
the records of this day. In all its appointments, and with all the
glory of its architectural design, this temple shall rise to its lofty
roof, a fitting and noble testimonial to the devotion of the Masonry
of our State. But there must be something^ brethren, underneath
that stone, and underneath the foundation which supports it, deeper
than all this, or the building will not stand. The master builder
may perform his work never so well ; the apprentices and craftsmen
may labor in due subordination to the authority of the masters ; the
massive walls may rise in all their solid strength to heaven ; the
costly jewels of our work may adorn its various chambers; the fires
may be lighted upon its inner altars ; the entrance may be well and
duly guarded ; but all, all will be in vain, unless there is a deeper,
surer, and more stable foundation than that on which our corner
stone reposes. What is that nether stone? What is that upon
which a true temple to Masonry must be built? Ah, brethren, it
is the deep, underlying, imperishable foundation of Masonic love,
and Masonic unity. With that beneath the material foundation, this
Temple is indeed secure and indestructible. The foundations of the
globe had need of no more permanent coi-ner stone than that structure,
under whose deep bases repose Truth, Charity, and Brotherly Love.
One prayer, one spontaneous aspiration, is a fitting conclusion
to this hour : Oh Temple ! planned with the cunning skill of labor-
ious att, rise in all thy majesty and beauty inward the skies? May
thy walls be strength, and all thy tabernacles peace ! May the
votaries who shall in the long march of centui'ies enter thy sacred
porches, find evermore therein repose, refreshment, peace ! May
the light of thy sacred altars burn ever like a star! May the
"stranger and the sojourner in the land" ever enjoy the blessings
of thy welcome and thy shelter ; and when the hour of thy decay
and dissolution crumbles thee to earth, may there be found thous-
ands of faithful and devoted hearts to raise thee from thy ashes
with renewed splendor and more enduring life ! "So mote it be. '*
TOD ROBINSON.
jpY THE ^DITOR,
THE ancestors of this gentleman were, on his father's
side, English, on his mother s, Scotch-Irish. They
emigrated to Xorth Carolina at so early a day that all
tradition of the event is lost. His father was a merchant
and planter in that State. At a time when it was a life
office, he held the position of Clerk of the County Court
for Anson County. In this county. Tod Robinson was
born, A. D. 1812. When he was quite young, his father
resigned his office and removed with his family to
Alabama.
Tod Robinson came to California from Texas, by way
of Panama, in September, 1850. He landed at San Fran-
cisco, but not tarrying there, pushed on up the Sacra-
mento river to Sacramento city, then the liveliest and
busiest mining camp in the State. Here he settled, and
entered immediately on the practice of law. He very
soon attained prominence and success. He had not been
in the city a year when Judge Thomas resigned his posi-
tion as District Judge of the Sixth Judicial District, em-
bracing Sacramento county, and Gov. Burnett appointed
Mr. Robinson to fill the vacancy. For this honorable and
responsible position his extensive legal attainments and
his incorruptible integrity eminently fitted him. During
the short period of his occupancy of this office. Judge
Robinson won the undivided esteem of the bar and the
undisguised reverence of the people of his district. In
49 G REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the list of able jurists who have graced the bench of the
Sixth Judicial District, Judge Robinson's name shines
with unfading lustre. He had occupied the position only
a few months, when, in October, 1851, the Whig party, to
the principles of which he was devotedly attached, unso-
licited, nominated him as their candidate for Supreme
Judge ; whereupon he resigned his place on the District
bench, and accepted the nomination for the higher office.
The Whig party being in a minority, he was defeated.
The election over, and having aided so materially in pre-
serving the organization of his party, at the expense of
his own personal advancement and comfort. Judge Rob-
inson resumed practice in Sacramento. He formed a
partnership with Murray Morrison, since Judge of the
Seventeenth Judicial District, which continued for two
years. In 1853, Judge Robinson was again nominated
by his party for the Supreme Bench. Anticipating de-
feat, he yet obeyed with alacrity the call of his party to
carry the banner of Whiggery in the final charge upon a
triumphant foe. The result was as expected — the utter
overthrow of the proud and gallant party to whose for-
tunes he had clung so steadfastly, and in whose last
struggles he had been so conspicuous. Judge Robinson
again returned to the profession in Sacramento. Soon
after the general election in 1853, he entered into part-
nership with H. 0. Beatty, lately Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Nevada, and James B. Haggin, an old
and wealthy citizen of Sacramento and San Francisco,
now residing in Paris. This partnership lasted two or
three years, when Mr. Haggin withdrew, and his place in
the firm was filled by Hon. C. T. Botts, afterwards Judge
of the Sixth Judicial District. Judge Botts being ap-
pointed to the bench, Mr. Heacock, subsequently State
Senator from Sacramento, entered the firm. Judge Rob-
inson's connection with Judge Beatty continued till the
year 1862.
Judge Robinson confined himself exclusively to his
profession for several years, during which time he built
up an extensive and lucrative business. During this im-
portant period in the history of Sacramento, his fidelity
TOD ROBINSON. 497
to his profession and his able management of the heavy
litigation he was called upon to conduct, spread his fame
as a lawyer throughout California.
In 1862, he accepted the Democratic nomination for
Attorney General. In 1863, he was nominated by the
same party for Supreme Judge, upon the reorganization
of the Supreme Court. On both occasions he was de-
feated with the rest of his ticket.
He had now resided in Sacramento for thirteen years.
The practice of law being almost dead in that place, which
the great flood of 1860-61 had almost depopulated, he
removed to Virginia City, Nevada, where he resided eight-
een months. While residing in that State, he was nom-
inated by the Democratic State Convention for Clerk of
the Supreme Court. He could easily have been nomi-
nated for the higher place of Supreme Judge, but his friends
determined to give him the nomination for the first-named
position, because of the great emokmients attached to it.
However, his party being defeated, the hopes of his friends
were not realized.
Early in the year 1865, Judge Robinson returned to
California, and settled with his family in San Francisco,
where he has since resided. He still continues to act as
counsellor at law, but his health being very feeble, he is
seldom in his office and rarely seen in court.
Judge Robinson ranks high as an impressive and elo-
quent speaker. He is a cogent, logical reasoner, a racy
debater, and can hurl the shaft of irony with cutting ef-
fect. His clear and mellow utterances, his earnest man-
ner, his dignified, polished diction, often reaching solem-
nity in its calm and graceful flow, render him at all times
an agreeable and pleasing speaker. He is quite fond of
poetry, and a close student of Shakspeare. In addressing
public audiences he is decidedly happy in his quotations
from the immortal bard of nature. He is devoted to his
large family, in whose society he passes nearly all of his
time. His private life is without a blemish.
Judge Robinson has nearly passed the meridian of his
usefulness; His voice will probably never again thrill
the listening crowd, nor his form be seen rising to con-
32
498 KEPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
front the expectant jury. He has not been exempt from
the ordinary lot of mortals. His life has been eventful
and his career checkered. Disappointments have visited
and trials perplexed him. Time has laid his hand heavily
upon him. Disease has racked and enfeebled his frame.
He expects soon to be called upon to '^ resign this pleas-
ing, anxious being." But his heart is still young — nor
time, nor disappointment, nor disaster can ever subdue
his free spirit or ''chill his mental glow." His independ-
ent nature, and his devotion to a principle, command the
respect of his political opponents. He has always dared to
pursue the course his sense of right suggested, regardless
of the clamors of the fickle multitude. He could not be
flattered by the breath of popular applause nor be made
to submit to the demands of the mob — " that many-head-'
ed, monster thing." The injunction of his own favorite
poet has been to him an ever present guide and com-
forter.
" This above all ! To thine own self be true !
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."'
The Editor trusts that he has not passed beyond the
limit of a faithful biographical sketch in the above expres-
sions. He could not have said less, in humble acknowl-
edgment of past kindness on the part of his subject, in
the bosom of whose family he found shelter, in boyhood,
from a multitude of woes which had nearly crushed his
spirit.
The following terse language applies to Judge Robin-
son with as much force and propriety as to Dr. Akenside :
'' He is exclusive in his social taste, but with a high
standard of integrity; more proud than vain, and more
fastidious than companionable. Intimately known to but
few, he is respected by all as a gentleman and a scholar.
His formal address might impress a stranger with the idea
of accomplished pedantry; but once fairly engaged in
conversation with a genial and appreciative auditor, the
philosopher and the man of cultivated taste and elevated
sentiment appears conspicuous."
#
sf^i
#
■V
Of ■I'J.z ^
UAJrCVKN- ISAAC L RTKVF':NS.
ISAAC INGALLS STEVENS.
By the ^ditor.*
GENERAL Stevens was born at Andover, Massachusetts,
in 1817. Of his ancestry and early boyhood, the
Editor lias not been able to procure any information. He
entered as a cadet the United States Military Academy at
West Point, July 1st, 1835, and graduated there July 1st,
1839, ranking first in a class of thirty-one members :
Gen. Halleck standing No. 3, Gen. E. 0. G. Ord, No. 17,
and Gen. E. R. S. Canby, No. 30. He was immediately
promoted in the army to second Lieutenant, Corps of
Engineers. From that time until 1841, he was engaged
as Assistant Engineer in the building of Fort Adams, New-
port harbor, Rhode Island. On July 1st, 1840, he was
promoted to First Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, and was
engaged upon the repairs of Fairhaven Battery, New Bed-
ford harbor, Massachusetts, 1841-42, and of the defences
of Portsmouth harbor, New Hampshire, 1842-46. Dur-
ing the greater part of this latter period, he served also
as Superintending Engineer in building Fort Knox, at
the Narrows of Penobscot river, Maine.
During the Mexican war he made for himself a bril-
liant record. When that struo:g;le commenced he was at-
tached to Gen. Scott's staff. He was engaged as Adjutant
of Engineers in the siege of Vera Cruz, March 9th,
1847 ; and was conspicuous for his boldness and fearless
bearing at the reconnoissance of the Penon, August 12th-
13th; of San Antonio, August 18th; at the battle of Con-
* For explanatory note, see Preface.
500 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
treras, August 19th; the battle of Cherubusco, August
20th; at the battle of Molino del Rey, September 8th;
reconnoissance of the southern approaches to the city of
Mexico, September 9th-13th; battle of Chapultepec, Sep-
tember 13th, and at the assault and capture of the city
of Mexico, September 13th-14th. At the attack upon
the Mexican Capital he was in Gen. Worth's division, and
was severely wounded in the San Cosme suburb.
^'For gallant and meritorious conduct" in the battles
of Contreras and Cherubusco, Mexico, he was brevetted
Captain in the regular army, August 20th, 1849, and on
September 13th, for like conduct at the battle of Chapul-
tepec, was brevetted Major.
In 1848, Major Stevens was engaged as Superintend-
ing Engineer in building Fort Knox, Maine ; of repairs of
Portsmouth fortifications, New Hampshire ; of the im-
provements of the Savannah river, Georgia ; and of build-
ing Forts Pulaski and Jackson, in the latter State.
From September 14th. 1849, to March, 1853, he was
principal assistant to Professor Bache, of the Coast Sur-
vey, and had charge of the Coast Survey Office at Wash-
ington, D. C. In the early part of the latter year he was
a member of the Commission for devising plans for the
improvement of the James and Appomattox rivers, Vir-
ginia, and of Cape Fear river, North Carolina.
On March 16th, 1853, Major Stevens resigned his posi-
tion in the army, to enter the civil service of his country.
President Pierce, who had just been inaugurated, was his
warm personal and political friend, and two weeks after
he assumed his high office, he appointed Major Stevens
Governor and Commissioner for Indian Affairs of Wash-
ington Territory : at the same time he was placed in charge
of the survey of the northern route for the Pacific Rail-
road, and, the appointment being confirmed by the Sen-
ate, he departed for Washington Territory, where he
entered upon, and .continued to discharge, his duties
as Governor and Commissioner throughout President
Pierce's term of office.
In May, 1856, a serious dispute occurred between Gov.
Stevens and Edward Lander, Chief Justice of the Terri-
ISAAC IXGALLS STEVENS. 501
tory, and brother of the late Gen. Lander. The Governor
declared the Territory under martial law, and, on May
7th, 1856, caused Judge Lander to be arrested in his court-
room. The Editor has not been able to obtain the his-
tory of this conflict, although he has written and applied
personally to several old citizens of California, Oregon
and Washington ; but it is probably safe to assume that
the conduct of Governor Stevens was unjustifiable or, to
say the least, hasty, inasmuch as it was disapproved, upon
investigation, by the authorities at Washington.
During Mr. Buchanan's administration, 1857-1861,
Gov. Stevens was a delegate to the United States House
of Representatives, from Washington Territory.
Gov. Stevens was author of '^ Campaigns of the Rio
Grande and Mexico," (8vo., New York, 1851) — being are-
view of Ripley's History of the Mexican War ; also of a
Report of Explorations made by him in 1853-54, while
Governor of Washington Territory, for a '' Route for a
Pacific Railroad near the 47th and 49th parallels of north
latitude, from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Puget Sound," pub-
lished by order of Congress in 1855.
When the great breach occurred in the Democratic
ranks in 1860, Gov. Stevens became one of the most
earnest leaders of the Breckinridge wing of the party,
and was President of the Breckinridge National Executive
Committee. He acquiesced in the election of Mr. Lincoln,
and before the latter was inaugurated, strongly urged
upon Mr. Buchanan the propriety of dismissing Secreta-
ries Floyd and Thompson from his Cabinet. At the time
of the fall of Fort Sumter he was on the Pacific coast,
and as soon as he heard that hostilities were commenced,
he hastened to Washington, and was appointed Colonel
of the 79th New York, (Highlanders) July 31st, 1861.
From that time until October 21st, 1861, Col. Stevens
served in the defenses of Washington. He was commis-
sioned Brigadier-General of Volunteers, September 28th,
1861, and had command of a brigade in the Port Royal
Expeditionary Corps from October 21st, 1861, to March
31st, 1862. He had command of the land forces which
attacked the enemy at Port Royal Ferry, and captured and
502 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
destroyed their batteries on Coosaw river, South Carolina.
He led the principal column in the unsuccessful assault
on the enemy's position near Secessionville, June 16th,
1862. From March 31st, to July 12th, 1862, Gen. Stev-
ens was in the Department of the South, having com-
mand of a brigade and subsequently of a division ; being
engaged in the demonstrations and actions on Stono river,
June 3d-10th.
On July 4th, 1862, Gen. Stevens was commissioned a
Major-General of Volunteers, and served in the Northern
Virginia Campaign ; being engaged in various skirmishes
on the Rappahannock during the early part of August ; at
the battle of Manassas, August 29th-30th ; and at the bat-
tle of Chantilly, where, '^ while leading his division in a
charge, he was killed, September 1st, 1862, aged forty-
four years."
Gen. Stevens was not a statesman, although a man of
varied talents, and ambitious of civil honors. His fame
must rest upon his military achievements. His life,
though not long, was active and crowded with events.
Stout hearted, high-spirited, brave and resolute, he was
admirably adapted to the profession of arms. Whenever
the flag of his country waved above ''the red baptism of
the battlefield," his arm was prompt to strike, and his
free and martial spirit followed where duty called. In
early manhood and in middle age, within his country's
borders and in a foreign land, he displayed on many
memorable instances, the noblest qualities of the soldier
and hero. It was the wish of Stevens that, when death
sheathed his sword, his name would be enrolled upon the
shining list of American Generals : and the aspiration
has been fully realized.
JUAN BAUTISTA ALVARADO.
Go^t:rnor Juan Bautista Alyarado was born in the
city of Monterey, the then capital of Alta Cali-
fornia, on the 14th day of February, a.d. 1809. His
father was General Don Francisco Alvaraclo, chief ad-
viser and Adjutant General of the Spanish commander
and Governor Don Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga, then Gov-
ernor of Lower and Alta California; and his grandfather
was the renowned General Limon, who conquered the
States of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Lower California, and who
made himself so famous on account of the great interest
he manifested towards the progress and advancement of
the newly acquired Territories — which fact is marked in
the history of Spain.
General Don Francisco Alvarado, father of Juan
Bautista, was married in the year 1808 to Seiiorita Josefa
Vallejo, daughter of General Ignacio Yallejo and sister
of General Mariano G. Yallejo. Don Juan Bautista Al-
varado was the only issue of that marriage. His father
having died when he was only ten days old, and having
left no property, he was compelled to struggle for himself.
He early, however, found a friend in the person of Don
Pablo Vicente de Sola, then Governor of California.
Young Alvarado was sent to school, and received private
lessons and instructions from Governor Sola himself in
his private residence, the Governor having taken great
interest and pains to promote the education and welfare
of his protege, young Alvarado, who, when but twelve
years old, had shown considerable natural abilities and
504 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
rare intellect for one so tender in years. When he had
attained his eighteenth year, he had already acquired
that notoriety and prominence which is so characteristic
in a new country, and ranked among the ablest and fore-
most of that period.
Before attaining his nineteenth year, he was elected
by the people's vote to the Secretaryship of the Terri-
torial Legislature. Subsequently, the Legislature con-
ferred upon him the appointment of treasurer and cus-
todian of the public funds of the Territory, with full
power and authority to invest the same as he might
judge best for the benefit of the country.
In the year 1826, the- Mexican Government appointed
him chief officer of the Commissary Departments of
Sonora, Sinaloa, and California. In 1833, and when but
twenty-four years of age, he was appointed to the posi-
tion of Collector of the Custom-house at Monterey.
In the year 1836, Governor Alvarado was President
of the Departmental Assembly, which body had declared
California to be a free, sovereign, and independent State,
under the Constitution of 1824, overthrowing Nicolas
Gutierrez, then Governor under Mexico, and creating
thereby a vacancy in the gubernatorial chair. Governor
Alvarado being then President of the Departmental As-
sembly, became by the constitution Governor of Cali-
fornia ad interim^ was confirmed as such by the Supreme
Government, and subsequently, as will be seen, by the
President of the Republic of Mexico. The Constitution
of Mexico provided that the people of each and every
Territory represented by the Departmental Assembly
should recommend three citizens, one of whom should be
selected and receive the appointment by the President
of the Republic of Mexico for Governor of his respective
Territory. The Territory of Alta California, in pursuance
of said provision, recommended for Governor three of
its most distinguished and prominent citizens, namely:
General Mariano Guadalupe Yallejo, General Jose An-
tonio Carrillo, and Don Juan Bautista Alvarado. His
Excellency Don Anastasio Bustamente, then President
of the Republic of Mexico, selected of the three names
JUAN BAUTISTA ALYARADO. 505
thus presented to him for the highly important position
of Constitutional Governor of Alta California, Don Juan
Bautista Alvarado.
In the year 1842, the native Calif ornians showed
symptoms of discontent and dissatisfaction with the ad-
ministration of the then President of Mexico, General
Santa Anna; who, having by force of arms overthrown
the constitutional President of Mexico, Anastasio Busta-
mente, attempted the overthrow of the republican form
of government and the establishment of a monarchy.
Governor Alvarado was among the first and foremost in
repudiating and denouncing the illegal course adopted
by Santa Anna; and assisted by his uncle, General Mari-
ano G. Vallejo, and his personal friend, General Jose
Castro, initiated revolutionary steps, raising the cry of
war against Santa Anna and his monarchical coadjutors,
seeking at all hazards to maintain and uphold the repub-
lican form of government in California.
Santa Anna, upon being apprised of this movement,
headed by such influential men as Alvarado, Yallejo, and
Castro, and anticipating serious results, sent post haste
his confidential and personal friend. General Manuel
Micheltorena, with sufficient forces to California, in
order to overthrow and defeat the leaders of such
movement, and to proclaim Santa Anna Dictator of
Mexico. The Californians, laboring under the impression
that Micheltorena, impelled by motives of friendship
towards them, had accepted the mission, j)ermitted him
to assume the reins of government, and he was Governor
of California during two years. All this while, Michel-
torena kept concealed from the knowledge of the Cali-
fornians the true and sole object of his mission.
The Californians, immediately upon discovering the
secret plots concocted by Santa Anna and Micheltorena,
armed themselves; and, led by Governor Alvarado, Gen-
eral Yallejo, and General Castro, overthrew and com-
pletely routed Micheltorena, who w^as compelled to flee
back to Mexico for safety.
In the year 1845, Don Pio Pico was appointed Con-
stitutional Governor of California. In 1845, Governor
506 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Pico conferred upon Governor Alvarado the appointment
of Collector of the Custom House at Monterey, which
appointment Governor Alvarado only accepted at the
urgent solicitation of Governor Pico and other prominent
citizens and friends, and for the second time held that
office only during a short time.
A general election took place about this time in
California for the purpose of electing delegates to form
a convention to select a representative to the Mexican
Congress. Gov. Juan B. Alvarado was the choice of the
people, and was elected representative to the Mexican
Congress from California by an overwhelming majority.
Gov. Alvarado being about to depart for Mexico to
take his seat in Congress, war was declared between the
United States and the Republic of Mexico, and he was
prevented from proceeding thither in consequence of all
the Mexican ports having been blockaded by the United
States war vessels.
Matters having been satisfactorily arranged between
the two governments, and the United States troops hav-
ing landed and taken possession of California, a consult-
ation took place between Gov. Pico, General Castro, and
Gov. Alvarado, as to the course to be pursued at that
critical moment. The two former, after mature delibera-
tion, concluded to leave the country, and left for Mexico ;
while Gov. Alvarado decided to remain friendly towards
the United States, in his native home. He was placed
under parole, and removed quietly, and without partici-
pating in any movement against the United States, to his
present home, San Pablo.
General Kearney, the Commander in Chief of the
armies of the United States in California, seeing and ap-
preciating the faithfulness with which Gov. Alvarado,
notwithstanding the frequent invitations to levy war
against the United States, kept his parole, offered and
tendered to him a prominent and influential position
under the Government of the United States. Governor
Alvarado, however, declined the honor, assigning as a
reason for his refusal, that he was a paroled officer, and
could not honorably, and while owing allegiance to the
JUAN BAUTISTA ALYAEADO. 507
Mexican government, accept an office at the hands of the
United States government ; at the same time highly ap-
preciating and thankfully acknowledging the honor.
Governor Alvarado's six years of administration as
Governor of California gave unbounded satisfaction to
the Californians. A man of generous and extremely
liberal disposition, courteous and affable, always prompt
and ready to render assistance to the needful, al-
ways acting with an honesty and purity of purpose,
perhaps none of his predecessors ever possessed the
hearts of his people in so great a measure as he. He
was universally esteemed and respected by all, natives
and foreigners. Upwards of four hundred Mexican grants
of land were issued in California by him, all of which
have been more or less confirmed by the Government of
the United States. As the head of administration in
California, Governor Alvarado scattered among the people
the commodities of justice, liberty, and prosperity.
The most remarkable traits in the character of Gov.
Alvarado during his administration as Governor of Alta
California were his utter disregard and great disinterest-
edness towards advancing and benefiting his pecuniary
condition, and his exceedingly unostentatious disposition.
Since 1845, though repeatedly asked to accept public
offices and trusts, he has positively declined every thing
of the kind, preferring solitary and quiet retirement amid
the rural shades of private life.
Governor Alvarado was married, in the year 1839, to
Seiiorita Martina Castro, the daughter of a distinguished
Californian, Colonel Don Francisco M. Castro. Nine
children have been born to them: of these, three have
since died, and six are living.
The Governor, although in the sixtieth year of his
age, is hearty and robust, and would be taken for a toan
of forty-five years of age by those unacquainted with
him. He resides at present with his family in his rural
mansion, situated in the village of San Pablo, in Contra
Costra county, where he has dwelt for upwards of twenty
years.
THOMPSON CAMPBELL
By Frank f. Baylor.
ILLINOIS can claim the honor of having been more pro-
lific of distinguished men during the last decade than
any other State of the Union. Certainly, from no other
State have as many men, conspicuous for signal ability
and great talent, emigrated, and become the adopted sons
of California.
Thompson Casipbell was one of those whose fame was
established in Illinois before California attracted the at-
tention of the American people. This gentleman was
born in Pennsylvania, in the year 1812. In that State he
grew up to manhood, received a good education and
studied law. Shortly after his admission to the bar, he
'removed to Galena, in Jo. Daviess County, Illinois, where,
in a few years, he became famous for his oratorical pow-
ers, and where he acquired great distinction as a crim-
inal lawyer. From 1838 to 1853 he practiced at a bar
which numbered among its members many able men —
Hon. E. B. "VVashburne, present Minister to Trance, Hon.
Thos. Drummond, present U. S. Circuit Judge of Illinois,
and others (who have since become noted in California)
prominent among whom are Hons. J. P. Hoge, 0. C.
Pratt, and S. M. Wilson.
In 1840, Mr. Campbell was appointed by Gov. Ford
of Illinois, Secretary of State, and acted in that capacity
for one term. In 1846, he was elected a delegate to the
convention called to amend the Constitution of his State.
He took a leading part in the deliberations of that body.
In 1850, he was elected a member of the National House of
510 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Representatives, to succeed Hon. E. D. Baker. At the
expiration of his term, in the spring of 1853, he was ap-
pointed by President Pierce U. S. Land Commissioner
for the State of California, and immediately thereafter
removed with his family to San Francisco. He did not
long discharge the duties of this position, but resigned in
order to practice his profession in the new and inviting
field which San Francisco then presented.
He achieved marked success in the practice of law,
and maintained the high reputation he had won in Illi-
nois. He returned to the latter State in 1859, and re-
sided in Chicago for about two years. He was warmly
■\velcomed on his return to Illinois by numerous personal
friends ; and the Democracy, then about to divide into
two hostile factions, watched his course with anxious in-
terest. He was not long in deciding under which standard
he would march, but espousing the cause of the weaker
branch, threw the great weight of his name and influence
against the ''Little Giant."
In the campaign of 1860 he was one of the Breckin-
ridge Presidential electors. Soon after the result of that
contest was known, Mr. Campbell made a tour through
Europe, after which he returned to San Francisco, and
resumed legal practice. A man of his temperament and
patriotism could not be silent while the war of the rebel-
lion was raging. At the outbreak of that struggle he
promptly and enthusiastically gave his support to the
Union cause, and throughout its continuance he advo-
cated, on every proper occasion, the principles of the
Union party, and labored for their vindication with una-
bated zeal. Mr. Campbell had been a life-long Demo-
crat ; and suddenly to sever his connection with his party
must have cost him much painful effort: but, possessed
of a bold, comprehensive mind; of patriotic impulses^
which made him disregard the ungenerous and sometimes
severe criticisms of his old partisan friends, he was un-
daunted, and strode like a giant into the conflict with
those who advocated the cause of disunion.
In 1863, he delivered a speech on the condition of
public affairs, which was a meritorious and masterly effort,
THOMPSON CAMPBELL. 511
and caused many hearty congratulations throughout the
State, that the Union cause had in California so fearless,
earnest, and eloquent a champion. So widely did his
fame as an orator and a thinker extend, and so eagerly were
his counsels sought, that in July, 1863, the proprietors
of the Sacramento Union proposed to him that, if he would
visit Sacramento and there deliver a speech on the state
of the country, they would, at their own expense have it
reported stenographically, and printed in full in the col-
umns of their popular journal. This offer was accepted,
and in the month named, Mr. Campbell made one of his
ablest and most convincing speeches, in the Assembly
chamber of the Capitol. Although he possessed the rare
and happy faculty of readily extemporizing as well, yet tliis
particular effort was evidently the result of careful and
thorough preparation. The gubernatorial canvass was then
progressing with great animation : Hon. F. F. Low being
the Union, and Hon. J. G. Downey the Democratic can-
didate. On the occasion just referred to, Mr. Campbell,
owing to a misapprehension as to time, commenced his
speech at 8.45 o'clock, P. M., and closed at 12.30, A. M.,
consuming three and three-quarters hours of time. Being
then in bad health, it was a subject of common surprise
that he could s|>eak, with voice clear and unbroken, for
so long a time. His speech was printed in full in the
Union^ occupying nearly nine columns of that paper. The
State Central Committee ordered 10,000 copies to be print-
ed in pamphlet form, but soon raised the number to 50,-
000, for general circulation. It was widely circulated and
received as a text-book of the party, and as the most able,
instructive and exhaustive argument that had been or
could be made on the subject upon which it treated. It
was generally agreed that the decisive victory soon after-
wards achieved by the Union party in California, was ow-
ing as much to the efforts of Mr. Campbell as to those of
any other leader of the party in the State.
A few weeks after the delivery of the speech of wdiich
mention has just been made, Mr. Campbell was nominated
as a candidate for the Assembly by his party in San Fran-
cisco. He was elected ; and when the Legislature convened
512 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
in December, 1863, he was made chairman of the Judiciary
Committee of the lower house. His influence in that com-
mittee and in the Assembly chamber was remarkable, and
equaled, if it did not surpass, that of any man who has ever
held a seat in the California Legislature.
During that session of the Legislature the representa-
tives of the Union party met at Sacramento in State con-
vention, to choose delegates to the national convention
at Baltimore, called to nominate candidates for President
and Vice President of the United States. Mr. Campbell
received the highest number of votes cast for any dele-
gate except Gen. Bidwell. His appearance on the plat-
form, and his speech on that occasion, elicited enthusiastic
demonstrations of applause. It will be remembered that the
excitement produced by the war then raging was intense.
One of the principal subjects of public discussion through-
out the State was the declaration contained in the resolu-
tions passed by the Union convention, that the volunteer
soldiers were entitled to vote at the general election in Cal-
ifornia, although they happened to be without the bound-
aries of the State at the time. Addressing himself to this
topic, Mr. Campbell electrified the convention with a
speech at once argumentative and eloquent. He seemed
to be in his happiest vein. The magnificence of his style,
the beauty and finish of his periods, the perfect harmony
existing between his own feelings and the general senti-
ment of his party, the vast and appreciative audience, and
the impassioned mood of the speaker, all joined to height-
en the effect of this splendid effort. He spoke of the
lofty valor, heroism and unfaltering devotion of the Union
soldiers, "which would hereafter render their posterity
more proud of them than if they had sprung from a race of
kings," and that 'Svewill send the ballot, if necessary, round
about the pendant globe, but what it shall reach them."
Soon afterwards, Mr. Campbell departed for Balti-
more, and participated in the proceedings of the con-
vention which renominated Abraham Lincoln for the
Presidency.
Returning to San Francisco, in June, 1865, he ad-
dressed a public meeting in that city, on the question of
THOMPSON CAMPBELL. 513
Mexican independence, sternly denouncing the usurpa-
tion of Maximilian J and advocating with great zeal the
application of the ''Monroe Doctrine" in our relations
with that country. He was always earnestly in favor of
the introduction of the national currency into California.
His political sagacity was remarkable. In the spring
of 1865, on his return from the Atlantic States, he told
his party friends plainly and emphatically that the elect-
ive franchise must and would be extended to all the ne-
groes in the States which had engaged in the Rebellion,
for the simple reason that that class of the population
could protect themselves in no other way than by the
ballot. He astounded many of those to whom he thus
spoke, and but few agreed with him until the rapid suc-
cession of events attested his foresight.
Mr. Campbell died, after a short illness, in San Fran-
cisco, leaving a widow, son and daughter, who have since
returned to the East. Owing in a great degree to his
disease, he lacked, in his latter years, that suavity and
genial temper which were among the most attractive -char-
acteristics of his early manhood.
In former years he had great vivacity and personal
magnetism, and delighted his hearers with entertaining
conversations and amusing anecdotes. He sought no indi-
vidual alliances or support; and yet such was his great pow-
er, aided by the prestige of his former achievements, that
his influence was almost unbounded. Until the last two
days of the term, not a bill or law was rejected which was
introduced or advocated by him, and his frown was fatal
to every measure which he opposed. This is stated not
as mere flattery or even eulogy, but as an instance of the
extent of the influence which one legislator, noted for his
integrity, wisdom, and eloquence could exert over his
fellows.
During the year 1867, he several times addressed the
people of San Francisco on the interesting subject of
what is known as ''the outside lands," in which he be-
came involved in an exciting controversy with Mr. Con-
ness, then a U. S. Senator from California; also, in the
gubernatorial canvass of that year, in which he closed a
33
514 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
masterly speech, by saying that, '^he should support Mr.
Gorham OYi patriotic grounds, and none other."
As an orator, in particular, it is most difficult to do
justice to Mr. Campbell ; only those who have seen him
in the various moods of passion and thought, which lit up
his classic countenance as with a flame of light ; who have
heard the sweet, deep-sounding cadences of his voice,
and witnessed, in his great earnestness, his grand and
magnificent gesticulation, who have listened to his pro-
found arguments, and witnessed the effect of his glowing
words, the winged messengers of his enthusiastic soul,
can fully comprehend the inadequacy of any description
of his character.
Well was he described by a leading political paper of
California, in January, 1864, as "That just less than sov-
ereign intelligence Thompson Campbell."
In the death of Mr. Campbell, an estimable and devot-
ed wife, and an interesting daughter and son, of mature
years, lost a loving, tender, and affectionate husband and
father, whose fame and public virtues threw around them
the protective glory and shield of an honored and great
name. California lost a noble son, w^ho had reflected
honor upon her escutcheon. His circle of admiring
friends lost in him a friend indeed, and the bar and
public forum were deprived of one of the most brilliant
of geniuses and most profound of intellects.
The following extract from the obituary notice of Mr.
Campbell which appeared in the San Francisco Evening
Bulletin^ on the day after his death, will fitly conclude this
brief and imperfect sketch.
Mr. Campbell's voice has often been heard in the discussion of
public affairs, and always on the side of liberal principles. None
who ever heard him will forget his pale face, set in a frame of long
dark hair, his glowing eyes, his nervous energy of gesture, his half-
absorbed yet electrical manner, his compact logic, his faultlessly
correct and felicitous language, rising often to a natural eloquence,
and his fervid expressions of patriotic sentiment. At the bar he
was especially distinguished for closeness of logic and clearness of
analysis. These qualities, and his command ovey the attention of
a jury, were remarkably displayed in a late important land case in
San Francisco.
^
'-y*' or Tiis -^
[U5I7Br. ilTT]
^'^Sraredt.J.c Burt.., from ^ Sag^-^^'^
JOHN B. WELLER
By the -p^DiTOi^ -
THIS gentleman, for many years a prominent public
man in California, and the fourth Governor of the
State, was born on the 22d day of February, 1812. His
parents were of German descent, and natives of the State
of New York.' They moved from the county of Orange,
in that State, to Ohio, about the year 1810, and settled in
Hamilton county, some twelve mites from Cincinnati.
There, in the village. of Montgomery, John B. Weller was
born.
When he was twelve or fourteen years old, his parents
removed to Oxford, Butler county, the seat of Miami
University. At this institution, John B. was educated.
Immediately upon the completion of his studies at college,
he became a pupil, in the study of law, of Jesse Corwin,
brother of Hon. Tom Corwin, whose name is so familiar
to the people of the entire Union. Jesse Corwin' s office
and residence were at Hamilton, the county-seat of Butler
county. In that town, John prosecuted his legal studies
until his friend and preceptor considered him qualified to
enter upon the practice of law, when he was admitted to
the bar before he had attained his majority.
He had been practicing his profession but a short time,
when the Democratic County Convention of Butler county
nominated him for Prosecuting Attorney. His opponent,
the Whig candidate, was his old tutor, J^sse Corwin,
516 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
whom he defeated by a large majority. About this time,
he was married to Miss Ryan, a daughter of the leading
merchant of Hamilton
In 1838, he was elected by the Democracy of his
district to the lower house of Congress, representing the
counties of Butler, Preble, and Darke — these counties
constituting what was then the second Congressional
District of Ohio. His readiness in debate, and his orator-
ical powers, which were considerable, immediately gave
him prominence on the floor of Congress. He was con-
spicuous in nearly every important partizan struggle
witnessed in the House of Representatives during his
service as a member. His bearing, while the celebrated
New Jersey contested election case was convulsing the
House, attracted to him the attention of the Democratic
leaders, who esteemed him as one of the most effective
champions of Democratic principles. When he addressed
the House, attentive auditors from both parties were
always eager to give due consideration to his earnest yet
sober utterances. He was twice reelected to the House
of Representatives, on both occasions having for his com-
petitor the Whig candidate, Hon. Lewis D. Campbell,
who, in later years, represented the same district in Con-
gress.
Having lost his first wife a few years after his marriage,
Mr. Weller, during his first term in the House of Repre-
sentatives, married Miss Bryan, daughter of John A.
Bryan, then Auditor of the State of Ohio. This, lady
was a sister of Hon. Charles H. Bryan, formerly Judge
of the Supreme Court of California, by appointment of
Gov. Bigler. Two years had barely elapsed, when Mr.
Weller suffered a new affliction in the death of his second
wife. Near the close of his third term in Congress,
(1845) he married Miss Susan McDowell Taylor, daughter
of Hon. William Taylor, then a congressman from Vir-
ginia, and a niece of Col. Thomas H. Benton.
Mr. Weller, when his third term as a representative
had expired, determined to resume the practice of law.
His party desired to continue him in Congress, and ten-
dered him the nomination again, but he declined, and
JOHN B. WELLER. 51 7
devoted himself to his profession, until the war broke
out between this country and Mexico. Then he left his
business to others, and volunteered as a private. He
was chosen captain of his company, which became a part
of the First Ohio regiment, and afterwards he was elected
lieutenant colonel of this regiment — 0. M. Mitchell be-
ing colonel. He distinguished himself for his gallantry
at Monterey, and when Colonel Mitchell was wounded
and disabled. Col. Weller commanded his regiment in the
hottest part of the fight.
At the termination of the war, he returned to his home
in Ohio, and resumed the practice of law. He was not
long allowed the comforts of private life. In 1848, he
was nominated by his party as their candidate for Gov-
ernor. The Whig candidate was Seabury Ford. The
memorable struggle between these two men was the
most bitter and animated political contest that ever dis-
turbed the public mind in the Buckeye State. Colonel
Weller, then in the very prime of life, possessed of a
robust constitution and excellent, untiring speaking
abilities, opened the campaign at an early day, and
throughout its continuance bent his whole strength to
the attainment of success. The great, main purpose of
the Democracy was to secure the vote of the State for
Gen. Cass at the approaching presidential election. If
Col. Weller should be elected Governor, it would follow
as almost beyond doubt that Ohio would cast her vote
for Gen. Cass in the fall election. Col. AVeller fully ap-
preciated the importance of the position he occupied,
and the great responsibilities resting upon him. The
office for which he was nominated was not a desirable
one, so far as its emoluments were concerned, twelve
hundred dollars ($1200) per annum being the salary at-
tached to it. The candidate was fighting for his party,
and looking to a national victory. He made speeches in
seventy- eight counties of Ohio. He, at no time, relaxed
his exertions, nor faltered in his great work until the
campaign closed. He took the bold stand, everywhere,
that if he were elected by votes of those who endorsed
the principles of the new Abolition organization, and the
518 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
fact could be determined, he would not accept the ofiSce.
The prejudice at that time against Abolitionists was gen-
eral among conservative men who acknowledged allegiance
to no political organization, and pervaded the entire Dem-
ocratic party.
The campaign ended amid intense excitement, which
extended not only throughout Ohio but the whole country,
which awaited the issue anxiously. For weeks after the
election, the result continued in doubt: the race was so
closely contested that the official count was required to
definitely settle the question of who was the people's
choice for Governor. In an aggregate vote of nearly
th^ee hundred thousand^ Seabury Ford was declared elected
by a majority of three hundred and forty-five. In one
county, however, more than four hundred votes had been
cast for John Weller, which were of course intended for
the Democratic candidate, as there was no man of the
name of JoAti Weller before the people; and the Demo-
cratic committee of that county having omitted the
middle initial of their candidate's name in making up
the ticket for the voters of that county, Col. Weller lost
the office for which, not only on his own account, but for
the interests of his party, he had made so determined
and gallant a fight. The great end was nevertheless at-
tained. At the presidential election which followed, the
electoral vote of Ohio was cast for Gen. Cass.
In January, 1849, President Polk tendered Col. Wel-
ler the appointment of Commissioner, under the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo, to run the boundary line between
the United States and Mexico. He accepted the appoint-
ment. Having, a month previous, for the third time
laid in the grave the chosen and beloved companion who
had augmented his pleasures and lessened his anxieties,
his mental condition was such as to render new scenes
and a change of pursuit particularly inviting. With a
force of thirty men, he left New Orleans, a month after
his appointment, and came to the Pacific coast by wa}^
of the Isthmus of Panama, arrivmg at San Diego m June.
He proceeded at once, with the Mexican Commissioner,
to fix the initial point. He had barely completed this
JOHN B. WELLER. 519
portion of the work when he was recalled by the new
administration. G-en. Taylor, very soon after his inaug-
uration, (March 4th, 1849) appointed John C. Fremont to
supersede Col. Weller. The new appointee, however,
did not enter upon his duties, being engaged in pressing
his claims to an election to the United States Senate, in
which he was successful. Major Emory, the topographi-
cal engineer of the commission, prosecuted the work until
the arrival of Mr. Bartlett, Gen. Taylor's second ap-
pointee.
By way of excuse for removing Col. Weller, he was
accused of being a defaulter, before he had any oppor-
tunity to settle his accounts. The charge, started by the
then Secretary of the Interior, Thomas Ewing, was re-
peated in the United States Senate by Truman Smith, of
Connecticut. Afterwards, from his seat as a senator from
California, Col. Weller had the gratifying opportunity of
vindicating himself and demonstrating the utter falsity
of the accusation. Scarcely two months had passed
since this charge was vso boldly made, when a settlement
with the government showed a balance of several thous-
ands of dollars in favor of Col. Weller, which was paid
him upon his arrival at Washington to take his place in
the United States Senate.
The Legislature of 1851-2 elected Col. Weller to the
United States Senate, to succeed John C. Fremont. He
took his seat early in 1852. In the following session he
was made Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs,
and served as such during the remainder of his term.
The Legislature of California which convened in
January, 1857, was called upon to elect two United
States senators, one for the term of four years, to succeed
Dr. Gwin, and one for the full period of six years, to
succeed Col. Weller, whose term of office expired on the
4th of March following. The latter gentleman was a
candidate for reelection, but instead of returning home
to prosecute his claims, remained at his post at Washing-
ton — preferring the consciousness of duty faithfully per-
formed to success at the price of neglect of public trust.
The result was his defeat by David C. Broderick, who
520 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
received a small majority of votes in the Democratic
caucus — Dr. Gwin being afterwards chosen as his own
successor.
Upon the arrival of Mr. Broderick, Col. Weller re-
turned to California. Arriving at San Francisco, he was
met at the wharf by the leading members of the Demo-
cratic party, who desired his continuance in public life.
He wished to withdraw from the field of politics, and at
first refused to become a candidate for Governor. The
unanimity with which his party demanded his nomination
for that ofiice attested his great popularity throughout
the State, and induced him to accept. His nomination
was tendered almost unanimously, and he was elected
by an unusually large majority over Edward Stanly, Re-
publican, and G. W. Bowie, American, or Know-Nothing.
He was inaugurated in the first week in January, 1858,
and held the ofiice for the term of two years, when he
was succeeded by Milton S. Latham.
Gov. Weller, upon leaving the office of Governor,
retired to his country seat in Alameda county, with his
family, having in 1854 married his fourth wife. 'He
wished and expected to enjoy in his quiet and beautiful
retreat the sweets of private life and agricultural pursuits
the remainder of his days. In less than six months,
however, he was on his way to the city of Mexico, as
Minister Plenipotentiary to the Mexican Republic, by
appointment of President Buchanan. He was recalled
in the first month of Mr. Lincoln's administration, Hon.
Tom Corwin succeeding him. He then returned to his
farm, and devoted himself to its proper cultivation and
adornment for a few years. At the height of the excite-
ment consequent upon the discovery of rich silver de-
posits at Reese river, Nevada, he was tempted to visit the
new mines, in the effort to better his condition pecuniar-
ily. He remained there only a few months, and met with
no success worthy of mention. He had, however, al-
though advanced in life, become imbued with a love of
mining and the adventures and excitements attending
life in the mines.
Returning home, and making proper disposition of
JOHN B. WELLER. 521
his family, he prepared himself for an extended '' pros-
pecting" tour. He proceeded to Oregon, thence to Idaho,
and afterwards through Idaho and Utah Territories to
Great Salt Lake city. In the '* City of the Saints," he
practiced law for several months. Becoming employed
in a murder case which compelled him to prosecute and
denounce certain of the Mormons who were implicated
in the murder, his course excited the open hatred of the
^'Saints," who marked him as one of the future victims
of the ''Destroying Angel." He concluded, very sens-
ibly, to resume his travels. He returned to the Eastern
States, and sojourned for a while in Washington city.
In the spring of 1867, he visited New Orleans; and
falling in love with the climate, pleased with the business
prospects, and having faith in the future of that beautiful
city, he determined to make it his home. He is now
actively engaged at that place in the practice of his pro-
fession.
During his long public career, Col. Weller has ever
maintained his popularity with his constituents, and his
reputation for fidelity and honesty. Although he has
always led a life of frugality, he has never accumulated
wealth. As a senator of the United States from Cali-
fornia, and as Governor of the State, his conduct was
distinguished by unflagging devotion to the interests of
the Pacific coast. He is yet in the full possession of his
powers, and his old constituents wish him many years of
happiness as the reward of his public labors.
'A^^ or Tas ^
'"^$ * ty OeoE-PerBa"^ -
HON. CORNELIUS COLE
SEKATORFROM CALIFORNIA.
CORNELIUS COLE
CORNELIUS Cole was born at Lodi, Seneca County, New
York, September l7th, 1822, the seventh of twelve
children. His paternal ancestors were natives of New
Jersey, of English origin, mingled in marriage with the
German family of Yan Zant. His maternal ancestors
were also English, named Townsend, joined in marriage
with the family of Ganong. As the time of the arrival of
any is at present unknown, all must have come to Amer-
ica at an early date. They were generally farmers and
thrifty citizens, the later generations residing near Towns-
endville, New York, a small village named for his grand-
father, its first settler. A few months later followed his
maternal grandfather, who settled near by, and here these
sturdy pioneers battled with adversity in the wilds of
their forest home, conquering all opposition by the same
indomitable perseverance and earnest effort that have
characterized their descendants, and especially the subject
of this sketch. Here was passed the latter's earlier years,
though surrounded by scenes very different from those
with which his ancestors had been familiar ; the howls of
wolves had given place to the ''church-going bell," the
gloomy savage and the wandering hunter had been
changed as by a magician's wand, into a circle of society,
justly celebrated then, and pleasantly remembered for
its purity, intelligence, and excellence. Not nursed in
the lap of wealth, nor yet pinched by poverty, his sum-
mers were spent in assisting his father in the labors of
the farm, and his winters in attendance upon the district
school, where he was early distinguished for his profici-
524 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ency in mathematics. Later winters were devoted to
teaching school in neighboring districts, and thus in part
he earned the means to complete a classical education, upon
which he had long been determined. A limited practice
in the art of surveying also aided him somewhat in his
efforts at self-reliance. For, to his credit be it said, his
desire to help himself, and thus allow the resources of his
father to extend to the education of his younger sisters,
was the motive power of his actions, rather thrai the pres-
ent inability of his father's means to supply him. His
first winter away at school w^as spent in the Academy, at
Ovid, Seneca county, whence, though some seven miles
from home, his drafts for board, though not the lightest,
were always duly and promptly honored ; not on some
bank, but upon his mother's well stocked cellar ; as for
the sake of economy, he ''boarded himself," as the phrase
goes. Vividly does the writer remember the Monday
mornings, when about to leave for school, the worthy ma-
tron would insist on absolutely loading the sleigh with
stores of solid viands, regardless of her son's smiling re-
monstrances, and the last article was generally a few mince
pies, or a basket of apples. And well does he remember
the glow of love and pride that flushed the broad brow
of the mother, and beamed so kindly from her moist eye,
as she smiled a good bye to her son in the distance.
Who can estimate the effect of such a mother's affection
on a young man's future ? Upon the subject of this sketch
it has borne its fruit. Early manifesting a fondness for
learning, being of a thoughtful and studious disposition,
he soon took place among the first for good conduct and
ability.
After leaving Ovid, he entered the celebrated Genes-
see Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, New York, where he
vigorously pursued his course of study, taking active part
in the literary societies, and obtaining at that early age a
good reputation as a sound debater and logical reasoner,
rather than as a celebrity in high-sounding periods and
classical allusions. His efforts were directed rather to
demonstrate the truth and value of a position, than to
tickle the ear of the multitude. Having acceptably and
CORXELIUS COLE. 525
thoroughly prepared himself for college, he entered the
Wesleyan University of Middletown, Conn., whence, after
three years of collegiate life, he graduated with honor.
While here the writer was his room-mate, the last year of
his college life, and many personal incidents occurred,
now dimly shadowed by time. They peep out from the
dark curtain of past memories, too faint in outline for
even a willing pen to portray, but often the subject of
pleasant musing. At the close of the first term, we found
our funds running alarmingly short. An investigation
showed that the senior member of the firm, and in conse-
quence purse-bearer, had made very frequent investments
in loans to impecunious students, which proved very gen-
erally permanent, and necessitated extreme economy for
some time to come ; this was accomplished by hiring an
old woman to cook, and buying our food in bulk ; even
yet, a pang of regret comes at the recollection of a tub
of butter purchased cheap, but only superficially good.
Its depths were strong as Homer's heroes. The answer,
too, of our butcher, to a remonstrance against tough beef,
^'that we didn't buy much, and he wanted it to last," did
not appear half as witty then as it does now. After
awhile the writer, as junior member, was compelled to car-
ry the money, from the fact that an inability to say No
seemed chronic with his senior, and the two students were
consequently enabled to board again. At the levee of
the graduating class at the house of President Olin, the
Rev. Doctor asked: ^'Mr. Cole, w^hat do you purpose to
do?" The answer was: "I intend to study law, sir!"
*'Well, said the Doctor, a man mmj be a good lawyer and
a good Christian, but it's a pretty tight squeeze."
After graduating, the law student was for some time
in the office of Hon. William H. Seward, at Auburn, New
York, where he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme
Court of the State of New York, May 1st, 1848. In
1849 he started overland to California, arriving there in
July of that year, having suffered severe hardships upon
''the plains." After mining some months in El Dorado
county, he removed to San Prancisco, where he engaged
in the practice of his profession about two years. He
52 G REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
then removed to Sacramento, where he practiced over
ten years.
While in Sacramento, he was one of the first and most
prominent organizers and supporters of the Republican
party, when Republicanism was sufficient cause for per-
sonal injury and unlimited abuse of its advocates ; of
which he received a full share, including personal threats,
and persistent efforts to injure his business. Much of the
subsequent success of Republicanism is doubtless due to
his persistent, fearless, and honest support, in those hours
of trial. He was defeated as a candidate for Clerk of
Supreme Court of California, in 1856, during which year
he edited and published the Sacramento Daily Times ^ the
leading Republican paper in the State, in the Presidential
contest then pending. He was District Attorney for the
City and County of Sacramento in 1859, 1860 and 1861.
He afterward resided a year in Santa Cruz, California,
still engaged in his profession.
He was married January 6th, 1853, to Miss Olive Cole-
grove, of Trumansburg, Tompkins County, Kew York, an
estimable lady, with whom he has since lived in great do-
mestic happiness, the union being blessed with numerous
offspring.
In 1863, Mr. Cole was elected to Congress by ballot
through the whole State, receiving 64,985 votes. He
served in the thirty-eighth Congress, on the Committees
on Post Offices, and Post Roads, and on the Pacific Rail
Road. He introduced and carried through Congress the
important bill establishing a Steam Mail Line to China
and Japan, and several other prominent measures.
In December, 1866, Mr. Cole was elected to the '
United States Senate, to succeed Hon. James A. McDou-
gall, receiving on first ballot in Republican caucus sixty
votes to thirty-one cast for Aaron A. Sargent, and on first
ballot in joint legislature ninety-two votes against twen-
ty-six for W. T. Coleman, the Democratic candidate. He
entered the Senate March 4th, 1867, and served on Com-
mittees for Appropriations, Claims, Manufactures, Post
Offices and Post Roads, and Revision of Laws.
As will be inferred from the above, Mr. Cole's pecu-
CORNELIUS COLE. 527
liar characteristics are unswerving integrity of action and
intention, tenacity of purpose, a contempt for wealth and
its influences, a strong sense. of justice, and fidelity in
friendships. Domestic and temperate in habit, and mod-
est in ambition, his honors have been thrust upon him,
rather than plucked down by a bold hand.
JOHN R. MCCONNELL
^Y )VlLLIAM ji, J^HODES.
JOHN R. McCoNNELL, the leading lawyer of Northern
California, was born in Kentucky in the year 1826.
He is descended from Scotch-Irish stock, and his ances-
tors originally settled in the State of Pennsylvania. At
an early day, one branch of the family removed to the
wilds of Kentucky. On the mother's side, Mr. McCon-
nell is lineally descended from the family of the Clarksons,
who are of English origin, and originally settled in the
county of Albemarle, in old Virginia. He was the twelfth
child in a family of thirteen.
As early as 1833, his father removed to the State of
Illinois, and soon settled on a farm, near the town of
Jacksonville, the county seat of Morgan county. The
next year his father died, and two years afterwards, his
mother In 1841, he returned to Kentucky, and resided
in the family of a brother-in-law, in Bourbon county,
until 1846.
He attended several respectable institutions of learn-
ing, both in Illinois and Kentucky; but his education
was chiefly derived from the private tutorship of Profes-
sor Vaughn, now of the city of Cincinnati. This gentle-
man now stands at the head of the mathematicians of the
West. Under his tutor, McConnell made rapid strides in
classical studies, but became eminent in mathematical
and metaphysical lore. In the higher mathematics especi-
34
530 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ally, he excelled, and to this day nothing seems to afford
him more pleasure than a dash into the mysteries of
curvilinear and conic sections.
In the year 1844, abandoning, on account of ill health,
the original design of a military education at West Point,
he commenced the study of law, under the tuition of
John Martin, Esq., at that time a leading member of the
bar of BourlDon county. But from him he derived only
slight assistance, and has been always self-reliant in the
acquisition of that profound knowledge of law to which
he has attained. Some assistance, however, he did derive
from a short matriculation at Transylvania University,
where his studies were, for a time, directed by such mas-
ters of the profession as Judges Wooley, Rol3ertson, and
Thomas A. Marshall. Ill health, however, soon com-
pelled him to quit the law school, and he was again
thrown upon his own resources.
In 1846, removing again to Illinois, he commenced
the practice of law at the early age of twenty-one years.
Two years after this, we again find him moving — for early
in 1848 he was located at Natchez, in the State of
Mississippi.
It was during his residence in Mississippi, that young
McConnell commenced laying in that fund of useful inform-
ation on some branches of the law which afterwards
contributed so largely to his benefit, and to that of his
adopted State. In N'atchez, we find him applying himself
to the study of Justinian's Institutes, and that splendid
body of civil law which has come down to us from the
age of Tribonian. Before he had time to avail himself of
any of the knowledge thus acquired, the news of the
discovery of gold in California reached his place of resi-
dence, and early in 1849, in company with his friend Col.
E. J. Saunders, (afterwards so well known in Nicaragua
and during the Confederate war) he started across the
plains to California. He arrived here early in October,
1849, and settled as a miner in the vicinity of Placerville.
It was bruited abroad that he was, by profession, a lawyer,
and he soon engaged warmly in the disputes before the
various Alcaldes' courts in the vicinity. Here he met
JOHN R. MCCOXNELL. 531
Judge John Heard, now of Sacramento, and the Hon.
Frank M. Pixley, of San Francisco. There not being a single
law book in the whole district, the discussions, and the
decisions equally, must have been rather crude and ill
digested ; but we have reason to believe that the germ of
the entire mining jurisprudence of California sprang from
those early deliberations. Finally induced to abandon
mining by the growing wants of the community for legal
knowledge, as well as by the reputation he had already
acquired as a jurist, he took up his residence early in
1851 at Nevada City, and devoted himself thenceforth
to the practice of his profession.
In the opening of this sketch, we have characterized
McConnell as the leading lawyer of Northern California.
To those who have met him oftenest at the bar, and
know him best in the higher walks of the profession, we
need adduce no proof other than such encounters have
furnished. But proof is not wanting of a more reliable
and a less perishable character.
The records of the Supreme Court of California, for
many years, as preserved in the reports, afford ample
testimony upon this point. It is not going too far to
assert, that the briefs and argument* of John R. McCon-
nell, before that tribunal, have done more towards
building up the mining law of this State than the labors
of any other counselor upon this coast. To an inex-
haustible fund of learning, he added indomitable industry,
and a perception quick, sure, and intuitive; methodical
almost to formality, he drilled his arguments into the
forms of logical sequence, that in most cases amounted
to mathematical demonstration. But his memory is,
perhaps, the most remarkable trait of a most remarkable
mind. It seems to be absolutely infallible. Piled up in
the deep reservoirs of his capacious intellect, he calls
forth these argosies of wealth at a moment's notice, and
launches them upon the tide of learning with an abandon
that produces amazement.
No point of law bearing upon the subject under dis-
cussion seems ever to be overlooked or hidden ; and very
often his adversary finds that he is more thoroughly
532 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
versed in his own case than he is himself. Kor is there
any other branch of learning that Mr. McConnell has
neglected. Dr. Johnson said of Gibbon, that "no
man could casually meet him under an awning, during
a shower, and hear him speak five minutes, without
saying at once, ' Here is the most remarkable genius
in Great Britain.' " This great praise can also be applied
almost as faithfully to the subject of this sketch. He
appears to be like Macaulay, almost omniscient — all
science, art, and philosophy are equally at his command.
He has studied almost every branch of human learning —
and when at leisure, seated at the fireside amongst his
friends, he pours forth such prolific streams of informa-
tion, that his mind appears inexhaustible. He is withal
an acute observer of nature, as well as a profound
student of man ; and in political ethics, including the
history of party in the United States, he has no super-
ior. Nicholas Biddle's panegyric on the true lawyer,
applies with great force to McConnell, "who, not content
with the ordinary routine of litigation, seeks in all liberal
arts, in all sciences, and throughout the whole domain of
learning, whatsoever may dignify and adorn his noble
occupation."
As a teacher of law, McConnell deserves more than a
passing notice. His office has been commonly filled with
young men in pursuit of a knowledge of that science,
" whose seat," old Hooker declares," is the bosom of God,
and whose voice is the harmony of the world." Amongst
those who sought the instruction of McConnell, were
Edward Craig, Esq., of Placer county, and the Hon.
Wm. M. Stewart, at present Senator of the United States
from the State of Nevada. Both these gentlemen are
able lawyers, as well as renowned politicians ; and Stewart
owes all his dialectic skill, ingenuity, and eloquence to the
early training of McConnell. It would of course be
expected that a man gifted with such talents as McCon-
nell' s, should at some period of life be lifted up into
public station. As early as 1853, he was elected Attor-
ney General of California, and held that position until
1856. Twice he has been unsuccessful in his political
JOHN R. MCCONNELL. 533
aspirations. In 1861, he was the Democratic candidate
for Governor of California, on a peace platform, but was
defeated by Gov. Stanford; and again in 1864, he ran for
the Supreme Judgeship, in the neighboring State of
Nevada, but failed in securing his election.
In political opinion, McConnell may be classed as an
old school strict constructionist. He gravitates toward
Calhoun rather than toward Stanton or Seward. It is
true, that in 1860 he endorsed Judge Douglas for the
Presidency instead of Breckinridge; but the preference
seems to have been more the result of personal friendship
than of party affinity.
Mr. McConnell has been thrice married. His first
wife was Rebecca Cross, of Nevada City; his second,
Ann Eliza Moore, of Fayette county, Kentucky; and
his third, Sallie B. Darby, eldest daughter of Dr. J. Custis
Darby, an eminent physician of Lexington, Kentucky.
With this lady he is still living at his old home in Nevada
city, the centre of a large band of friends and clients.
In person, Mr. McConnell is of medium height, and
rather spare build. His complexion is sallow, but re-
lieved by one of the blackest and brightest eyes that ever
shot forth fiery eloquence, rapid thought, and stern denun-
ciation upon an opponent. Few men can meet that glance
without quailing. It is of that intense magnetic flame
that dazzles and consumes. Of late, Mr. McConnell' s
health has not been robust, but we trust that he will live
long to illustrate the annals of California.
OGDEN HOFFMAN.
^Y THE pDITOR.
THIS •gentleman, who has been for so many years United
States District Judge for the District of California,
was born in the city of New York, October 16th, 1822.
His ancestors were from Holland, and were among the
earliest settlers of New Amsterdam. His father, Hon.
Ogden HoJBfman, was long one of the most influential
leaders of the Whig party. He possessed the graces and
powers of oratory in a wonderful degree ; was unrivalled
as a debater, and ^'proudly eminent" on the hustings.
He was one of the most accomplished lawyers of the
Empire State, his fame eclipsifig even that of his father,
Josiah Ogden Hoffman. At the time of his death, in
May, 1853, a meeting of the New York bar was held, at
which Wn;. M. Evarts and others, who had witnessed his
forensic triumphs and his able management of great civil
and criminal causes, paid feeling tributes to the nobility
of his nature, the greatness of his mind, and the fullness
of his learning.
Mr. Hoffman, our subject, graduated from Columbia
College in 1840, and determined to prepare himself for
the bar. He studied law at Dane Law School, Harvard
University, for about two years, under Judge Story and
Simon Greenleaf. He afterwards read law under Mark
Sibley, of Canandaigua, New York, and under Benjamin
D. Silliman, of New York city. After being admitted, he
536 HEPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
spent nearly two years in foreign travel ; returning, opened
an office in New York city, and practiced law for two or
three years.
Mr. Hoffman arrived at San Francisco, May 16th, 1850,
and entered immediately on the practice of law. He had
not been in his home a year when, in March, 1851, Presi-
dent Fillmore appointed him United States District Judge
for the Northern District of California — Mr. Hoffman
being then twenty-eight years of age.
There were several weighty reasons which nearly moved
the young appointee to decline the proffered honor.
Recognizing in the appointment a graceful compliment to
his father (who had long been the warm friend and sup-
porter of Mr. Fillmore) and being young and inexperi-
enced, he hesitated to accept the responsibilities of a
position for which he felt himself unqualified : moreover,
litigation was rife at that day in San Francisco, and his
prospects were flattering to acquire an ample reward for
his labors in the profession. But, being urged by his
friends and advised by his father, he assumed the ermine,
and (it is not undue praise to say it) though he has many
times regretted his acceptance of the office, the people of
California are grateful that he did accept.
As District Judge — a position which he has held for a
period of eighteen years — he has distinguished himself,
and won an enviable reputation among the people of his
adopted State for his integrity and learning. Upon him
has devolved, in a large degree, the settlement of the con-
flicting land titles of the State, in controversies existing
between the Federal Government and claimants under
Mexican grants. His decisions, while they have uniformly
been sound and impartial, have not only given stability
to titles, but they have acquired the confidence and com-
manded the respect of the whole community. In all the
varied duties of the bench over which he presides, he has
exemplified a high degree of capacity and intelligence;
and the opinions which he has delivered from time to
time are being made the subject of a forthcoming pub-
lication of Reports, which is anxiously looked for by the
public, besides a volume of land cases already issued.
OGDEN HOFFMAN. 537
Judge Hoffman possesses classical attainments of a
high order, and is a fine linguist. The editor has heard
him declare in conversation his belief that it is impos-
sible for any person, no matter how studious and talent-
ed, to master any language except his own. He speaks
French, has some knowledge of other modern tongues,
and there is probably no more accomplished Greek and
Latin scholar in California. He is a constant reader, a
most agreeable conversationalist, and possesses a memory
retentive, and enriched with gleanings from a wide range
of eclectic information and classic lore.
ISAAC ROWELL
^y pAJLVIN ^ yVlcJ)ONAJLD.
DR. Isaac Rowell was born in Coos county, New
Hampshire, in 1818. He is descended from the
Pilgrims, his ancestors having come from England with
that historic company who came in the Mayflower; and
through successive generations his family have been
earnest and progressive Republicans, in the broad and
national sense of the term. He was educated at Dart-
mouth College, including its literary, scientific, and
medical courses, and at once entered upon the practice
of medicine at Gardiner, Maine. In 1849, he joined the
great procession of enterprise and adventure moving to
the farthest West, and coming by way of Cape Horn,
arrived in San Francisco on the 16th of June of that
year. He at once announced himself as a physician and
surgeon, opened an office near the place still occupied
by him, and soon became a popular and successful prac-
titioner. From that time to the present, his office has
been the daily resort of suffering humanity, a large por-
tion of his attention and skill being devoted to the poor,
expecting and receiving no reward save the pleasant con-
sciousness of having sought to relieve the distresses of
the friendless and despairing.
In 1852, Dr. Howell became interested in military
affairs, and raised the first cavalry company organized
on this coast — the Eureka Light-Horse Guards — which
540 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
afterwards became the First Light Dragoons, and which
was remarkable as one of the finest companies in the
Union. After holding command several years, having
been unanimously elected captain at the organization of
the company, the First Light Dragoons, the National
Lancers, Capt. Thomas Hayes, the First National Guard —
Light Artillery — Capt. Thomas D. Johns, united under
the organization known as the First California Mounted
Battalion ; and at the first meeting, every member being
present, every vote was cast for Dr. Rowell as com-
mander — an instance of that popularity which he has
always enjoyed in every relation of life. .
In 1855, he took a leading part in organizing the
Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, and
was elected to the Chair of Chemistry; also lecturing
in various other departments of the institution ; and for
one full term occupying the Chairs of Chemistry and
Surgery with complete satisfaction to the Faculty; while
at the same time performing the duties of an extensive
and increasing practice; affording an illustration of
physical endurance and executive capacity almost un-
paralleled in the history of his profession, and which
could be performed only by the most vigorous and reso-
lute mind. At the commencement of the War of Re-
bellion, this institution was broken up; many of the
students betook themselves to the field, and became dis-
tinguished in the reports as army-surgeons, attesting the
thoroughness of the instruction received of Cooper,
Rowell, and the other earnest and devoted men who had
founded a college of Medicine and Surgery among the
first public institutions of their young State.
In 1866, he was elected a member of the San Fran-
cisco Board of Supervisors, having been an independent
candidate, and received a large majority of the popular
vote. That position, hardly less important than a mem-
bership of the State Legislature, was sought in order to
correct abuses and errors existing in the City and County
Hospital, to which Dr. Rowell gave his earnest attention
during his term of office. Having served in that capacity
two years and a half, and accomplished the desired re-
ISAAC ROWELL. 541
form, he declined a renomination ; and on his retirement
from office was publicly presented with a magnificent set
of silverware by a number of leading citizens, who de-
sired to express their approbation of his faithful and
public spirited conduct as a member of the local Leg-
islature. It was the most beautiful and costly gift
ever received by any private citizen of San Francisco,
and was so referred to by the public journals of that
time.
Up to the commencement of the great rebellion. Dr.
Rowell had been an active and conspicuous member of
the Democratic party; but at that time, together with
thousands of earnest and patriotic men who held the
principles of Thomas Jefferson, he at once took a fore-
most and resolute stand for the restoration and preserva-
tion of the Union. He supported the second election
of Mr. Lincoln, made his first political speech in behalf
of that illustrious man, and abandoning a large and
lucrative practice, traversed the State at his own expense,
and took an active and important part in the presidential
campaign. His political speeches were earnest, inspiring,
and effective, and perhaps no single citizen did more to
create and give direction to public sentiment during the
cloudy and perilous days of our country. Everywhere
the sturdy and enthusiastic doctor communicated the
electrism of his own strong and earnest soul to the
people ; and he returned with honor and distinction from
a turbulent and even dangerous canvass, to resume his
gentler rounds among the children of affliction, having
obeyed, the irresistible impulses of his hereditary nature,
and struck a blow for Union, freedom, and the rights of
men.
In 1868, he was elected Health Officer of the city of
San Francisco by the Board of Supervisors; and in that
capacity, during an alarming and desolating epidemic,
displayed a characteristic energy and devotion, giving him-
self up wholly to the duties of a perilous and thankless
office, visiting the dreary abodes of the pestilence, con-
tributing to the relief of the poor, and as ever, earnest,
active, conscientious, and untiring. We believe he made
i
'J^*" Ot Ti^
"^,.
^
542 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the only post inortem ex3imm2ition of small-pox that occurred
during the prevalence of that awful scourge.
Having glanced rapidly over the public services of one
of the most noted and valuable of private citizens, it may
be added that Dr. Rowell ranks high with the most dis-
tinguished physicians and surgeons of San Francisco.
Being one of the oldest, he is also one of the ablest and
most popular, not only in the estimation of the public,
but likewise with the members of his profession. In
private association he is social, generous, and sympathetic,
ambitious of popularity and of distinction as a man of
liberality and public spirit; caring far more for the good
opinion and friendship of his fellow-men than for all the
golden treasures that could be heaped around him. In
the lecture-room, he is versatile, instructive, and enter-
taining, giving apt expressions to thoughts original, philo-
sophical, or humorous, as the circumstances and fancy of
the moment may suggest. The structure of his mental
organism leads to inquiry, analysis, and invention ; and
perhaps no member of the Faculty in this State is better
adapted to the requirements of the lecture-room in a
medical institute. As a citizen, he is well informed,
public spirited, and liberal, closely observing every new
movement of the public mind, taking part in every
worthy enterprise, and contributing freely, generously,
and almost thoughtlessly to the appeals of charity; the
chief obstacle to his greater professional success and fame
being the multiform and eclectic nature of his occupa-
tions, and his irresistible desire to take part in every
great public enterprise, and to be personally identified
with every great work of progress and reform. The
physician's highway to eminence is through the quiet
and sorrowful places of affliction, and it is a long dis-
tance; but in the scale of an unselfish philanthropy, it
may claim precedence in the loftiest occupations of man-
kind. To breast the beating storm at midnight, and
linger till gray dawn in the abode of poverty, in spite of
the invocations of sleep, and with scarcely any hope of
reward other than the intangible fees of conscience, are
acts of the sublimest heroism.
ISAAC ROWELL. 543
Professor Rowell is still in the prime of vigorous life,
as appears from the excellent portrait preceding this
sketch. In personal presence he is as manly and noble
as he is refined, humane, and generous in the structure
of his mind. And whether in social companionship with
his friends, in the public assembly of his fellow-citizens,
or in the abodes of threatening death or friendless
poverty, he is always recognizable among the highest
types of enlightened mankind and the truest of American
citizenship.
NATHANIEL BENNETT.
^Y THE pDITOl^
THIS gentleman is one of the oldest practitioners at the
San Francisco bar. For nearly twenty years, with
the exception of the time when he occupied a seat upon
the Supreme Bench of California, and the further period
of nearly five years passed in two visits to the Eastern
States, he has been actively engaged in the practice of
law in the metropolis of the Pacific.
Judge Bennett is of regular old Puritan stock. His
father and mother were born and married in Fairfield
county, Connecticut, where their ancestors had resided
for several generations. A short time after their mar-
riage, his parents removed to Caatskill, then a village just
beginning to flourish in the State of New York, and
where his father engaged in the mercantile business for
some years. The latter afterwards moved to Clinton,
Oneida county, at which place Hamilton College had then
lately been established. His object in moving to Clinton
was to embrace the better opportunities which offered for
the education of his children.
Two of his sons, older brothers of Nathaniel, gradu-
ated at Hamilton College. One of them was for many
years chief judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Erie
county. New York. The other was also a lawyer, and
practiced his profession in New York city, in partnership
w^ith Hugh Maxwell, Esq., at that time District Attorney
of the city. This brother died when quite a young man.
646 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Nathaniel Bennett was born at Clinton, Oneida county,
Iv^ew York, on the 27th day of June, 1818. When he was
three or four years old his father purchased several tracts
of land of considerable extent, in Erie county. On one
of these tracts he settled as a farmer, moving his family
thither from Clinton. Nathaniel passed his early boy-
hood on this farm, and in his twelfth year was sent to
Buffalo to a military school, then lately established by
the celebrated Captain Partridge, who had been for more
than twelve years principal of West Point Academy.
Nathaniel was at school at Buffalo for over two years.
The pupils of this school were daily subjected to regular
military drill and exercise, after the fashion at West Point.
From Buffalo, young Bennett was sent to the Academy at
Canandaigua, under the direction of Mr. Howe, where he
continued his studies for about a year. One of his school-
mates at Canandaigua was Stephen A. Douglas, who then
gave no indication of his subsequent renown. After
leaving the Academy, young Bennett was sent to Hamil-
ton College, where he remained one year; at the end of
that time he entered Yale College.
Mr. Bennett read law at Buffalo, New York. He was
admitted to practice as an attorney in 1840, and as a
counselor in 1843. He practiced at Buffalo from 1840
until the fall of 1842, in partnership with Eli Cook, a
brother of Elisha Cook, Esq., of San Francisco. He then
determined, as his health was somewhat impaired, to make
a tour through the Southern States. In 1838-9, he had
traveled through Ohio, and visited many parts of Indiana
and Kentucky, but had beheld no spot for which he was
willing to exchange his own home — Buffalo. Up to the
time of his starting upon his second and longer journey,
Mr. Bennett had always been an ardent Democrat, and a
great admirer of the South and southern institutions. A
radical change was soon to come over his feelings. He
passed, on horseback, through the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisana, to New Orleans, where
he spent the winter of 1842-3. In the following spring, he
started upon his return trip. He rode, on horseback,
through eastern Louisiana, through Mississippi, Georgia,
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 547
Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New
York, to Buffalo. In referring to this tour. Judge Ben-
nett has stated that it wrought a great change in his
views concerning southern institutions, country, and
people.
Upon his return home, Mr. Bennett applied himself
closely to the study and practice of his profession. When
the political organization known as ^' Barnburners" first
arose, under the leadership of Silas Wright, Benjamin F.
Butler, Joseph White, John Van Buren, and others, Mr.
Bennett embraced the principles of the new party with
enthusiasm. He was a member of the celebrated Barn-
burners' convention which met at Buffalo in the summer
of 1848. In addition to the men just named above,
Charles Francis Adams, Charles Sedgwick, Alvin Stewart,
of Utica, and James W. Nye, now U. S. Senator of
Nevada, were delegates to the convention; and a great
many others, among whom were some of the most noted
men of the Democratic party, who had determined to
sever their connection with the latter organization, if it
continued in the course which it was pursuing. The con-
vention nominated Martin Van Buren for the presidency.
The result of the election is known. Silas Wright, truly
a great man, did not live to see the triumph of his prin-
ciples. Although wedded to political tenets repugnant
to a very large majority of his fellow-citizens, and dying
in the effort to engraft his views upon hostile public
sentiment, millions of devoted friends and magnanimous
foes lamented his death, and the flag of his country
drooped in melancholy appreciation of the national loss.
Judge Bennett is one of those whose hearts were cast
down by the tidings of his death, and who have labored
patiently and quietly for the vindication of his political
principles, and the establishment of a great national party,
whose controlling purpose should be the fulfilment of his
prophecies and the execution of his high designs.
From 1843 to the summer of 1848, Mr. Bennett was
exclusively engaged in practicing law. His success was
very, considerable. By long and continued labor, and
the sacrifice of personal comforts and enjoyments, he had
548 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
acquired a competency ; but his health had become great-
ly impaired. He was closing up his business affairs, with
the intention of spending the following winter in Europe,
when the discovery of gold directed his attention to
California. His physicians had advised him to take a sea
voyage, and as he had lost his health in the pursuit of
gold, he hoped in like manner to regain it.
About the time Mr. Bennett determined to leave
for California, a few of his friends made the same resolu-
tion, and their united efforts got together a pleasant party
of twelve persons, mutual acquaintances, who agreed to
make the long sea voyage in company. Before com-
pleting the arrangements for their departure, they heard
of an old ship announced to leave New London, Con-
necticut, for San Francisco. Believing that a vessel leav-
ing that port would be less crowded than one from New
York city, Mr. Bennett, on behalf of his little party of
friends, visited New London and inspected the ship. She
proved to be the Mentor^ a whaling vessel, which had
been built by Stephen Girard thirty-eight years before, had
made several long voyages, and now presented a sorrow-
ful appearance. Mr. Bennett was not fascinated at the
sight of the old hulk on her beams, dismasted, stanch-
ions rotten, and innocent of paint. Like many of his
old writs and summonses, he thought her functus officio.
But, upon inquiry, he ascertained that her timbers were
strong, and that the necessary repairs could be made so
as to render her entirely sea-worthy. Accordingly, he
engaged passage for his party. The owners of the Mentor
at once proceeded to fit her up in proper manner ; they
painted her, put up her masts, made two cabins, one
having capacity for fifty steerage passengers, the other
just large enough to accommodate Mr. Bennett and his
friends, and a few others, making twenty-five in all.
The Mentor sailed from New London on the last day of
January, 1849. Our little band of pioneers were well
provided with tents, clothing, provisions and every variety
of implement then deemed necessary in mining. On the
first day out, the Mentor encountered a violent gale, which
severely tested her strength and fitness for the voyage
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 54:9
she had undertaken. She behaved splendidly, but hav-
ing sprung her main cap she was obliged to put
in to Rio Janeiro for repairs. After a week's sojourn
at that place, enraptured beholders of natural scenery
which, in magnificence and grandeur, is surpassed by that
of no spot on earth, the voyagers renewed their journey.
Swiftly and gallantly, the old Mentor swept round the
'^ Horn," passing every one of the many vessels she over-
took on the way. She stayed two days at Juan Fer-
nandez, or Robinson Crusoe's Island, where the passen-
gers landed. Mr. Bennett and his companions wandered,
with feelings of pleasurable emotion, over this famous
island, and frequent and fervent were their expressions
of admiration for the genius of De Foe, whose pen, one
hundred and thirty years before, had invested this lonely
island with such romantic interest, that a perpetual charm
will linger around it and pervade its silent lodges.
The Mentor landed her passengers at San Francisco, on
June 30th, 1849. Judge Bennett has stated that the five
months consumed in the voyage round the ''Horn" were
passed more pleasantly than any other portion of his life.
The captain and crew of the Mentor were old whalers and
well-behaved men; the cabin passengers were supplied
with books, chess-boards, cards, etc. ; and as Mr. Bennett
spent considerable time every day in studying the Spanish
language — that being the tongue spoken by the native
population of California — it may easily be perceived how
the long ocean voyage was rendered agreeable, and even
delightful. Besides, Mr. Bennett enjoyed a happy exemp-
tion from sea-sickness during the entire trip.
Upon arriving at San Francisco, Mr. Bennett's com-
pany determined not to remain in the city, and the entire
party immediately started for the mines. The little party
did not cling together a month, but broke up, like all
such companies in those times, most of them returning
to their homes in the Eastern States.
Mr. Bennett commenced his California life in digging
gold on the Tuolumne river, on a bar about two miles
below Jacksonville, at the mouth of Wood's creek. This
bar proved very rich, and being worked by a goodly
550 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
number of men, yielded an immense amount of gold.
Mr. Bennett was very fortunate at mining: he continued
at his new occupation for about three months, when in
response to the repeated solicitations of a friend practicing
law at San Francisco, he determined to repair to that city,
and resume the practice of his profession. Accordingly,
in the fall of 1849, he returned to San Francisco, where
he formed a law partnership with the gentleman who had
induced him to leave the mines. This gentleman was the
Hon. John Satterlee, afterwards Judge of the Superior
Court of San Francisco, one of Judge Bennett's earliest
and best friends, and a member of his company, but who
had crossed the isthmus in advance of the rest.
During his long sea voyage, Mr. Bennett had made
considerable progress in his study of the Spanish language ;
and after commencing practice at San Francisco, he con-
tinued his studies until he could read Spanish law-books
with facility. Soon after the adoption of the State
constitution, he was elected a State senator from
San Francisco. He had been in his seat only a few days,
when he was elected by the Legislature one of the As-
sociate Justices of the Supreme Court, being chosen for
the longest term, six years. During his brief senatorial
career, and immediately thereafter, he virtually directed
the determination of an important question then agitating
the mind of the legal fraternity. A petition signed by
many practicing members of the San Francisco bar, had
been submitted to the Legislature, praying that that body
would retain "in its substantial elements, the system of
the Civil Law." The report of the Judiciary Committee,
to whom this petition was referred, was written by Judge
Bennett, and led to the prompt adoption of the Common
Law by the Legislature then in session. This lettered
exposition of the general principles of the Civil and of
the Common Law, replete with arguments, compactly
marshalled, in favor of the superiority of the latter system,
will be found in the first volume of the California Law
Reports. It has lost no tittle of its original merit, and
cannot be too often read by the law student.
Judge Bennett continued on the Supreme Bench for
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 551
about two years, when he resigned, his salary being in-
sufficient to support him in comfort. The nominal salary
of a Supreme Judge was ten thousand dollars per annum,
payable quarterly ; but soon after the organization of the
State government, the scrip of the State rapidly declined,
as might have been expected.
Judge Bennett was compelled to part w4th large
amounts of scrip for fifty cents on the dollar, and some
as low as thirty-five cents. Upon the expectation that
the paper of the State would not fall much below par, he
had contracted some debts, drawing a high rate of
interest, and to remain in office would be to sink deeper
and deeper in debt. He therefore resigned, and entered
upon the practice of law.
In October, 1850, when the glad tidings came slowly
over the waters, that California had become a sovereign
State in the federal sisterhood, the enthusiastic citizens
of San Francisco celebrated the event with great pomp
and ceremony. Judge Bennett was selected to deliver the
oration. His effort on that occasion was printed in full
in the columns of the Alta California, and other newspapers
of the city. It is remembered with affectionate admira-
tion by the surviving pioneers of the State, and is treasured
among the archives in the County Recorder's office of
San Francisco. It is a masterpiece. It has long been a
favorite piece for declamation in our schools; and no
matter to how high a standard the literature of the Pacific
coast may in future attain, must ever be considered and
esteemed as a California classic. This oration appears in
this volume, immediately 'following this sketch.
In 1852-3, Judge Bennett was absent from the State
for eighteen months, on a visit to the Eastern States.
Upon returning, he resumed the practice of law. He
devoted himself closely to his profession, and paid but
little attention to politics until the formation of the
Republican party. He was present, and took part in the
first Republican meeting held in San Francisco ; and was
a delegate to the first Republican State convention held
at Sacramento, being elected president of that body.
He was nominated for Judge of the Supreme Court on
652 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the first Republican State ticket voted for in California,
when Hon. Edward Stanly was the Republican candidate
for Governor. Being defeated, with the remainder of the
Republican nominees, Judge Bennett paid a second and
longer visit to his old home, and returned to San Fran-
cisco after an absence of three years, in 1860. Since that
time, he has been in continuous practice at the San Fran-
cisco bar. From 1866 until 1868, Judge Bennett was in
partnership with Elisha Cook, Esq., brother of his former
law-partner in ISTew York. Later, he was the senior
member of the law-firm of Bennett, Machin & Owen; and
still continues, in connection with the last-named gentle-
man, the practice of law.
At the celebration in May, 1869, of the completion
of the Pacific Railroad, by the people of San Francisco,
Judge Bennett had the honorable task assigned him of
delivering the oration on the occasion. In grandeur of
thought, splendor of diction, and beauty of expression,
this effort will compare favorably with his address de-
livered in 1850, to which allusion has already been made.
Thus, it will be seen, the name of Nathaniel Bennett will
be intimately associated through coming time with the
history of the two grandest events which in his age
affected the interests and destinies of his adopted State.
It is hardly necessary to speak of Judge Bonnet's per-
sonal qualities or professional abilities. He is known by
his works. An able bar has long recognized him as one
of the first of .counselors and jurists. He is a scholar
of high classical and scientific attainments; and as Poe
said of Bryant, ''His soul is charity itself, in all respects
generous and noble."
NATHANIEL BEXXETT. 553
Delivered at the Celebration of the Admission of California into the Union,
Tuesday, October 29th, 1850.
BY NATHANIEL BENNETT.
Fellow-citizens: The human heart is never in repose. One
moment it is oppressed with gloom; another, enlivened withgayety.
It vibrates unceasingly, between the pangs of disappointment and
the cheerful excitement of gratified desire. These varying emotions
sometimes spring from individual causes, limited in then* effects, and
rarely extending beyond the precincts of individual interests; at other
times, their sources flow from some great national blessing, or some
great national calamity, and i^ervading alike all portions of the land,
I)our their flood of sweet or of bitter w^aters through every heart.
A few weeks ago we were congregated on this very spot. It was
a day of mourning.* The head of the nation had been laid low in
the earth. That heart which beat so warmly for us had ceased its
friendly throbs in the embrace of death. The wave of sorrow starting
from the Atlantic shores of the continent, and gathering accumulated
force in its progress, had just burst over the hills and valleys of Cali-
fornia, and its solemn murmurings were mingled w^th the surge of
the Pacific. On the occasion to which I allude, emblems of moui-ning
saddened our sight. The pall, the hearse, the drapery of black, the
strains of martial music borne upon the air in tones of woe, and the
sad thoughts si^eaking from the melancholy countenances of the vast
assemblage — all proclaimed that the cherished hopes of a whole nation
had been smitten down, and that the wail of a nation's anguish was
ascending to heaven.
But two short months have elapsed, and we again stand upon the
same spot. But how changed the scene ! Cheerfulness has taken the
place of sadness. Buoyancy of spirit has succeeded to despondency
and regret. Badges of rejoicing everywhere greet the eye, and ac-
clamations of pleasure salute the ear. Amid yon forest of a thousand
masts, innumerable gay pennants and signals are flung to the breeze,
in token that the sons of ocean, equally with the dwellers upon
land, particij)ate in the general jubilee. Banners and music, as of a
triumphing army, mingle in our march. The deep voices of a hun-
dred cannons proclaim our congratulations. Business stands still in
the streets; and all the fair, the gay, hoary -headed age, and elastic
youth, and vigorous manhood, have gathered here to-day, as from a
strong and common imjiulse, to testify, in this imj)osing manner,
their deep and abiding joy that California at length stands an equal
among her sisters, the thirty-first State of the American Union.
At any time this would have been a source of hearty congratula-
tion. Now^, it is peculiarly so. For months had we waited in ^Dainful
* For the death of Gen. Taylor.
554 REPRESENT ATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
anxiety, at o^e moment elated and again depressed, as oach sr.cces-
sive steamer brought tidings of the prospect, more or less speedy,
of our receiving the simple justice which we had a right to demand
from Congress. And our anxiety was not without cause. We were
placed in a strange and anomalous condition. Possessing within our
"borders the richest mineral region of the world, we had yet but a
limited control over it, 'and Congress had neglected to provide the
necessary regulations for the extraction of its treasures. The agri-
cultural lands of our valleys were left to lie waste in consequence of
uncertainty of ownership, and of doubt as to their ultimate disposi-
tion; and no provision being made for the survey of government
lands, we could receive the benefit of no preemption laws, and could
acquire no title to any portion of the national domain within our
limits. We had a State government regularly organized in all its
departments, with powers sufficiently enlarged to enable it to perform
all the requisite functions of a State government under the federal
constitution, but not comprehensive enough to subserve the pressing
wants of an independent community. With a great maritime com-
merce, we yet had no admiralty courts; with extensive correspond-
ence with the States and amongst ourselves, the postal facilities
were miserably inadequate. Paying into the national treasury a
tribute more than sufficient to defray the expense of the whole mili-
tary force of the Union in this State and in Oregon, and the whole
naval force on the Pacific station, we were nevertheless not per-
mitted to enjoy those reciprocal benefits w^hich alone could render
such enormous taxation even tolerable. We were thus compelled to
sustain the burdens of government, without being admitted to a par-
ticipation in its blessings. We were taxed without representation;
but our revolutionary sires resolved that taxation and representation
should go hand in hand, and that the duty should not be enforced,
unless the correlative right was granted. Claiming to be a State
ourselves, and the administration of every department of our gov-
ernment being based upon such assumption, we were, nevertheless,
not recognized as such by Congress, and could not have been so
considered by the federal judiciary. We were in the awkward pre-
dicament of a State out of the Union, when justice dictated, and
imperious necessity demanded, that we should be received to the
enjoyment of the privileges of a State in the Union. W^e stood
alone amongd the republican family of Anglo-Americans, whilst, at
the same time, we were not of them. In addition to these manifold
sources of disquiet in our midst, there w^ere others which gave rise
to no less aioprehension. The portentous cloud of x^olitical conten-
tion had gathered over our heads, and party strife and sectional
animosity hung, like lurid balls, on thesMrtsof our eastern horizon.
Night seemed to settle upon our hopes. Some amongst us even felt
as if the w^ave of necessity must drift us into an untried and danger-
ous sea; but patriotism still stood cabn at the helm, and lioj^e en-
deavored to pierce the thick darkness of the future. It way at such
a time that the tidings of the event which we celebrate reached us;
and the rebound of our feelings to-day is in proportion to the depth
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 555
of our past depression. If, when tlie tempest has gathered over the
troubled waters, and the angry billows, lashed into furj% rave around
the devoted bark, the winds are suddenly lulled, the waves hushed,
and the warm sunshine again sleeps uj)on the bosom of the tranquil
sea, the thrill of delight which the hardy mariner feels is enhanced
by the recollection of the imminent dangers from which he has just
escaped.
To the people of the old States the admission of a new one has
always been a source of honest pride. They behold mth gratifica-
tion the spread of the empire of freemen; and their welcome voice
has always been heard in the jDast, as in gay and glittering proces-
sion, and laden with varied gifts, State after State has gone throng-
ing up for admission and been marshaled into the lists of the
Union. How then could it be otherwise, when California, with her
robe glowing with silver and a diadem of gold upon her brow, had
so long and patiently waited for the privilege of being allowed to
participate mth her elder sisterhood in their hopes and fears, to
share with them the common benefits and sustain her portion of the
common bui'dens. The numerous manifestations of kindly feelings
from our brethren of the East prove that their satisfaction is inferior
only to our own — that they receive us into their embrace with sincere
friendship, and with warm wishes for our continued prosperity and
permanent welfare. The notes of their rejoicing at the consumma-
tion of our mutual wishes have not ceased to reverberate, when
California "takes up the strain ; and in tones not less sincere and
perhaj)s even more heartfelt, sends back to her elder sisters a pledge
that she will never disgrace that Union into which she has been re-
ceived, but will for ever continue to revere and cherish it, not
merely as the highest honor to herself, but as a guaranty of bless-
ings to the human race. This is due not only to herself, to the
Union, and to humanity, but is doubly due to her friends, who,
whether in private life, in the Legislatures of the respective States,
or in the national councils, have defended her character from the
false and impudent aspersions which have been cast upon it even
in high places, and have asserted her rights with unfaltering zeal
and determined boldness. To all such, it would be ungrateful did
we not remember them in this the day of our triumph, and return
them our hearty thanks, and assure them that the pledge they gave
of our attachment to the Union was well founded. Indeed, it is
impossible that the people of California should be otherwise than
devoted to the Union. They are not outcasts, whom an over-
populous society has thrown from its bosom in order to secure the
means of subsistence for the rest. They are not criminals, fleeing
from punishment for transgi'ession of law. They are not drones,
whom an industrious community has chased from the common hive.
They do not consist of the vicious and idle, who were incajjable of
procuring an honest competency upon their native soil. They are
not the ignorant, banished by superior knowledge and "talents and
attainments from the refinements of civilized life. Such as these
would scarcely have had the energy to undertake, or the persever-
556 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
ance or ability to accomplish, a journey to this remote region. They
do consist of the industrious laborer, the independent mechanic, the
shrewd and intelligent merchant, the skillful physician, the learned
lawyer, and the pious divine. They embrace as much of enterprise,
as much of intelligence and learning, as much of business skill and
capacity, as much of morality and love of good order, as any other
community of equal numbers under the sun. They possess, in a
higher degree than can be found anywhere else, the peculiar char-
acteristics of Americans; an energy that never flags, and an in-
domitable resolution in surmounting all obstacles. They have not
come from one State, nor from one section of the Union, but from
all. East and West, North and South, almost every county and city,
and village and town, of each of the thirty old States, have their
representatives in our midst, identified with our weal or our woe.
Nay, there "are but few families in the Eastern States whose blood
does not flow, either directly or collaterally, through the veins of
some citizen of California. How, then, is it possible that we should
not feel a deep interest in the preservation and perpetuity of the
Union? And how is it possible that the welfare of California should
not be bound, more closely than with links of steel, to the hearts of
the whole American people? The electric chains of human sym-
pathy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Pacific to the
Atlantic, stretching across the wide interval of mountain and plain,
not a link weakened nor its brightness dimmed or tarnished by dis-
tance, must for ever bind the two portions of our common country
indissolubly together. These are bonds of aftection stronger than
ties of mere political connection, and they can never be severed by
sectional jealousies, nor by the mad schemes of disappointed am-
bition. Wherever, then, the Union may be disparagingly spoken
of or sneeringly scoffed at — on whatever spot our national banner,
which floats so gallantly in war and so grticefully in peace, may be
trailed on the ground, and its glorious folds ignominiously trampled
in the dust — California will never lift a sacrilegious hand to sever
the common ties of interest, of friendship, and of kindred — she will,
to the last, cling to the Union, not merely as the plank of her safety,
but as the ark freighted with her brightest hopes for the future and
her holiest remembrances of the past.
And who is there amongst us but feels proud that he is a member
of this grand confederacy of freemen? Who would wish to sever
his earliest patriotic impulses and associations, and form unto him-
self new and strange gods? Who would choose to forget the warm
impressions of youth, when his ear first caught the strains of our
martial music and his eye learned to look with pride upon the
emblem of our national power and glory, as it was flung to the
breeze of his native hills? Let us indulge the anticipation that the
patriotic hopes which stirred the breast of childhood, which inspired
the heart of youth, and which cheer the toils and struggles of man-
hood, may quicken the languid pulse of old age; and that Time,
who, in his never-ceasing and yet imperceptible course, gradually
and silently steals away, one by one, the impiilses of early years,
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 657
♦
may, even at three score and ten, leave untouched the thrill of en-
thusiasm at the sound of our national anthems and the sight of our
national flag.
And is not our country worthy of our sentiments of veneration
and love? Not two centuries and a half have elapsed since our race
first planted their steps on American soil. Only three quarters of a
century — a period which, though conducting the individual man to
old age, is but a day in the history of a nation's existence — have
passed away, since we took our place amongst the powers of the
earth as a distinct and independent nation ; and yet, during that
brief period, we have made advances in national greatness which
have required with other people the struggle of centuries to achieve.
The sparse population scattered at wide intervals along the Atlantic
coast has grown to an empire of twenty millions. The thirteen
States which formed the Constitution have been multiphed to thirty-
one. The narrow belt of American civilization on the eastern slope
of the Alleghanies has been constantly growing wider and wider,
and pushing its bounds farther and farther. It has crossed the
Sabine on the south and the Mississippi on the west. It has
ascended the Rocky Mountains, and the snow-capped summits of
the Sierra Nevada have been no impediment in its course. At length
it laves its feet in the waters of the Pacific. It spans the entire con-
tinent, and the base of its arch rests on the shores of both oceans.
We have a frontier line of eleven thousand miles; a sea coast of up-
wards of six thousand; a lake coast of more than two thousand.
We have rivers twice as long as the Danube, the largest river in
Europe, and bayous and creeks that shame the Thames and the
Seine. We have single States larger than the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and harbors that would hold all the
navies of Europe. From Maine to New Orleans, or from Washing-
ton to San Francisco, is farther than from London to Constanti-
nople — a route that crosses England, Belgium, Prussia, Germany,
Austria, and Turkey.
It would seem that the progress of our institutions westward was
at length effectually closed by the ocean. But it may be we mis-
calculated even here. The peaceful islands of the sea, which yield
their spontaneous productions without toil, with a climate as if
tempered for the abode of the gods, where to live is pleasure and
to breathe the pure air is bliss — it may be that in the lapse of time
they will occupy the j)osition which California now occupies, and
become to the American people what we are now to the Eastern
States. Nay, further: the vast continent which lies beyond, teeming
with millions of semi-civilized inhabitants, and reeling under the
heat of a tropical sun, may j^et yield to the influence of American
institutions, and repose beneath the shelter of American freedom.
Empire is born, increases, wanes: its course hitherto has been west-
ward; and it is not impossible that in the revolving cycle of ages,
the seat of the last great empire may be on the very spot of the origin
of the first, and the plains trodden by the Chaldean and Assyrian
despot may echo the songs of American liberty.
558 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
While we would by no means urge the spirit of conquest, so rife
amongst our people, but would use all legitimate measures to repress
it, yet when the field is ripe, we would not neglect the harvest
through fear that our garners will overflow. We are not amongst
those who believe that, because former republics and kingdoms have
gone to wreck when their territory became extended, and perhaps
for that reason alone, the same result must necessarily or will proba-
bly attend our system also. It may perhaps be deemed rashness
and a disregard of the teachings of experience, when we declare
that the examples so often cited of Greece and Kome, and Italian
Republics, thrust forward as Procrustean beds, to the dimensions of
which our republic must be cramped, have but little weight upon
our mind. Their forms of government, the condition of civilization
and intelligence amongst their people, and above all the great in-
ventions of modern days, unknown to them, render any such com-
parison inappropriate.
The advancement of jj^olitical knowledge and its reduction to
practice; the discoveries in the laws of the physical world, and their
application in a thousand ways to machinery, which characterize the
present age ; have rendered valueless the political theories and maxims
and principles and practice of ancient States. Steam, applied to the
propulsion of vessels and railroad cars, has brought the remote sec-
tions of our country into close proximity. Forty years ago, Cincin-
nati was a month's journey farther from New Orleans than San
Francisco is now. It then required months to ascend the Mississippi,
where it now requires days. Intelligence fhes on the wings of light-
ning, with the rapidity of thought. The magnetic telegraph whispers
as readily and distinctly at the distance of two thousand miles as at
the distance of two feet. In point of rapidity of intelligence,
Washington is as near to New Orleans as to New York, and with a
telegraph from San Francisco to the seat of government, she would
be as near to the Capital as either. The universal intelligence of our
people, amongst whom all read and think, and to theoretical knowl-
edge add practical experience in matters of government, is another
strong safeguard, unknown in other nations, against danger from the
expansion of our territory.
Again, another great and distinctive feature of our system, which
renders inapt the comparison of all former systems, is the division
of powers between the federal government and the local govern-
ments of the respective States — whereby the former, acting within
the scope of its limited powers, controls the general interests of the
whole, and provides such measures as concern the welfare of all
portions alike; whilst the latter attend to the distinct wants of their
own separate communities, and prescribe such laws as suit the pecu-
liarities of climate, people, manners, and institutions of their re-
spective States, but which might not be of a common utility to all.
Thus the one portion of our system is indispensable to the perfec-
tion of the other. If all the powers of legislation and government
over the general interests of the nation, as well as over the minute
local affairs of the different sections, were entrusted to Congi-ess,
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 659
then it might with reason be feared that the diversified wants of the
various portions of the country could not be adequately jDrovided
for, and that secession or revolution might be the result. But with
the Federal government and the respective State governments re-
volving each in its appropriate sphere, we see no reason why our
system is not as well adapted to the government of the whole con-
tinent as it was to the government of the original thirteen States.
It is the mutual adaptation, each to the other, of all the difi'erent
parts of our system which, as is the case with the harmonious ad-
justment of the planets, attracts and restrains each in its appointed
orbit, and impels the whole, without confusion or discord, around
the common centre. We see but little danger of a disruption of the
Union merely on account of its extent. Other causes may operate
to produce that result, but of them it is not our province now to
speak.
Californians, natives of the soil! such is the nation, its progress
in the past and its prospects for the future, which you have chosen
to adopt for your country. You and ourselves stand on common
ground. Born and reared under different governments, and speak-
ing different tongues, we nevertheless meet here to-day as brothers.
The same fraternal roof shelters us all. The segis of the Constitu-
tion guards and protects us alike. Though you have been severed
from the parent tree, your strength is not sapped nor your leaves
withered; but, grafted into a strange branch, you nevertheless
spring forth with more than former vigor, and flouiish with fresh
and unwonted luximance. Subject to no other restraints than our-
selves, cherished by the same beneficent laws, enjopng the same
rights, political, civil, and religious, you stand amongst us in all
respects our equals: than this we can say no more, for we acknow-
ledge no superiors. Henceforth, notwitlistanding difference of
origin and perchance diversity of sentiments, you and ourselves and
our posterity, through all coming time, are inseparably united,
whether in haj^piness or in misery. Hencefoi*th, our fortunes are
embarked on the same voyage and destined for the same port.
Henceforth, we kneel at the same political shrine, are charged vvith
the same protection of our common institutions, and are bound by
the same holy ties to fan the flame of liberty and keep its sacred fires
for ever burning^upon the altar of our common country. Henceforth,
we have one country, one hope, one destiny. Your hearty participa-
tion in the joyful event v/hich we celebrate in common to-day gives
abundant evidence that if the day of trial shall ever come, when the
fountains of the political deep shall be broken up, and discord rule
the hour, you will be found standing shoulder to shoulder with our-
selves, putting forth all your exertions in maintenance of the laws
which vv'C cherish and in support of the constitution which we revere.
Fellow-citizens: we are at length fairly launched uj)on our course.
With a State constitution approved by the convention unanimously,
and adopted by the people with scarcely a dissenting voice — a con-
stitution guaranteeing freedom to all, favoring none, and bringing all
the officers of the State under immediate responsibility to the people,
660 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
there is no reason to doubt our eminent success. Judging from the
past, what have we not a right to expect in the future. The world
has never witnessed any thing equal or similar to our career hitherto.
Scarcely two years ago, California was almost an unoccupied wild.
"With the exception of a presidio, a mission, a j)ueblo, or a lonely
ranch, scattered here and there at tiresome distances, there v/as
nothing to show that the uniform stillness had ever been broken by
the footsteps of civilized man. The agricultural richness of her
valleys remained unimproved, and the wealth of a Vvorld lay en-
tombed in the bosom of her solitary mountains, and on the banks cf
her unexplored streams. Behold the contrast! The hand of agri-
culture is now busy in every fertile valley, and its toils are re-
munerated with rewards which in no other portion of the world
can be credited. Enterprise has pierced every hill for hidden
treasure, and has heaped up enormous gains. Cities and villages
dot the surface of the whole State. Steamers dart along our rivers,
and innumerable vessels spread their white wings over our bays.
Not Constantinople, upon which the wealth of imperial Borne was
lavished, not St. Petersburg, to found which the arbitrary power of
the Czar sacrificed thousands of his subjects, could rival, in rapidity
of growth, the fair city which lies before us. Our State is a marv^el
to ourselves, and a miracle to the rest of the world. Nor is the in-
fluence of California confined within her own borders. Mexico, and
the islands nestled in the embrace of the Pacific, have felt the quicken-
ing breath of her enterprise. With her golden wand she has touched
the prostrate corpse of South American industry, and it has sprung
up in the freshness of life. She has caused the hum of busy life to
be heard in the wilderness "where rolls the Oregon," and where undl
recently was heard ' ' no sound save his own dashings." Even the wall
of Chinese exclusivenesshas been broken down, and the children of the
sun have come forth to view the splendor of her achievements. But
flattering as has been the past, satisfactory as is the present, it is but
a foretaste of the future. It is a trite saying that we live in an age
of great events. Nothing can be more true. But the greatest of all
events of the present age is at hand. It needs not the gift of prophecy
to predict that the world's trade is destined soon to be changed.
But a few years can elapse before the commerce of Asia and the
islands of the Pacific, instead of pursuing the ocean track byway of
Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, or even taking the shorter
route of the Isthmus of Darienor the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, will
enter the Golden Gate of California, and deposit its riches in the lap
of our own city. Hence, on bars of iron and propelled by steam, it
will ascend the mountains and traverse the desert, and having again
reached the confines of civilization, will be distributed through a
thousand channels to every portion of the Union and of Europe.
New York will then become what London now is, the great central
point of exchange — the heart of trade — the force of whose contraction
and expansion will be felt throughout every artery of the commercial
world; and San Francisco will then stand the second city of America.
Is this visionary? Twenty years will determine.
NATHANIEL BENNETT. 561
"Witli all these elements of wealth in our midst, with this ex-
perience of the past and these prospects for the future, it would be
madness should we prove false to ourselves in the career upon which
we have but just entered. Let us hope that the foundations of our
State g-overnment are wisely and skillfully laid, and let us endeavor
to rear a superstructure thereon which shall prove worthy of the
high destiny to which we are called. The responsibility rests upon
us whether this first American State on the Pacific shall, in youth and
ripe manhood, realize the promise of infancy. We may, by unwise
legislation, by unhappy dissensions, by maladministration, cramp
her energies and distort her form, or we may make her a rival even of
the Emjoire State of the Atlantic. The best wishes of Americans
are with us — they expect that the fortunate past will prove but the
harbinger of a still more glorious future; that the Herculean youth
will grow to a Titan in his manhood. The world is interested in our
success, for a fresh field is open to its commerce, and a new avenue
to the civilization and progress of the human race. Let us then en-
deavor to realize the hopes of America and the expectations of the
world. Let us not only be united amongst ourselves for our own
local welfare, but let us strive to cement the common bonds of
brotherhood of the whole Union. In our relations to the federal
government let us know no South, no North, no East, no West :
wherever American liberty flourishes, let that be our common coun-
try — wherever the American banner waves, let that be our home.
36
JAMES KING OF WM.*
JAMES King of Wm. will always be a prominent and
honored name in the history of California, and espec-
ially in the annals of its chief city. His was the head that
planned the regeneration of California society, the heart
that periled life to achieve it. From his assassination, as
from the blood of a martyr, sprang a great political and so-
cial movement, or revolution, as it may be better termed, in
San Francisco. That solemn and irresistible rising of the
masses for virtual liberty, will be recorded by the histo-
rian, and pointed out by statesmen and by philosophers
as one of the most signal and instructive triumphs of an
outraged people over men who had long violated the right
of suffrage, usurped the powers of government, made the
Constitution and law a farce, and polluted public mor-
als. His life how short, yet how eventful! He beheld
San Francisco rise like Venice, ''a sea Cybele, fresh from
ocean." In 1851, he beheld it the abode of crime, and
was among the earliest and most effective of those who
formed the celebrated Vigilance Committee in that year.
But he never violated the laws of his country, and was
always ready to uphold them even at the risk of his life.
Many members of the old Committee remember how man-
fully he interceded for a suspected prisoner, before that
body, and actually armed himself to defend him — believ-
ing that none but the vicious should be accused, and none
but the guilty punished.
Who can forget his holy wars ? No crusader ever en-
gaged Mus§ulman beneath the walls of Jerusalem with
* For explanatory note, see Preface.
564 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
sterner resolution or more glorious chivalry, than he did
the dastardly pests who for years had hovered like carrion
crows over the decomposing elements of California soci-
ety. No Kentucky rifleman ever sent the death messen-
ger with an aim so sure as his, when, with steady nerve
and fixed eye, he discharged the terrors of his pen at vil-
lainy, vice and corruption. There was no blanching in
his features ; no quailing in his heart. He knew wxll the
dangers that surrounded him, but, inspired by the justice
of his cause, he despised them all.
James King was born at Georgetown, District of Co-
lumbia, on the 28th day of January, 1822. He was of
respectable parentage, and was one of the youngest of a
numerous family. His father died in June, 1854, at the
ripe age of eighty-three years. Mr. King received a lib-
eral education, and proved himself an apt scholar. To
the last of his life he was a student, eagerly seeking knowl-
edge of every kind wherever it could be found. He had
a fair acquaintance with the Latin classics, and was well
read in the best English and American writers. In later
years, he spoke fluently the French and Spanish lan-
guages, and was moderately acquainted with the German.
About the age of sixteen he assumed the term ^'of Wm.,"
which was found to be necessary in order to distinguish
him from a number of other James Kings then living
at Georgetown. William was his father's name. Some
men distinguish themselves from others of the same name
by using the word '^ senior" or '^ junior," ''1st," "2d,"
and so on. The same end was obtained, in this instance,
by adopting the affix of ''Wm." It is a custom in some
parts of the United States, and particularly in Maryland,
thus to take the father's given name as a portion of the
son's.
When about fifteen years old, in 1837, Mr. King left
the parental home to push his fortune. He went first to
Pittsburgh, where he remained a twelvemonth, as clerk
in a store. Afterwards he proceeded to Berrien and St.
Josephs, Michigan, at each of which places he stayed a
short time. Towards the close of 1838, becoming sick of
fever and ague, he returned to Georgetown. The next
JAMES KING OF WM. 565
year he entered the Post Office there, as a clerk, where
he served a few months. In the fall of 1839-40, during
the Presidential contest between Mr. Van Buren and Gen-
eral Harrison, Mr. King (now ''of Wm.") became con-
nected with Kendall's Expositor^ a Democratic campaign
j)aper. His connection with that journal lasted for half a
year, after which period he engaged for a few months on
the Washington Globe. In 1841, he entered, as book-
keeper, the banking establishment of Messrs. Corcoran
k Riggs, bankers in Washington. He remained in the
employment of these gentlemen till 1848, w^hen he de-
termined to migrate to California. He was married in
1843 to Miss Charlotte M. Libbey, of Georgetown. About
the time of Mr. JKing's departure for California, a gentle-
man who now resides in San Francisco called upon
Messrs. Corcoran k Riggs, and asked the latter what he
thought of Mr. King. ''He is a very clever, steady sort
of a man," said Mr. Riggs; ^^lut Idoii!t believe he will ever
set the Pacific onjirey
When Mr. King resolved to emigrate, the gold discov-
eries of California had not been made, or, rather, the
news of them had not yet reached the Atlantic border.
An elder brother, who had been engaged in Col. Fre-
mont's expedition across the Rocky Mountains, had
visited California in 1846, and had subsequently filled
the mind of Mr. King with glowing prospects of the
future greatness of the country. This brother was also
in the expedition of Col. Fremont in 1848; and it was to
meet him in San Francisco, in order that they might en-
ter into business together, that Mr. King sought the
shores of the Pacific. Unhappily, the brother perished
during Fremont's disastrous trip of the year last men-
tioned. Mr. King left Washington in May, 1848, and an
extract from a letter written to him by his brother while
he was in I^ew York waiting for the vessel to sail, shows
the condition of things in California, immediately after
the Mexican war. He writes;
''You must recollect that society is not formed yet properly
in California, and as the population increases they will gradually
form laws, adapted to their own peculiar circumstances. I think it
5G6 REPRESENTATIVE .AIEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Avould he well to inform yourself of the situation of the country and
of the rights of the people, for as soon as the treaty is ratified, pub-
lic attention there will be at once turned to the establishment of a
civil government. " ^h * * j think it would be best to invest
your money, or a portion of it, in a good rancho, and if you can
purchase Joachim Estrada's, near the mission of St. Louis Obispo
anyways reasonable, with the stock, do it by all means. Only have
the title examined. This last advice I give upon the supposition
that you would like an agricultural life. If you can bu}^ a lot or a
few yards of the Quicksilver mine you had better do it. The best
one is about six miles from the Puebla San Jos-i, near Mr. Cooke's
rancho. If you travel by land between San Francisco and Monte-
rey, you will pass through San Jose, and it is but a short ride to the
mine. Visit it by all means if you are in the neighborhood."
He left New York on the 24th of May, 1848, and in
due time reached and crossed the Isthmas of Panama.
From thence he could find no opportunity of proceeding
direct to California. He accordingly sailed to Valpa-
raiso, with the view of getting a vessel there bound for
California.
The news of the gold discoveries had by this time
reached Chile. He was ready to make the best use of the
startling intelligence. He purchased some goods at Val-
paraiso, and hired nine Chilenos to proceed with him to
the mines in California, and work for him for a specified
time at fixed wages.
He reached San Francisco, November 10th, 1848,
when every body in the place was in a fever of excite-
ment. Six of the Chilenos immediately deserted him.
With the three who remained he hastened to Hangtown,
now called Placerville, and commenced mining. In three
weeks time he found gold enough to pay all the expenses
of his original large party from Valparaiso. Afterwards
he went to Sacramento, and engaged in business with the
mercantile firm of Messrs. Hensley, Reading k Co. He
could not, however, be satisfied, while so fair an opening
presented itself for the exercise of his proper profession
of banking. In July of the same year he sacrificed large
pecuniary interests which he had acquired in business,
and left for the East to make corresponding arrange-
ments there for the banking establishment which he pro-
posed to form. He speedilv returned to California, and
JAMES KING OF WM. 567
on December 5th, 1849, opened a bank in San Francisco,
in a small frame building on Montgomery street, between
Clay and Merchant streets, under the name of James
King of Wm. This was one of the earliest banking
houses in the city. Afterwards he built the brick buikl-
ing at the southwest corner of Montgomery and Connner-
cial streets, which was long known as his banking house.
Mr. King was widely known as a banker over the
whole State. He long carried on an extensive and lucra-
tive business, and was universally respected as a man of
the strictest integrity and the highest moral vrorth. His
presence was an ornament to society, his friendship a
prize which good men rejoiced to possess, and his joersonal
acquaintance esteemed an honor by the most intellectual
and influential persons. He was straightforward, earnest,
practical and intelligent in all things. His wife, and their
family of four children, rejoined him in 1851, and hence-
forth San Francisco became their home. He continued in
the banking business until June, 1854. He had made so
large profits in it that about the middle of 1853 he esti-
mated his clear means at a quarter of a million of dollars.
But riches take wings and flee away. He had entrusted
large sums to a person to buy gold dust in the interior
for him, when the agent, without his principal's consent
or knowledge, invested the monies in a mining water
stock. This unexpected speculation turned out ill. In
the attempt to save some part of the original expenditure,
Mr. King was induced to venture a great deal more money
in the same stock, amounting in the end to about $100,-
000. All this proved a total loss to him. This unfor-
tunate investment, and the depreciation of other stocks
in which he was interested, induced him to close his
bank. He did not/ai/, however, for he sacrificed all that
he possessed, and paid his creditors to the utmost far-
thing. He even refused to retain the homestead allowed
him by law. He turned over the water stock to the
banking and express firm of Adams k Co. for literally
nothing, (but out of which they afterwards cleared a con-
siderable sum) transferred his banking business to them,
and entered their establishment as managing clerk of the
568 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
banking departmentj at a liberal salary. No man could
say that he lost one dollar by trusting Mr. King as his
banker. Ke satisfied every obligation, and began to seek
fortune anew.
On February 22d, 1855, Adams & Co. failed. The
consequences of their failure were disastrous in the ex-
treme to thousands of industrious persons in every por-
tion of the State. Mr. King retired from the ruined firm
without a shadow of stain upon his personal reputation.
He had done his duty to his employers, and had acted in
good faith and honorably towards the creditors. He was
next to seek justice for them, or at least avenge them on
their betrayers. After the failure of Adams & Co., and
in March, 1855. he endeavored to create a new banking
business for himself, but without success. Public opin-
ion ran strongly against all banks, and general distrust
w^as excited against making deposits in any. He had no
capital but his good name, and that could not be coined
into money to enable him to conduct the necessary finan-
cial operations. He was therefore obliged to close his
establishment in the month of June following. He pre-
served his credit and reputation for personal probity,
throughout; and nobody had yet sustained any loss
through him. While diligently pursuing his profession,
he ever sought to perform the duties incumbent on a good
citizen. As foreman of the Grand Jury, and as a leading
agent in whatever public and private movements were
connected with the promotion of the peace, purity and
prosperity of San Francisco, he rendered much valuable
and effective service to the community.
It was the Grand Jury of November, 1853, of which
he was foreman, that preferred a bill of indictment against
the City Treasurer. For the fearless discharge of his du-
ties Mr. King received much newspaper abuse, and a
warning that if he did not desist, his life would be in dan-
ger. In reply to an abusive article published in a daily
paper, after stating his reason for not more fully giving
the evidence that was brought before the Jury, he says :
" I will say, however, that from the very commencement of proceed-
ings against one of the parties accused, threats were made to the ef-
JAMES KING OF WM. 669
feet that if we found a true bill against that gentleman, at least five
or six of us would certainly be shot, and that a certain newspaper
in this city would be ' ' down " upon us. * * * I have been
called upon by several of my friends, and requested to arm myself
against an attack. I have not and do not intend to carry anj'
w^eaj^on. I shall have no fears for anything that may occur, and in
conclusion will add, that, though I shall feel bound to defend my-
self as I can, if assaulted, yet I know my position too well to allow
any threats or editorial remarks from a certain quarter to tempt me
from my joresent position. I went on this Grand Jury with the
greatest reluctance. During the whole course of my life, I have not
absented myself so much from my business as I have during its ses-
sion. I think I am within bounds in saying $2,000 would not repay
me for that neglect. I asked to be excused, and the Judge would
not do it; but fined me $50 for not being more punctual. The fine
was afterwards remitted. I have endeavored to do my duty faith-
fully. I trust the public, even if it does not think as I do, will give
me credit for my intention; but whether it does or not, I cannot ca-
ter to that public's taste to the violence of my oath. I have confi-
dence in their sense of justice; whether they aj^prove or dissent, I
can meet the eye of any man living, and, what is sweeter still, am
at peace with my own conscience, and can look around in my family
circle and know that the mother and six little ones need not blush
for me."
At the risk of a repetition of some of the events be-
fore narrated in this sketch, we shall proceed to give Mr.
King's published statement of the relations that existed
between Adams & Co. and himself: showing how he stood
with them, and how earnestly he strove to prevent the
failure which he saw would inevitably befall them unless
they pursued a different business policy. Mr. King says,
in answer to queries addressed to him through the news-
papers :
" Through the imprudence of a banker at Sonora (who had been
my cashier during nearly the whole of the years 1850-51, and in whose
judgment and discretion I had the utmost confidence) a large
amount of funds placed by me in his hands for the purchase of gold
dust, was, without my knowledge, taken for the uses of the Tuo-
lumne Hydraulic Assgociation, of which he was the Treasurer. The
stockholders refusing to ratify certain extraordinaiy exj^enses incur-
red by the Board of Directors, a suit was instituted, which was de-
cided against the stockholders, and the canal was bought in at
Sheriff's sale, to secure the debt. Unable to meet my call for funds,
the parties in question did all they could, and gave me the entire
works for security. Month after month I waited anxiously for the
receipts, which did not, by any means, equal the anticipations of
570 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
those familiar with the work. During all this time I was a prey to
the most agonizing doubts and fears.
For the first time in my life I was unexpectedly placed in a po-
sition where, in the event of a run, I could not possibly meet my
engagements. No one that has not been similarly situated can
imagine the agony I endured from day to day, and week to week,
as I saw persons walk into my office and dejDosit money wdiich, in
the event of a j)anic, before I could turn my property into cash, I
knew I could not return. I saw it all, felt it all, and dared not oj^en
my lips. I cared not about being poor. All I aimed at was to be
able, at a moment's warning, to return what had been entrusted to
me. I was afraid to attempt borrowing money, lest it should hasten
the very crisis I wished to avoid. I consulted with a few friends,
showed them my books, and asked their advice. "Why," said one
of the firm of Page, Bacon & Co., ^* Mr. King, I don't see that you
are as bad off as you represent; you are stronger than any banker
in the street excepting, perhaps, Messrs. and Messrs. ."
*'Then, heaven help us all," I replied, "for I don't see how I can
^et along without borrowing, and that would never answer for a
Banker. The result of this conference was that I was offered, if
needed, $50,000 by Page, Bacon & Co., and $50,000 by Mr. Haskell,
of Adams & Co. As I hesitated about accepting this offer, one of
the friends urged, among other things, that Mr. Haskell (of Adams
&> Co. ) considered himself under obligations to me for the handsome
manner in which I had managed their affairs at Stockton, where, by
pledging myself for coin advanced them to aid their house, I had
stopped the run at that point and saved the other countr)^ offices as
wall as the parent house here. That my commission as receiver
'would have amounted to a large sum, which I had refused to accept,
sud declining any compensation for my time and services, received
ha£k only the actual amount of my expenses — some $160, or $170.
This decided me, and I told them I would call on them in case I
inaeded any assistance. I set myself earnestly at the work of sell-
ling off my property, calling in loans, and converting everything into
<2ash, when I received the following offer from Mr. Woods (of Adams
& Co. ) through Mr. Park : 1st. On my transferring to them a cer-
tain amount of property, part in cash, part in bills receivable, and
tbe balance in certain pieces of real estate, they would undertake
to assume all my liabilities of every kind, provided they did not in
the aggregate exceed an amount before stated by me from memorj^
2d- I should remain in their employ for the space of two years, for
which they agreed to pay me the sum of one thousand dollars per
! month, and a certain per centage on the amount of their interest
I account, regardless of any losses or gains either on said interest or
I any other account.
I declined giving Mr. Park any answer until the offer was made
in writing; which w^as done in the course of a half hour, and ac-
cepted by me without hesitation; for, though it left me penniless,
it enabled me to meet all my engagements, and I was assured of
their ability to advance the amount required without any detriment
JAJ.IES KING OF WM. 571
to their own depositors. After the bargain was concluded, and
whilst the lawyers were drawing the papers, Mr. Woods called on
me, and asked how I liked the bargain. I replied, *' Veiy much, in-
deed. And what do you think of it?" "Well," he said, "I like it
so well that I would not undo it for $100,000." "And I assure you,"
I rejoined, "that even if I were sure your most sanguine expecta-
tions would be realized, I would not undo it for a like sum. "
After receiving the details of my assets, Mr. Woods expressed
himself highly pleased at the result, and said to a mutual friend:
"King is entirely too honest; he underrated everything he had, and
though he had become so disgusted with the canal as not to set any
valuation at all on it, I am satisfied I shall make fron $100,000 to
$150,000 out of it; and when I get through, w^e shall make King a
present of $10,000 or $20,.000. I am posted on canals, and he knows
nothing about them. "
Among the assets thus conveyed by me to Adams & Co., were :
The three stoiy fire -proof Building, at the corner of Mont-
gomery and Commercial Streets, valued at, $36,000 00
Lot on Stockton Street, for which I had been offered, . . . 7,000 00
Water Lot No. 273, 15,000 00
Three small Lots valued at $250, each, 750 00
Loan to Orphan Asylum, on mortgage, 500 00
Eighty Acres of Land on the County road, with dwell-
ing-House, Barn, Carriage House, &c., and all the
Stock thereon, as well as Furniture in the house, .... 8,000 00
Buggy, pair of Horses, Harness, &c., 1,000 00
$1,000, of old Stock, Bradley, Berdan & Co., cost $1200, 1,000 00
$3,000, Plank Road Stock, at 55cts. , 1,650 00
$15,100, Central Wharf Stock, at 30cts., 4,530 00
1st Class Bills Receivable, all since paid, 37,189 00
Debt of A. A. Cohen, since paid, 1,200 00
Over Prafts, since paid, 17,472 55
Fremont Drafts, since paid, 14,125 00
Cash, 49,548 87
$194,965 42
To this should be added one gc od Note, payment of ... .
which, by request, was not pressed, 3,312 00
And the Loans made on Account, and by Note, as secu-
rity for which, I held the Tuolumne Hydraulic Canal,
w^hich cost upwards of $350,000, and which I am now
informed is paying $2,000, per month, 80,055 35
On which had accrued at the time I closed business, an
average of about five months, interest, say 12,000 00
In addition to this amount of $290,332.77, I handed over sun-
dry Bills Receivable, not considered good, amounting, to $22,580.15,
but which were not counted at the time. The whole amount of my
liabilities, here and elsewhere, amounted to the sum of $278,951.29.
572
REPRESENTATIYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
From the Bulletin of N'ovember 3d, 1855, we take the
following, entitled
To the San Francisco Puhlic :
A Card over the signature of the Financial Conductor of the
Chronicle newspaper, and which appeared in yesterday's issue of
that journal, being the first effusion of that kind over the real name
of the author, demands, I think, a notice from me. Passing over
the abusive terms applied to me by the writer referred to, I come
at once to the direct charges made against me by a man of whose
person I am totally ignorant, with whom I am not aware that I ever
yet exchanged a word, and of whose very name, until within the
past week, I was wholly unconscious. And first, as to the charge of
living extravagantly and beyond my means. I lived well, but, for
my means, not extravagantly. My house was a good one. I aimed
to have it such. It was not larger than I needed, and was fur-
nished well, without having unnecessary display. Those who were
in the habit of visiting there, will judge from the following table
whether my style of living was beyond my means.
I made it a point to balance m}'- profit and loss account once a
month for the purpose of seeing how my affairs stood, and regulat-
ing my expenses accordingly.
The following table shows the net profit of my banking business,
over and above salaries and all office expenses, for a series of
months.
For the month ending April 30, 1852, $6,591 56
May 31, '' 3,535 01
June 30, '' 4,183 08
July 31, " 5,075 08
Aug. 31, '^ 922 87
Sept. 30, " 2,702 57
Oct. 31, '' 830 14
Nov. 30, " 1,048 14
Dec. 31, '' ....... 5,033 91
Jan. 31,1853, 1,619 48
Feb. 28, '' ....... 3,726 35
Mar. 31, '' 2,695 92
Apr. 30, " 970 34
May 31, '' 4,557 68
June 30, '' 524 31
July 31, '' 3,257 22
Aug. 31, " 5,483 54
Sept. 30, " 4,101 44
Oct., Nov. and to Dec. 31, '* 4,104 89
Making for twenty-one months, the sum of $60,963 53
and an average for the whole period of $2, 903. 03 per month. This,
be it remembered, was my income from my regular banking busi-
JA^IES KING OF TOf. 573
ness, and did not include my profits from sales of real estate, of
which a separate account was kept. As to the "parties" alluded to
by the proprietor of the Chronicle, I never gave but one during my
seven year's residence in California. So much for the private affairs
of a household thus unceremoniously dragged into the public prints
by a man whom, so far as I know, I have never seen.
The next thing to be noticed is the charge of betraying the con-
fidence reposed in me by the firm of Adams & Co. , in whose employ
I once was. This charge If ully answered in my letter to I. C. Woods,
dated the 26th of July last, and published in the Sun and Alfa,
wherein I showed that, notwithstanding the quarrel then going on
between Woods and Cohen, on the one side, and myself on the
other, I refused to give any information about matters obtained by
me whilst in their employment, and preferred the loss of my best
friends rather than betray the trust. When announcing my determ-
ination to Mr. Woods, I said : '' This sir, is the most painful duty
I ever had to perform. My honor forces me to keep your secret,
whilst by so doing I am sure to lose my best friends, and you and
Cohen, my worst enemies, knowing the dilemma in which I am
placed, chuckle with delight at the pain that decision gives me.**
Profoundly ignorant of the rascality of Woods, that has since been
told me, I never opened my lips to any one about the private affairs
of Adams & Co., until the attorney of one of the partners (Mr.
Adams) asked for a statement of what I knew about the business of
the firm, and I told everything I knew to that partner, because he
had a right to know it.
The public have already been informed of the causes which led
to my employment by Adams & Co. After completing the changes
necessary to the system of accounts introduced by me into that of-
fice, I set myself to work to find out, as far as the books in my pos-
session would show, what the real condition of the house Avas, and
soon made up my mind it was insolvent. I immediately reported
the fact to Mr. Woods, who at first affected to laugh, and then be-
coming seriously alarmed, asked me what I meant? I replied : "to
discharge my duty to my employers, and by warning you, sir, of the
condition of the house, if possible, save it from ruin, and its de-
positors from heavy losses. " The result of that conversation was,
that he promised to sell off what property the fii-m owned, and con-
vert everything into cash ; to allowTne to reduce the amount of bills
receivable to the extent of two or three hundred thousand dollars;
to build no more offices and buy no more property ; but to sell off
his ranch, as well as all his other private "property" so called,
and generally take the measures proposed by me for placing the
house in a condition to meet any crisis that might arise. Had Mr.
Woods adhered to my advice, the house would have been in far
better condition to stand the crisis that awaited it. But every move
I made for the good of the house was thwarted by a contrary one
on the part of Mr. Woods. With all the exertions I could make,
it took me nearly a whole month to reduce the loans $60,000, and
in Jive minutes, Woods had arranged for loans to the extent of
574 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
$125,000. What could I do? I was but a clerk; he the sole part-
ner resident here.
The question now arises naturally, why it was, when I dis-
covered the house was insolvent, I did not resign and leave it?
My answer is, that by contract I was bound to remain with them for
the space of two years, and could not get away. In addition to
this, let me ask what good could I have accomplished by leaving the
firm in the lurch, as it were, and in so doing alarm some of the de-
positors and hasten the ruin ? By remaining I not only fulfilled my
contract : but as Woods spoke of going to the Atlantic States, I
had some hopes of having more power placed in my hands, and
with him out of the way, might possibly save the house.
On the 17th of July, 1855, Mr. , now a very
wealthy citizen of San Francisco, with whom Mr. King
had been on hostile terms, and the latter met on Mont-
gomery street, opposite Barrett & Sherwood's jewelry
store, and a few words ensuing, the nature of which was
unknown to any beside the parties themselves, Mr. King
struck several times about the head and shoulders,
and considerably worsted his adversary. This led to the
following challenge by Mr. , and reply by Mr. King.
San Francisco, July 17th, 1855.
To James King of Wm.,
Sir : — I hereby demand satisfaction from you, for your con-
duct toward me this afternoon. I refer you to my friend.
Your obedient Servant,
San Francisco, July 18th, 1855.
Mr. ,
Sir : — I now proceed to give you my reply to the note you
handed me last night. And first, waiving other insuperable objec-
tions to the mode indicated of settling such difficulties, I could
not consent to a hostile meeting with Mr. . The public
have already been fully advised of my estimate of his character.
The relative positions of Mr. and myself are entirely une-
qual in worldly fortune, and domestic relation. He is understood
to be possessed of an abundant fortune. In the event of his fall,
he would leave ample means for the support of his wife and child.
Recent events have stripped me entirely of what I once possessed.
Were I to fall, I should leave a large family without the means of
support. My duties and obligations to my family have much more
weight with me than any desire to please Mr. ■ or his friends,
in the manner proposed. I have ever been opposed to duelling on
moral grounds. My opinions were known to Mr. , and when
he addressed me the note which you had the impudence to deliver,
JAMES KING OF WM. 575
he was well aware that it would not be accepted or answered affirm-
atively. That fact is sufficient to demonstrate his contemptible cow-
ardice in this silly attempt to manufacture for himself a reputation
for "chivalry."
Whilst nothing could induce me to change my principles upon
the subject of duelling, my conscience is perfectly easy as to my
light and the propriety of defending myself should I be assaulted.
Do not flatter yourself, sir, that this communication is made out
of regard either to yourself or to Mr. . I write this for pub-
lication in the newspapers. I avow principles of which I am not
ashamed, and shall abide the result James King of Wm.
This was the first instance in the history of Califor-
nia that any one had had the moral courage to refuse to
fight a duel when challenged ; and among other evidences
which Mr. King received of the high appreciation which
the better class of society placed upon his conduct, was
the following communication addressed to him, which
was signed by many of the prominent business men of
the city.
James King of Wm. , Esq. ,
Sir: — Your fellow citizens, whose names are subscribed to
this letter, desire to express to you their admiration of the moral
courage and sound principle manifested in your refusal to accept
the challenge of Mr. , to meet him in a duel. We believe
that the so-called code of honor which requires all who consent
to be governed by it to submit every injury, insult, misrepresen-
tation or misunderstanding to the decision of the pistol or the
knife, to be in violation of the law of God. and of the laws of this
State, and of those sacred obligations which a man owes to his
family, his relatives and dependents, and to society.
We are convinced that if an expression of the sentiment of this
community could be had upon this subject, a very large majority
would be found to view with abhoiTence the risking of life for in-
sufficient cause, and often upon a mere punctilio ; and that we ex-
press the feeling common to them, as well as ourselves when we
thank you for the bold, manly, and uncompromising manner in
which you have refused to sanction the practice. With the expres-
sion of an earnest hope, that if no higher principle should govern
our fellow citizens, a regard for their interest may soon induce them
to see to it that good laws well administered shall in future save us
from violence and bloodshed ; and with assurances of our high
esteem and regard, we remain, Your obedient Servants.
(Here follow some seventy signatures. )
On the 8th of October, of the same year, Mr. King
started and edited the Daily Evening BuUetin^ a newspaper
576 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
which suddenly rose to the most unbounded popularity^
and which has had a wide sway, and exercised a great in-
fluence over the community. As stated by himself, the
problem to be solved at the establishment of this paper
was: "Would the San Francisco public sustain a truly in-
dependent journal — one that would support the cause of
morality, virtue and honesty, whether in public service or
private life, and which, regardless of all consequences,
would fearlessly and undauntedly maintain its course
against the political and social evils of the day?" The
answer Yes! was soon and loudly made, and enthusiastic-
ally echoed from every town and mining camp in the
country. The services rendered by James King of Wm.,
in the Bulletin^ to the cause of political integrity, and
public and private morals, will never be forgotten by the
people of the State. He attacked ih.<d vicious and crimi-
nal wherever he found them. Corruption in high places
met in him a relentless foe.
A notorious and professedly banking house, but which
was virtually a political institution, that had long overrid-
den the Constitution, and made and unmade — against the
will of the people, and by the most disreputable means —
nearly every officer of the city and State, was assailed by
the Bulletin in regular form ; and its corruption, its inso-
lent and dangerous usurpation, and at the same time its
inherent weakness, exposed. The wrongers and swindlers
of the unfortunate creditors of Adams & Co." were piti-
lessly attacked and held up to the scorn and detestation
of the people. The demoralizing system of bestowing
Federal, State and city appointments chiefly on profes-
sional gamblers, duelists, rowdies and assassins — on the
debauched, illiterate, idle, criminal, and most dangerous
class of the mixed population of the country — was forci-
bly pointed out and indignantly condemned. A high
standard of honesty was laid down for all public men.
The law's cruel delay, the baseness and corruption of its
ministers, the dishonorable professional conduct of lead-
ing pleaders in the courts, all were made plaiii to the
honest and unsuspecting, and properly stigmatized. In
short, the glaring evils of the body politic, the denial and
JAMES KING OF WM. 577
perversion of justice, and the unworthy personal charac-
ter and incapability of the general class of men who held
office, or who were connected with the courts of law, were
loudly and unsparingly denounced. Mr. King did not
waste his energies by uttering smooth, general homilies
on evil doings ; he struck directly at the evil-doer. If a
man whose conduct required to be publicly exposed were
really a swindler, a gambler or duelist, a common cheat,
a corrupt judge or a political trickster, the Bulletin^ stand-
ing alone in this respect among the timid, time-serving or
bribed city press, dared so to style him. But not only did
Mr. King, in his paper, expose scoundrelism, vice and
crime, and smite their votaries wherever he detected
them ; he also endeavored, and not in vain, to aid in
whatever could restore and strengthen the moral tone of
society. He urged the decent observance of the Sabbath;
he recalled public attention to the plainest and most nec-
essary dictates of religion; he encouraged the establish-
ment of public schools, and dwelt on the blessings of a
sound and liberal education; he frowned on gambling,
dueling, and willful idleness; he sought to soothe and re-
inspire the desponding who had the desire but lacked the
opportunity, and especially the energy and perseverance,
to earn a living by the sweat of their brow; he strove to
free the city from the unblushing presence of the lewd
who had so long assumed insolently to follow, if not often
to lead, the virtuous and decent portion of the commun-
ity. The political knave, the dishonest office-holder, the
gambler, swindler, loafer and duelist, the base class of
lawyers — in brief, the vicious, lewd and criminal of every
kind, were in consternation; their unhallowed practice
and gains were disappearing.
A conspiracy was formed : and the end of it all was
the public assassination of this brave champion of the
people's rights. The conspirators resolved and swore to
secure impunity to the guilty doer. A base, illiterate
man — a convicted felon, who had served a sentence of
imprisonment in Sing Sing penitentiary, but who yet
held a high municipal office in San Francisco, into which
he had been stuffed by ballot-box fraud — was the wretched
37
578 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
tool of the secret murderers. The professed cause of the
deed was that James King of Wm. had told the truth con-
cerning him.
The circumstances attending the assassination, and the
events which followed, will ever appear as fixing a grand
epoch in the history of California, and from that day will
date the regeneration of public virtue, if not also of private
morals, in the State.
Mr. King was taken unawares, and deliberately shot
down, about five o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday,
the 14th day of May, 1856, on the public thoroughfare,
near the northwest corner of Montgomery and Washing-
ton streets. A ball, fired from a navy revolver, entered
the left breast and passed through his body. After lin-
gering in much pain, and for some time affording strong
hopes of recovery, he gradually sank, and died of the
wound shortly after one o'clock on the afternoon of Tues-
day, the 20th of May.
His death was universally regarded (except by the
miserable faction whom he had pursued) as a national
calamity, and every honor that a grateful people could be-
stow was heaped on his memory. A public subscription,
amounting to nearly $32,000, was raised throughout the
city and State, and presented to his widow and family of
six children. He was thirty-four years and a few months
old when he died. His was a tall, well-proportioned, manly
form. The keenness of his eyes, his handsome black
beard, and the noble expression of his countenance — the
index to his heroic character — were vividly remembered
by all who saw him but only once. His body lies buried
in the Lone Mountain Cemetery, mid-way between the
city and the ocean.
On the afternoon of Thursday, the 2 2d day of May,
the assassin, James P. Casey, was hanged before a vast
multitude by the Vigilance Committee. At the same in-
stant of time that a solemn dirge was being chanted over
the dead body of the victim, previous to the funeral pro-
cession leaving the old Unitarian Church, on Stockton
street, for the cemetery, the murderer was struggling with
death. That day. May 22d, 1856 — in which also news
JAMES KING OF WM. 57i;
reached San Francisco of a dreadful railway accident on
the Isthmus of Panama — was one of manifold horrors to
the citizens.
Among the numerous tributes offered to the memory
of James King of Wm. were the following verses, written
by W. H. Rhodes, Esq., (better known by the norn de plume ^
^'Caxton,") which were appropriately set to music by.
Prof. Rodolph Herold.
"He Fell at His Post Doing Duty."
The patriot sleeps in the land of his choice,
In the robe of a martyr, all gory,
And heeds not the tones of the world-waking voice.
That cover his ashes with glory.
"What recks he of riches? what cares he for fame.
Or a world decked in grandeur or beauty ?
If the marble shall speak that records his proud name,
" He died at his post, doing duty ! "
The pilot that stood at the helm of our bark,
Unmoved by the tempest's commotion,
"Was swept from the deck in the storm and the dark,
And sank in the depths of the ocean. ♦
But little he'll grieve for the life it has cost,
If our banner shall still float in beauty.
And emblaze on its folds, of the pilot we lost,
'*He died at his post doing duty V
The warrior-chieftain has sunk to his rest —
The sod of Lone Mountain his pillow ;
For his bed, California has opened her breast ;
His dirge, the Pacific's sad billow !
As long as the ocean-wave weeps on our shore.
And our valleys bloom out in their beauty.
So long will our country her hero deplore,
Who fell at his post doing duty !
JOSEPH C. TUCKER
%
j3y )Villiam y. yii
%''
IT is impossible to look back upon the history of Califor-
nia during the last twenty years, without recognizing
the influence of the learned callings in the development
of the State; and this has been particularly the case as
regards members of the medical fraternity. , Not only in
an intense application to the details of the profession has
this been seen, but men of classical education have been
a potent element in the progress of communities — in their
political, scientific and general advancement. This is
owing, not more to the energy essential to the successful
physician, than to the direction which the eventful cir-
cumstances of the early days gave to character, which,
among less exciting surroundings, might not have pro-
duced the impatient, practical activity distinguishing men
of scholarly attainments in this new field of adventure.
Numbers of valuable institutions on the Pacific coast
have originated in the sagacious counsels and well-direct-
ed efforts of physicians. A principal among these pro-
moters has been the present surgeon of the U. S. Marine
Hospital at San Francisco, Dr. J. C. Tucker, who, per-
haps, more than most other men, has given an impulse to
sanitary legislation in California, while, at the same time,
his influence has been felt in a wide variety of useful
public enterprises.
Dr. Tucker was born in 1828, in New York city, where
the family name ranks among the oldest in the State.
His grandfather, father, and only brother, the Hon.
582 REPRESENTATIVE IVIEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Gideon J. Tucker, late Secretary of State, and present
Probate (Surrogate) Judge of New York, have all been
actively prominent men. He commenced the study of
medicine under Doctors Robert M. Cairnes and Willard
Parker, and graduated in 1848, taking the degree of M. D.
in the old Crosby street Medical College in New York. He
early excelled as a student in surgery, having a firm, bold
hand, and inflexible nerve. About the time he obtained
his majority, the famous suit (well remembered in legal
annals) respecting the will of his grandfather, Hon. Gid-
eon Tucker, and involving one of the largest properties
in New York city, was decided against the grandchildren.
The hope of bettering his fortunes, together with the
fascinations of the gold discovery, impelling, him towards
the newly-acquired California, he embarked in January,
1849, as surgeon in the ship TaroUnta, for San Francisco,
where he arrived on the first of July following. The
company in which he .was interested sensibly following
the then general rule, dissolved, and the Doctor visited
the gold regions, leading the life of a miner, and working
in the placers of the American river until the ensuing
winter, when we find him practising his profession in
Sacramento city. The ''Gold Lake" excitement in the
following spring carried him into the mountains, with
innumerable other ardent young adventurers, in quest of
alleged marvellous deposits of gold ; but detained at the
foot-hills of the Sierras by impassable snow fields, the
party encamped at Bid well's Bar, where the Doctor prof-
itably occupied himself in surveying and running the
present town limits with chain and compass, and erecting
upon the most desirable site the first house — the Empire
Hotel.
Returning to Sacramento, he organized a second expedi-
tion in search of the Gold Lake myth, which, after weari-
some and perilous adventures among the pathless mount-
ains, resulted in the dissolution of the company and the
return of its members in great destitution. The exist-
ence of this fabulous mine of wealth, however chimerical
it may now appear, was at that primitive time firmly be-
lieved in, and the search was prosecuted by hundreds from
JOSEPH C. TUCKER. 583
various points, lured by the charm of novelty, and the
mystery that yet hung over the snowy solitudes, where,
as the adventurers not unreasonably conceived, immense
treasures might exist, which were the sources of the rich
placers in the regions below. Returning, the Doctor
found his way to Dobbin's Rancho, on the Yuba river,
and located a large tract of land, with a log trading house,
where the ''Keystone Rancho House" now stands. Dis-
covering through the Indians with whom he traded, the
first dry gulch diggings known in that vicinity, he quietly
employed them in obtaining a large amount of gold dust
before their existence became known to other white men.
Selling his fine estate, now worth a fortune, for $1,000,
the Doctor, tired of his lonely mountain life, returned to
Sacramento city, where he resumed the practice of his
profession.
In 1851-2, he was elected to the Assembly. Dur-
ing both of these terms he took a leading part in va-
rious exciting issues, embracing most of the import-
ant questions of that period. He was identified with
what was called the anti-Broderick wing of the De-
mocracy, and was known as the friend of Gwin, Weller,
Denver, and other leaders of that branch of politics. He
was also an early friend and companion of Col. Fremont.
By his persuasive eloquence and unobtrusive managing
talent among his fellow-members, he was a recognized
power in directing the course of legislation. During the
memorable session of capital removals, he framed, intro-
duced, supported in strong argument, and finally passed the
first bill providing for the State care of insane persons.
The bill, as drawn by him, proposed to locate the Asylum
on the high lands near San Francisco, within the influence
of the sea breezes; but political considerations, and swap-
ping upon the then pending Senatorial contest, carried it to
its present unsuitable and malarious location at Stockton.
Prominent upon the Legislative State Hospital Committee,
the Doctor then, as ever since, devoted himself almost ex-
clusively to politico-medical subjects. He was elected at
the close of the session to the position of State Quarantine
officer. Immediately following his appointment came the
584 EEPRESENTAITYE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
first visitation of small pox to California, and although
less fatal than the subsequent one of 1869, there were
at one time upwards of two hundred cases of it in the
Quarantine Hospital under his charge.
When the State hospitals were abolished, in 1854, and
each county was required to provide for its own sick,
Dr. Tucker was elected by the municipal government of
San Francisco its city physician. He was a prominent
and successful member of the profession, and was an in-
timate friend of, and adviser with the lamented Dr. H. M.
Gray — the two young practitioners having commenced
their professional career about the same time, in New
York. They usually acted together in the meetings of
the California State Medical Society, and of the Medico-
Chirurgical Society of San Francisco, of both of which
Dr. Tucker was Vice-President, as he was also of the State
Medical Society of New York.
Pie became connected, in the spring of 1855, with an
enterprise which, for a while, was to give a new direction
to his energies. The writer of the present sketch had
lately returned from Central America, where, during his
sojourn in Honduras, he had secured from the govern-
ment of that Republic important mining and commercial
privileges, embracing the exclusive right to navigate cer-
tain rivers; to export and import goods free of duty, to
establish trading posts along the coasts and mahogany-
cuttings in the interior; together with valuable conces-
sions of lands and gold and silver mines in the department
of Olancho, which were exempted from the taxes and ex-
actions customary in that country. There was a dash
of romance and adventure in the affair that naturally at-
tracted the attention of the Doctor, whose broad views
and keen perceptions foresaw in this enterprise the possi-
ble extension of our institutions into the Spanish Amer-
ican Republics, and their eventual annexation to the
United States. The grants which had been procured
after long and patient negotiation, were taken to New
York, and at once attracted the attention of capitalists
by their extraordinary liberality and extent. Together
with the Honduras Inter-oceanic Railroad grant made by
JOSEPH C. TUCKER. 585
the same government to Mr. E. G-. Squier and his New
York associates, it was seen that these concessions were
virtually a transfer of the Republic, with its vast mineral
and agricultural resources, to the two companies, thus
establishing an association, resembling, in many respects,
the English East India Company. Throwing his whole
energies into the new channel, Dr. Tucker repaired to
New York, and in the spring of 1856, in connection with
this enterprise, he was appointed, by President Pierce, U.
S. Consul General and Commissioner, with special powers,
to the Government of Honduras.
In the meantime, General Walker, the afterwards cel-
ebrated filibuster, availing himself of information obtained
from the writer hereof, had raised a party of adventurers,
and landing in Nicaragua had espoused the cause of the
Liberals there, and virtually obtained possession of the
country. The adjoining Republics, alarmed at this irrup-
tion of Anglo-Saxons in their vicinity, were naturally sus-
picious of Americans. Dr. Tucker, albeit armed with
the credentials of his diplomjxtic mission, was subjected
to infinite annoyances and hostilities by petty officials on
his route from San Juan del Norte among the secluded
populations of Nicaragua and Honduras, to which were
added the dangers and vicissitudes of a lonely journey
through dense forests and uninhabited regions, across
formidable rivers, swollen by tempests, and among the
gloomy defiles of the Central American Cordilleras. On
more than one occasion attempts were made to assassinate
him, instigated by the jealousies of the local authorities
in Chontales and Segovia, who had been apprised of the
approach of his little cavalcade, and associated it with the
Nicaragua filibusters. By the exercise of address and
vigilance acquired by an early familiarity with mountain
life in California he eluded these dangers, and reached the
city of Tegucigalpa in May. Thence he proceeded to
Comayagua, the capital of Honduras, where the new-
ly-elected and reactionary Indian President Guardiola
refused to recognize him under the pretense that his
credentials were forged. Argument would have been
useless and resistance foolish. To attempt to prove the
586 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
authenticity of his papers would have been undignified.
The commissioner, therefore, decided to leave the country,
and reaching Omoa, a small port on the Caribbean Sea, he
chartered a coasting vessel and embarked for Truxillo and.
Havana, whence he returned to New York, arriving in
June, 1855, thus terminating a series of adventures of
continuous excitement and peril. Although the mission
was a failure as far as its legitimate objects were concerned,
the Doctor obtained much interesting knowledge of the
American tropics, one of the wildest and most unfrequent-
ed portions of which he had penetrated. The peculiari-
ties of a strange and decadent race, living in the primitive
simplicity of by-gone centuries; the majestic symmetry
of the volcanoes, clothed to their summits with verdure;
the mysterious solitude of the forest ; the splendid plum-
age of its denizens, and the fantastic shapes and gaudy
hues in which tropical ]S"ature robes herself, indelibly im-
pressed themselves upon a mind keenly sensitive to such
influences.
Mr. Marcy, then Secretary of State, already sufficient-
ly embarrassed with the Walker raid in Nicaragua, found it
convenient to overlook the insult to the American flag
implied by the non-recognition of his special commis-
sioner, and the latter had the good sense not to weary the
Secretary with pertinacious applications for redress, al-
though he had been a heavy sufferer pecuniarily. The
important commercial results which had been anticipated
from the Olancho enterprise were never realized, owing to
the fears engendered by the devastations committed by
Walker's filibusters; and a government which had been
ion the eve of placing itself permanently as a protectorate
iinder the United States, with a view to ultimate absorp-
tion by us, withdrew into its customary seclusion imbued
with a deep-seated distrust of American faith.
Dr. Tucker returned to California in 1857, having been
appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury U. S. Examin-
er of Drugs and Medicines in San Francisco. While
holding this official position, he imported at his own ex-
l^nse a magnificent laboratory, and applied himself closely
?i[ his favorite study of analytical chemistry. His atten-
JOSEPH C. TUCKER. 587
tion being called to the advantages of a cheap and efficient
substitute for bone-black in discoloring sugar liquids, he
after many experiments perfected and patented the pro-
cess now universally used in sugar refineries, of hydrated
alumina. In connection with the sale and employment of
this patent he visited the principal sugar refineries in tht
United States and Cuba.
Visiting New York the following year, on official busi-
ness from California, he resigned his position in Wash-
ington, and accepted that of Deputy Secretary of State of
New York, which in turn he resigned in December, 1859,
and returned by the Southern Overland Route to San
Francisco to carry out an enterprise which he had long
had in contemplation — building street railroads. At the
session of the Legislature of 1861, the bill incorporating
the ''North Beach and Mission Railroad," which he had
proposed, was introduced ; and at once encountered the
venomous opposition of rival companies, lobby mem-
bers and interested parties in San Francisco. The war
was virulent and bitter. The progress of the bill was
fought at every step, its passage impeded in each branch
of the Legislature, and the most strenuous efforts made
to obtain the Executive veto. It was urged that the proj-
ect was a mere swindling job, and would be no accommo-
dation to the traveling public. Signatures to petitions
against the railroad, were industriously hunted up by
agents hired to manufacture opinion hostile to the '^ in-
famous Tucker Bill." To meet objections raised against
the road through so narrow a street as Kearny, he drew
up, and caused to be offered, a bill providing for the
widening of that street. This proposition, now so suc-
cessfully consummated, brought upon his head anew the
anathemas of the property holders along the route. Al-
though opposed and discouraged by those who should
have aided him, he persevered, finally organizing and
building the now most prosperous railroad in the city — its
passenger traffic far exceeding that of any other, thus
proving it to have been a work of the first public utility.
About this time his health failing him, Dr, Tucker
took the position of Surgeon on the Nicaragua Steamship
588 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
line. Visiting New York again in 1863, he married the
lady to whom he had become engaged while in Havana,
three years before — the daughter of Albert Havemeyer
Esq., of New York, and returned to California. Having
some mining interests on the Comstock vein, he went to
Virginia City, Nevada, and being offered the care of the
hospital at that place, remained and entered into a large
and lucrative practice, holding at different times the po-
sitions of Physician to the State Insane Asylum, Coroner
of Storey County, and City and County Physician of Vir-
ginia. Here, when cutting and shooting were daily occur-
ences, he performed many bold and successful surgical
-operations. During the war, as Commissioned Assistant
Surgeon U. S. A. at that post, he had charge of the Bar-
rack hospital and examination of recruits, and always has
been, in act and word, an undeviating friend to the Union.
In the spring of 1865, with his family he left Virginia
City and passed the summer in the East. Shortly after
his return to San Francisco the ensuing fall, he was ap-
pointed by President Johnson, Surgeon of the U. S.
Marine Hospital, a position he still holds to the satisfac-
tion of the authorities at Washington. At the time of
the memorable earthquake in October, 1868, being then
in charge of this hospital, his utmost presence of mind
was called into requisition. The structure, one of the
largest in the city, was racked and shattered. As there
was every indication that the hospital would fall under
repeated shocks, he took the responsibility of removing
the patients to safer quarters at his own expense, a pro-
cedure which was approved by the Department at Wash-
ington, and the building was subsequently condemned
by the government architects.
Another of his projects of public beneficence was the
purchase of a valuable tract of land in Alameda, on the
opposite side of the bay from San Francisco, where in the
spring of 1867, he established a private Insane Asylum.
Conducted on humane and philanthropic principles, it has
proved a blessing to the afflicted, where in many cases,
delicacy seeks for that shelter in a private institution
which a public State establishment cannot afford. The
JOSEPH C. TUCKER. 589
Doctor, in his leisure hours, has indulged a taste for me-
chanics, and among other trifles obtained a patent for a
machine sewing simultaneously two seams, or parallel rows
of stitching.
Our sketch must necessarily be confined to mere brief
allusions to the many public measures of v/hich Dr. Tuck-
er is the originator. His life has been one of continual
activity, and the talisman of his uniform success is to be
found in the happy combination of an affable address
with great persistency of purpose, and an intuitive knowl-
edge of men. He had hardly become of age when he
arrived in California, but his intrinsic merits speedily
raised him to an eminence seldom reached except through
painful toiling and experience. A nervous restlessness
of temperament, and the courageous, almost reckless,
spirit of adventure w^hich has ever impelled him to rapid
achievement in a multiplicity of enterprises, is not at first
apparent under a quiet, unaffected exterior. His tastes
at once refined and manly, are equally displayed in art
subjects and yatching, in which latter amusement he is an
enthusiast and skillful amateur. As a friend, he is faith-
ful and companionable. Entertaining in conversation, he
is, as well, a forcible writer, having been a frequent con-
tributor to the press, generally on scientific subjects, and
wielding, like his brother in New York, a vigorous and
caustic pen. Enjoying an enviable popularity, surrounded
by the most charming domestic influences, and having
earned by years of public service the confidence of the
government, his usefulness in the future promises to be
as positive as his power for good has hitherto been wide-
reaching and acknowledged.
EDMUND RANDOLPH
^Y )VlLLIAM ji. p.HODES.
A NAME radiant with revolutionary glories, a lineage
famed for great men in great causes, for more
than ^ve generations. Edmund Randolph was born in
Virginia in the year 1818, and died at San Francisco at
the early age of forty-two. He was an offshoot of the
Virginia Randolphs, and inherited the chief traits of
character of those extraordinary men. His father, grand-
father, and great grandfather, were lawyers, and he him-
self early studied the same profession. He was liberally
educated, having graduated at William and Mary's Col-
lege shortly before settling in New Orleans, where he
read law, and received the appointment of Clerk of the
Circuit Court of the United States for the Circuit of
Louisiana. During his residence in New Orleans, he
married the daughter of a leading physician of that city,
Dr. Meaux.
He continued to practice law until the news from
California woke up within him aspirations of a broader
usefulness and a loftier ambition than he could gratify at
home; and early in 1849 he turned his eyes towards the
West, and reached these shores in the course of that
year. Before he left New Orleans, he began to exhibit
talents of a very superior order, both as a learned lawyer
and an eloquent advocate, and gave promise of those
splendid attributes of a finished debater that lifted him
above all competitors. He had scarcely landed in Cali-
592 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
fornia ere he was elected a member of the lower branch
of the first Legislature that convened under the State
constitution.
But his heart was not in politics. His mind looked
more lovingly at the honors of his profession than
towards those gathered in the political arena. He was
very often importuned by those most intimately ac-
quainted with him, and who knew his great parts, to
permit his name to be used in connection with high legis-
lative offices in this State, but always ineffectually. He
became a partner of the noted lawyer, R. A. Lockwood,
Esq., and of Frank Tilford, and the firm soon led the
ranks of the profession in the city of San Francisco.
One of the most significant acts of his life was his
opposition to the first Vigilance Committee in this city,
in 1851. He publicly and boldly denounced that organ-
ization, its leaders, abettors, and sympathizers; and so
terrible became his anathemas that a sub-committee from
that body was appointed to wait upon him and Mr. Lock-
wood, and request them to cease their denunciations, or
quit the city. The reply received by the parent com-
mittee was such that the request was not renewed, nor the
penalty imposed.
Edmund Randolph hated oppression, fraud, cruelty,
and wrong, with a vehemence that bordered upon sub-
limity. It looked, to some of his more prudent friends,
like a species of insanity. In the argument of his cause,
if the testimony brought out any fact that threw a sus-
picion of corruption upon his opponents, the floodgates
of his soul were at once opened, and he broke forth in a
torrent of indignant eloquence that bore away every im-
pediment in its course. But his heart was just as sus-
ceptible to the kindlier emotions, and he would plead
the cause of innocence with a tenderness and sincerity
that drowned his audience in tears.
His familiarity with the early history of California
gave him great advantages over most of his brethren at
the bar, and he was usually retained in all the important
suits where such knowledge was most valuable. It was
this superiority, as much perhaps as his fame as an ad-
EDMUXD RANDOLPH. 593
vocate, that secured for him a retainer in the cause cdehre
of the United States vs. Castillero ; usually known as the
New Almaden Quicksilver Case. The trial of this stu-
pendous suit — for it was gigantic in all its parts: in the
amount involved, in the principle at stake, in the number
and reputation of the counsel employed, and in the length
and duration of its various sessions — was the acme and
the flower of his fame.
Titans were all around him. Judah P. Benjamin, the
greatest civilian in the United States, was his chief op-
ponent. At his right hand sat Reverdy Johnson, the
worthy successor of William Pinckney at the Baltimore
bar; on his left, the no less renowned champion of the
Philadelphia forum, Edwin M. Stanton, his coadjutor in
the cause. The most noted men of the coast were his
auditors. He rose fully up to the dignity and import-
ance of the occasion, and vindicated his right to be
there. Indeed, for a full mastery of his case in all its
bearings, for varied and useful learning, for quick and
unsleeping vigilance, for powerful and splendid oratory,
and above all for success, he was not surpassed by either
of the great advocates about him. The government took
the wise precaution to have the entire proceedings re-
ported and printed. They form in themselves almost a
whole library on the subjects discussed; and he who
would study the ancient mining codes of Spain and
Mexico, and consequently of California, cannot find so
rich and exhaustive a treatise in any other repository.
But the most precious portions of that vast magazine
must be sought in the speeches and arguments of Ed-
mund Randolph. His early indoctrination into the
Justinian Code, which indeed has formed the substratum
of the jurisprudence of all Europe, except England, for
two thousand years, fitted him peculiarly for the task.j
before him. But to this he superadded perfect familiar- t.l
ity with the modern codes of Spain and Mexico, in the I
original tongue; and thus armed, defied the entire arsenals
of his opponents. No other cause has ever attracted so
much attention on this coast, and it is quite safe to assert
that none henceforth ever will. It forms the most en-
38
594 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
during monument to his fame, and like the trial of Warren
Hastings, constitutes an epoch in judicial history.
The efforts of Mr. Randolph in the Castillero suit
were so untiring and self-sacrilicing that they left him with
a weakened constitution and an incipient disease. Ag-
gravated by two or three other conflicts at the bar hardly
less laborious, it soon assumed a dangerous aspect, and
he became conscious, when too lute to remedy the dis-
order, that pulmonary consumption had set in. Brave,
buoyant, and hopeful to the last, he fought his distemper
with the same fortitude that he ever exhibited in his
great moral combats, but unfortunately with less success.
He continued to fail monthly until the fatal day ap-
proached (September 8th, 1861); then folding his arms
in mute but dignified repose, he slept with his fathers.
The annals of California do not furnish a more bril-
liant name than that of Edmund Randolph. His
historical studies can be best appreciated by consulting
the case above named, and by a perusal of his Address
TO THE Pioneers, portions of which follow this sketch.
This was afterwards republished in pamphlet form^ and
is an indispensable adjunct to a correct knowledge of the
subject.
Towards the close of Mr. Randolph's career, he was
jorevailed on to make a few political speeches, especially
in the great conflict between the Lecompton and anti-
Lecompton wings of the Democratic party. In this con-
troversy he warmly espoused the cause of Douglas, in
opposition to the then President of the United States^
James Buchanan; and in 1859 was defeated as the anti-
Lecompton candidate for Attorney General of California.
But as the country was evidently drifting into war — a
war of sections, a fight for supremacy betwixt North and
I South — true to his hereditary instincts, to the home of
i his youth and to the land of his nativity, he did not,
could not hesitate where he was to be found. He bitterly
opposed the successive measures of the Lincoln adminis-
tration, and denounced them with terrific energy. His
whole soul seemed to become one vast volcano of molten
rage, and he spoke more vehemently than ever before
EDMUND EANDOLPH. 595
during his whole life. The last speech he ever delivered
in public was perhaps the greatest proof which he ever
displayed of his power of language when aroused. It was
delivered at Sacramento on the 5th day of August, 1861,
and on the 8th of September following he was no more.
The writer of this sketch was present at the time the
speech was delivered, in company with the late Judge
Baldwin of the Supreme Court. During the mid-day recess
of the Court, we strolled into the Democratic convention
then in session, and reached there just in time to witness
the terrible invective of Mr. Randolph — concentrating in
itself the fury of an inflamed patriot and the frenzy of an
inspired prophet. The tone, the gesture, the action, the
expression of lip and eye, can ne'er be forgotten. ^' Great
God!" exclaimed Judge Baldwin, '' did you ever hear elo-
quence like that? Randolph seems to be on fire." And
so indeed he was. But the flame was the last flickerings
of life's candle. The intensity of the passion, uttei-ed in
half hysteric shrieks, overcame the shattered bulwarks
of a constitution almost gone, and from that hour he
sank rapidly to the tomb.
Bitter as were partizans at the period when he died,
no one could find it in his heart to censure the dead
Virginian in his grave. Even his political foes paused'
over his remains, and gave a tear to the splendid genius
and the brave heart that had perished. All men believed
in his sincerity, and knew but too well that if he loved
the Federal government less than his native Virginia, it
was the fault of early prejudices, the bias of political
training, and the recollections of ancestral partiality.
In the grave, the fault — if fault it be — lies buried. Amid
the dazzling effulgence of so much to commend and so
little to reprove, we can well afford to pardon one slight
speck upon his fame.
In domestic life, Mr. Randolph was eminently blest.
His wife sympathized with him in all his toils and all his
triumphs. She still survives him, with a bevy of beauti-
ful children, whose inheritance, though it were a throne,
could not be greater than that which they now enjoy —
the heritage of their father's glory.
596 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
^Uvmf fey i^mwttd fatitlolplt,
On THE History of California, delivered before the So-
ciety OP California Pioneers, at their Celebration of
THE Tenth Anniversary of the Admission of California
INTO THE Union, September 10th, 1860.
Pioneers:
From the importunities of the active Present which surrounds
us, we turn for a brief space to the Past. To-day we give ourselves
up to memory.
And first, our thoughts are due to those who are not here assem-
bled with us; whom we meet not on street or highway, and wel-
come not again at the door of our dwellings; upon whom shines no
more the sun which now gladdens the hills, the plains, the waters
of California: to the Pioneers who are dead. To them, as the laurel
to the soldier, you will award the honor of this triumph, marked by
the marvellous creations which have sprung from your common en-
terprises. To them, you will consecrate a success w^hich has sur-
pass^ the boldest of the imaginations which led you forth, both
them and you to a life of adventures. Your companions died that
California might exist. Fear not that you will honor them over-
much. But how died they, and where do they repose — the dead of
the Pioneers of California?
Old men amongst you will recall the rugged trapper; his frame
was strong; his soul courageous; his knowledge was of the Indian's
trail and haunts of game; his wealth and his defence a rifle and a
horse; his bed the earth; his home the mountains. He was slain
by the treacherous savage. His scalp adorned the wigwam of a
chief. The wolf and the vulture in the desert feasted on the body
of this Pioneer. A companion, wounded,, unarmed and famishing,
wanders out through some rocliy canon, and lives to recount this
tale — lives, more fortunate in his declining years, to measure, per-
haps, his lands Ja^ the league, and to number his cattle by the
thousand. And the sea, too, has claimed tribute; the remorseless
waves, amid the terrors of shipwreck, too often in these latter days
have closed over the manly form of the noble Pioneer. The monsters
of thedeephave parted amongst them the flesh of ourfriends, and their
dissevered members are floating, suspended now in the vast abysses
of the ocean, or roll upon distant strands — play-things tossed by
the currents in their wanderings. And here in San Francisco, ex-
acting commerce has disturbed the last resting-place of the Pio-
neers. Ten years and-a-half ago, pinched by the severities of a
most inclement winter, under the leaky tent which gave no shelter,
they sickened and died — and then women and children were Pio-
neers too — by scores and by hundreds they sickened and died.
With friendly hands, which under disastrous circumstances could
EDMUND RANDOLPH. 597
administer no relief, you yet did bnry them piously in a secluded
spot upon the hill-side or in the valley, and planting a rude cross
or board to mark the grave, did hope, perhaps, in a more prosper-
ous day, to replace it with a token in enduring stone. But the hill
and the valley alike disappear hourly from our sight. The city
marches with tremendous strides. Extending streets and lengthen-
ing rows encroach upon the simple burial ground not wisely chosen.
The dead give place to the living. And now the builder with his mor-
tar and his bricks, and the din of his trowel, erects a mansion or
store-house for the new citizen, upon the same spot where the Pio-
neer was laid and his sorrowing friend dreamed of erecting a tomb-
stone. Meanwhile, by virtue of a municipal order, hirelings have
dug up and carted away all that remained of the Pioneers, and have
deposited them in some common receptacle, where now they are
lying an undistinguishable heap of human bones.
Pursuing still this sad review, you well remember how with the
eager tide along and up the course of rivers, and over many a stony
ascent, you were swept into the heart of the difficult regions of the
gold mines; how you there encountered an equal stream pouring in
from the East, and in a summer all the bars and flats, and gulches,
throughout the length and breadth of that vast tract of hills, w^ere
flooded with human life. Into that rich harvest Death quickly put
his sickle. Toil to those who had never toiled ; toil, the hardest
toil, often at once beneath a torrid, blazing sun, and in an icy
stream; congestion, typhus, fevers in whatever form most fatal; and
the rot of scurvy; drunkenness and violence, despair, suicide and
madness; the desolate cabin; houseless starvation amid snows; all
these bring back again upon you in a frightful picture, many a
death scene of those days. There fell the Pioneers who perished
from the van of those who first headed back the bolts that barred
the vaulted hills, and jooured the millions of the treasures of Cali-
fornia upon the World !
Wan and emaciated from the door of the tent or cabin where you
saw him expire ; bloody and mangl'sd from the gambling saloon
where you saw him murdered, or tbe roadside where you found him
lying; the corpse you bore to the woods and buried beneath* the
trees. But you cannot tell to-day which pine sings the requiem of
the Pioneer.
And some have fallen in battle beneath our Country's flag.
And longings still unsatisfied led some to renew their adven-
turous career upon foreign soils. Combating for strangers whose
quarrels they espoused, they fell amid the jungles of the Tropics
and fatted the rank soil there with right precious blood. Or upon
the sands of an accursed waste, were bound and slaughtered by in-
human men who lured them witli promises and repaid their coming
with a most cruel assassination. In the filthy purlieus of a Mexican
viilage, swine fed upon all that murder left of honored gentlemen;
until the very Indian, with a touch of pity, heaped up the sand upon
the festering d^ad, a^d /n^ave slight sepulture to our lost Pioneers.
Though from the first some there were who found in California
598 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
all they sought, and as they lived, so died, surrounded by their child-
ren and their new-made friends, and were buried in church-yards
with holy rites; and although those more lately stricken, repose in
well-fenced grounds, guarded by the society they planted, and whose
ripening power they have witnessed; and are gathered to a sacred
stillness, where we too may hope that we shall be received when full
soon we sink to our eternal rest; alas! far different the death and
burial of full many a" Pioneer!
In deeds of loftiest daring of individual man, encounters fierce
and rudest shocks, too often has parted the spirit of the Pioneer,
and left his mortal body to nature and the elements! Thus wilds
are conquered ! and to civilization new realms ai^ won !
. Upon his life and death let them reflect who would deny to the
Pioneer the full measure of the rights of freemen.
For us, we behold the river or the rock, the mountain's peak,
the plain; whatever spot from which his eyes took their last look of
earth. There as he lies, one gentle light shining athwart the gath-
ering darkness still holds his gaze. Guided by that light, we wijl
revisit the distant home of the dying Pioneer. In imagination we
will there revive the faded recollections of the intrepid boy, who
in years long past disappeared in the wilderness and the West, and
for a life-time has been accounted dead. We will renew, whilst we
console, the grief of the aged father and mother. To the fresh
son'ows of the faithful wife we pledge the sympathy and love of
brothers. To the sons and daughters of our friends we stretch forth
our hands in benedictions on their heads. To ancient friends we
too are friends; until with our praises, and the' eventful story of his
life, we make to live again in his old peaceful home, him who died
so wildly. What though to mournful questioning we cannot point
their graves? They have a monument, behold the State ! And
their inscription, it is wTitten on our hearts.
Thus, as is meet, we honor our dead Pioneers; with severe yet
pleasing recollections, grateful fancies, and tears not unmanly.
With an effort — we turn from ourselves to our country.
[Mr. Randolph then proceeded to trace the history of
California from the time of Cortes (1537) down to the
year 1830. He consumed over two hours in this portion
of his address, which has been pronounced by high au-
thority, 'Hhe most complete and authentic history of Cal-
ifornia extant." Its great length prevents its insertion
here in full.
Of populous Christian countries, Upper California is
among the newest. Her whole history is embraced with-
in the lifetime of men now living. Just ninety- one years
have passed — 1769 to 1860, A. D. — since man of European
origin first planted his footsteps within the limits of what
EDMUND RANDOLPH. 599
is now our State, with purpose of permanent inhabitation.
Hence, all the inhabitants of California have been but
Pioneers.
The orator concluded as follows :]
Internal disturbances seem to have commenced in California
about the year 1830. The liberal Spanish Cortez of 1813, in carrj-ing
out the Constitution which they adopted for the Spanish monarchy
the year before, decreed the secularization of all the Missions in the
Sjoanish dominions. The design was to niake general what had al-
ways been done before by special authority — to liberate the Indians
from the control of the Missionaiy Fathers, and divide amongst
them, as their separate property, the land, cattle, and whatever else
they had owned in common ; to establish secular priests in the
place of regular priests or monks of the religious orders among
them, for their spiritual guidance; and in every respect to convert
the Indian villages of the missions into Spanish j)ueblos — the pro-
cess by which, in so great a degree, society was constructed in all
Sj^anish American countries, and the ultimate fulfillment of the
purpose of the King, eveiywhere so prominently put forth in colon-
izing California.
The decrees of the Cortez, not incompatible with the republican
form of government, continued after the establishment of her in-
dei^endence to be the laws of Mexico ; but veiy few, if any, of them
had been put into operation in California. AVith the rest, that of
SECULAEizATioN remained a dead letter. Echandia, the Political
Chief, (as the Governor was then entitled) in 1830, very hurriedly,
and without consulting the Supreme Government, published as the
custom of the Government was, a set of Regulations for caiTjdng
this old law into eifect. At that moment he was superseded by
Victoria, who suppressed the Regulations, and put a peremptory
stop to the secularization of the Missions. Victoria's conduct was
approved by the Supreme Government; but there was a party here
warmly in favor of the secularization, and disturbances which were
considered serious and threatening ensued, although I do not know
that they resulted in bloodshed. The chief promoter of the scheme
was sent out of the countiy by Victoria ; and thus, I think, civil
strife commenced in California. The occasion was the disT)osition
to be made of the Missions, which we have seen were once, and for
so long a time, so nearly all of California. It was the beginning
of the downfall of those ancient establishments, so difficult for us
to comprehend, and now so entirely passed away, that to recall
them is like recalling the images of a dream. AVhat the Govern-
ment of Mexico was opposed to was not the secularization of the
Missions, but the manner in which it was attemj^ted. The agitation
which had been thus commenced resulted in the passage, by the
Mexican Congress, of the law of the 17th of August, 1833, to sec-
ularize the Missions of the Calif ornias. Under it the work was be-
gun by Figiieroa, the best and ablest of the Mexican Governors.
At the same time he had two other laws, most fundamentally sub-
600 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
\ersive of the old order of things, to carry into execution. They
were the law for the political organization of the Territory, being
another of those decreed by tlie Spanish Cortez in 1813, and the
law of colonization, passed by the Mexican Congress August 18th,
1824, with the executive regulations, prescribing the manner of its
application, dated Xovember 21st, 1828.
It is evident that this is the true era of revolution in Mexican
California, Observing the ancient limits of the Presidial jurisdic-
tions, municipal governments were established for each district.
Authority was exercised by elective bodies called Ayuntamientos,
of which the head was an Alcalde or Judge. This body regulated
the economy of the whole district, directly of the pueblo in which
it resided, and of every other pueblo in the district, through the in-
tervention of local and subordinate Ayuntamientos. This was the
separation of the civil functions from the military functions, both
of which had been continued in the hands of tlie commanders of
the Presidios, as in the Spanish times. Here in San Francisco,
and for all the region north of San Mateo creek, east indefinitely,
and west to the ocean, the separation of powers took place in
December, 1834, at which time the Ayuntamiento was established
for the civil government of this Presidial district, and Gen. M.
G. Yallejo, then in command of the Presidio, was left with only
his military command. In the secularization of the Missions,
Pigueroa advanced so far as to put administrators in possession
in iplace of the Fathers, at which stage his proceedings were
arrested by a decree of the Mexican President. Ruin was in-
evitable ; it was as rapid as spoliation could make it, and it was
soon complete. Governor after Governor adopted regulations up-
on regulations, to secure a faithful administration of the property
of the Missions, i. e. , of the Christian Indians who inhabited them,
and by whose labor all had been built and accumulated. It was to
no purpose ; and of as little avail was the partial restoration of the
Missions to the charge of the Fathers, by Micheltorena, in 1843.
The Indian was by nature a very little above the brute ; the Fath-
ers were not able to elevate him in spite of nature ; the administra-
tors stripped him without compunction; and, when the United
States conquered the country, he was already exterminated — his de-
struction complete in ten years. When emancipation began, Figu-
eroa says there were twenty thousand Christian Indians in the
Missions of California.
Colonization was another idea introduced by the Spanish Cortez
in 1813. It was embodied in the Mexican law of colonization, of
1824. The scheme was to reduce all the public lands of the State
to private property. The Spanish rule before 1813, had ever been
to make such grants the exception, and to retain all lands generally
speaking, as the domain of the King. Other Mexican Governors
may have made informal grants of which nothing appears, but Figu-
eroa was the first to inaugurate the system of which we find the rec-
ords in the Archives. He established a course of proceedings in
exact accordance with the law and the regulations, and adhered to
EDMUND RANDOLPH. 601
it strictly and executed it conscientiously and with great intelli-
gence. From the lands subject to be granted are excepted such as
belong to Pueblos and Missions. Of Pueblos, i. e. villages, there
were but two — San Jose and Los Angeles — or three including the
unprosperous Villa de Branciforte. Whatever lands these owned
were at their foundation surveyed, marked out, and set apart to
them ; and then recorded. The same course was followed with such
of the Presidios as Avere converted into Pueblos, as at Monterey; and
would have been pursued with the Missions when converted into
Pueblos, if that change bad not been arrested. In these cases
there could have been no uncertainty as to what lands the Governor
could grant. With the Missions, untouched, or incompletely sec-
ularized as they were left, there was difficulty. The title of the
Indian who had consented to become a Christian and a civilized man,
binding as it was upon the King, had always been indefinite as to
quantit}', and as to the situation of his lands, save that it should be
at and about the Mission ; in which essential particulars it rested
altogether in the King's discretion, exercised by the proper officers
of his government. The Mexican Kepublic stepped into the same
relation to these Christian Indians. That no injustice might be
done them, every petition was referred to the Priests, and after-
wards to the Administrators of the Missions. They were asked
whether the grant could be made without prejudice to the Indians.
As they replied, so were the grants given or withheld. So it was
at least in Figueroa's day, and that, no matter how far the land pe-
titioned-for was from the nearest Mission. Other Governors were
neither so exact nor so conscientious as Figueroa. And as, in the
hands of the Administrators to whom they were delivered over, the
Missions went rapidly down to complete iniin, it is evident that the
lands required for the Indians would become continually less — such
would be, and was, the answer of their new^ guardians to the inquiries
of the Governor — and finally all was granted, and in some cases, it
is alleged, even the Missions themselves. Their cattle, without the
aid of a grant from the Governor, took the same course. It is not
too much to say that when the United States in 184G took posses-
sion of the country, they found it j)assing through a conquest still
raw and incomplete. It was the conquest of the Missions and the
Christian Indians, by the settlers of the Presidios and Pueblos who
at first had been introduced into the country mainly for their bene-
fit ; to aid the King and the Church in carrying out their pious and
humane intentions towards them. Yet it was well that it was so.
W^ho that looks upon the native Digger Indian could wish that a
superior race should be sacrificed or postponed for his benefit? W^e
contemplate a miserable result of the work begun with so much
zeal and heroism in 1769. But because they failed, we none the less
respect the motives and the laborers, whether of Church or State.
The unworthiness of the Californian Indian did not altogether
deprive him of sympathy. Every Government expressed some feel-
ing at seeing him hasten so rapidly to his wretched end. And the
just and kind-hearted Figueroa battled for him manfully. In the
602 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
midst of the complex labors of his administration he was almost
crushed by the arrival of three hundred persons, for whom he had
to make provision, without resources, and who came under the
charge of a Director of Colonization, instructed- by the Supreme
Government, at that time radically democratic, to begin operations by
taking possession of the property of the Missions and admitting the
nev/ colonists to a division of it with the Indians. During the win-
ter of 1834-5, Figueroa and tho Director carried on an animated dis-
cussion in writing, on the subject of the last of these propositions.
Figueroa maintained that the Missions were the private projoerty of
the Indian, and protected from invasion by the Constitution. The
Director insisted u]pon the letter of the order of the Supreme Gov-
ernment. Figueroa said it was improvident, and refused to obey it
until he could make a representation to the Supreme Government
on the subject. The end was, that some of the partizans of the Di-
rector attempted an insurrection at Los Angeles, in the spring of
1835, which was easily suppressed, but furnished Figueroa the op-
portunity to send the Director and the heads of his faction back to
Mexico. Of these, the principal was the same man who had been
sent out of California by Victoria for the same cause — a desire to
have a part in the secularization of the Missions. The colony, how-
ever, remained, and though numbering but three hundred, was a
great addition to the population of California in those days. Among
them we find the names of several persons who afterwards became
conspicuous in the country — Joso Abrego, Jose Ma. Covarrubias,
Augustin Olvera, and Francisco Guerrero.
Figueroa died at Monterey, on the 29th of September, 1835, his
death being probably hastened by the effect of the anxiety and vex-
ation of this controversy, upon a constitution already broken. At
that time his manifesto to the Mexican Republic, in which he gives
a clear and forcible statement of the whole affair, and an able vin-
dication of his conduct, was going through the press at Monterey.
His death seems to have been very greatly deplored at that time,
and he is still recognized as the ablest and most upright of the
Mexican Governors. His work of the political organization of Cal-
ifornia lasted but a little while ; it fell with the overthrow of the
Federal Constitution of 1824, by Santa Anna, in 1836. California
then became a Department : Political Chief was changed into Gov-
EKNOR, and Territorial Deputation into Departmental Assembly.
These changes, however, were not fully completed in California
until 1839. The Department of the Californias w^as then divided into
three districts ; the first extending from the frontier of Sonoma to
San Luis Obispo, its principal point or seat of administration being
the old Mission of San Juan, on the Pajaro river ; the second dis-
trict included the rest of Upper California, the seat of its adminis-
tration being the city of Los Angeles, which had been promoted to
that rank from the original condition of a Pueblo, in the year of
1835 ; and the third comprised Lower California, which, after a sep-
aration, was now re-united with Upper California. These districts
were divided each into two Partidos, of which, consequently, there
EDSIUND RANDOLPH. 603
were four in Upper California. Ayuntamientos were abolished, and
a Justice of the Peace substituted in each Partido. Por the whole
district there was a Prefect, who resided at the seat of the Adminis-
tration of one of the Partidos, and a Sub-Prefect, who resided at
that of the other Partido. In 1843 Micheltorena, acting under ex-
traordinary powers, made some changes in this system, but it was
substantially restored by Pio Pico, in 1845, when again Lower Cal-
ifornia was thrown off.
With Figueroa everything like stability, and indeed order,
passed away. The next year after Figueroa's death, the Califor-
nians drove away the Governor; and Don Juan B. Alvarado, being
at that time President of the Territorial Deputation, was declared
Governor. After this was done, the Dei^utation went one step
further, and on the 7th of November, 1836, passed these resolutions :
(1.) "California is declared independent of Mexico until the
re-establishment of the Constitution of 1824.'*
(2.) "California is erected into a free and sovereign State, es-
tablishing a Congress, &c., &c."
Public documents for a while were headed "Free and Sovereign
State of California. " This anomalous state of things lasted until
1838. The demands of the Free and Sovereign State were not com-
plied with, nor on the other hand was the Central Government dis-
posed, or perhaps able, to push the controversy to extremes. In
1838, Alvarado was appointed Governor arf interim; and Constitu-
tional Governor in 1839, when we have seen that the innovations of
Santa Anna took effect. Whilst California was in rebellion, the
President of Mexico commissioned Carlos Antonio Carillo, as Gov-
ernor. Alvarado refused to recognize him, and accepted' the aid of
a i^arty of Americans who, since the time of Jedediah Smith, seem
to have found their way into the country. Alvarado prevailed over
Carillo ; and the appointment of the former as Governor ad interim
compromised the difficulties of those times. Here is a document
relating to this contest, which will serve to illustrate California
warfare. It is the report of G^n Jose Castro to Governor Alvarado,
dated the 28th of March, 1838.
" I have the honor to announce to your Excellency, that after two days contin-
ual firing w ithout having lost hut one man, the enemy took to flight, under cover of
night, numbering one hundred and ten men ; and I have determined to dispatch
one company of mounted Infantry, under the command of Captain Villa, and
another of Cavalry lancers, under the command of Captain Cota, in their pur-
suit, remaining myself, with the rest of the division, and the Artillery, to guard
this point, &c., &c."
And here is another of the same period. It now appears that
the Americans who resided with Alvarado had fallen under suspic-
ion and into disfavor at about the time that their chief made up
his differences with the Central Government, and received his com-
mission as Governor ad interim. They were all arrested, some fif-
teen or twenty perhaps, it is said by surprise, and sent to Mexico.
Amongst them was Mr. Isaac Graham, of Santa Cruz. This paper
will also serve as a specimen of Calif ornian eloquence at that period.
604 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and I commend it at the present moment as a model to our politi-
cal orators.
Proclamation m^vde by the Undersigned : —
' ' Eternal Glory to the Illustrious Champion and Liberator of
the Department of Alta California, Don Jos6 Castro, the Guardian
of Order, and the Supporter of our Superior Government.
Fellow-citizens and Friends v To-day, the eighth of IMay, of the present year of
1840, has been and will be eternally glorious to all the inhabitants of this soil, in
contemplating the glorious expedition of our fellow countryman, Don Jose Cas-
tro, who goes to present himself before the Superior Government of the Mexican
nation, carrying with him a number of suspicious Americans who, under the mask
of deceit, and filled with ambition, were warping us in the web of misfortune ;
plunging us into the greatest confusion and danger ; desiring to terminate the life
of our Governor and of all of his subalterns ; and finally, to drive us from our
asylums ; from our country ; from our pleasures, and from our hearths.
The bark which carries this valorous Hero on his Grand Commission, goes
filled with laurels and crowned with triumphs, ploughing the waves and publish-
ing in distinct voices to the passing billows the loud vwas and rejoicings, which
will resound to the remotest bounds of the universe. Yes, fellow-citizens and
friends, again v.-e say, that this glorious chief should have a place in the innermost
recesses of our hearts, and be held as dear to us as our very breath. Thus we de-
sire, and in the name of all the inhabitants, make known the great rejoicings with
which v/e are filled, giving, at the same time, to our Superior Government the
present proclamation, which we make for said worthy chief ; and that our Governor
may remain satisfied, that if he (Castro) has embarked for the interior of the Re-
public, there still remain under his (the Governor's) orders all his fellow country-
men, companions in arms, etc., etc."
The foregoing is signed by seTen citizens of note and respecta-
bility in the countiy. ■ "W'hen this lamxl-lcden yeesel reached San
B las, the Mexican authorities took a different view of the matter.
They put Gen. Castro in prison and Graham and his companions in
the best hotel in the place, (he says a palace) and entertained them
handsomely until they could send them back to California, which
they did g-t the expense of the Government.
In 1839, Captain John A. Sutter, a man who had seen many
vicissitudes and adventures, in Europe and the wilds of Ameri'^a,
arrived in Calif oinia from the Sandwich Islands. By permission
of Governor Alvarado he established himself in the valley of the
Sacramento, then the extreme northern frontier. He engaged to
protect the Mexican settlements extending in that direction under
the Colonization Law (the only vital thing left of the Mexican rule
for many years) from the incursions of the Indians, and he kept his
word.
In 1841, he obtained a grant of land himself, and built a fort
which soon became the refuge and rallying point for Americans
and Europeans coming into the country. Over all these Sutter, by
virtue of an appointment as Justice of the Peace, exercised what-
ever government there was beyond the law of the rifle. Practically
his powers w^ere as indefinite as the territorial limits of his jurisdic-
tion. Amogst those who early gathered around Sutter, we find the
names of John Bidwell, who came in 1841, and Pierson B. Bead-
EDMUND RANDOLPH. 605
ing and Samuel J. Hensley, who came in 1843, and many others
well known at the present day.
The Pioneers of that day all bear testimony to the generosity
of Captain Sutter, at a time when his fort was the capitol and he
the Government for the American colony, in the valley of the Sac-
ramento. In 1844, the number of this population had come to be so
considerable as to be a power in the State. In the revolution which
then occurred, Sutter took the side of Governor Micheltorena.
But before he marched he took the reasonable precaution, so obvi-
ously required by justice to his men, to obtain from Micheltorena
a grant of the land for which they had respectively joetitioned.
Micheltorena then issued the document known as the General
Title.
In this document he declares that every petition upon which
Sutter, in his capacity of Justice of the Peace, had reported favor-
ably, should be taken as granted ; and that a copy of this document
given to each petitioner, should serve in lieu of the usual formal
grant. This done, he marched to the south, but was unfortunate,
for he was taken prisoner, and Micheltorena expelled from the
country. This is the last of the civil wars of California.
In the spring of 1840, General Castro in the North, and Pio
Pico, the Governor, in the South, were waxing hot against each
other, and preparing for new conflicts, when the apparition of Cap-
tain Fremont with his small surveying party of old mountaineers, and
the hardy and indomitable Pioneers of the Sacramento Valley and
the Bear flag, put an end to their dissensions. Castro had himself
prepared the way for this aggression, by driving Fremont and his
surveying party out of the Mexican settlements, a few months before.
The colony on the Sacramento necessarily sympathized with Fre-
mont : and rumors, more or less well founded, began to run through
the valley, of hostile intentions towards all the American settlers.
But resentment and anticipations of evil were not the sole cause of
this movement. There can not now be a doubt that it was prompt-
ed, as it was approved, by the Government of the United States;
and that Captain Fremont obeyed his orders no less than his own
feelings.
Fremont was still on the northern side of the Bay of San Fran-
cisco, when the American flag was hoisted at Monterey, on the ever-
memorable seventh day of July, 1846.
Before the war, the Government of the United States had fully
determined, so far as that matter rested with the Executive, upon
the conquest and permanent retention of California, as soon as the
out-break of war should offer the opjiortunity. Orders, in antici-
pation of war, were issued to that effect, and it was under these
orders that California was actually taken. The danger of that day
was, that England would step in before us. Her ships were watch-
ing our ships on the coast of Mexico. The British pretext, it is
said, was to have been to secure an equivalent for the Mexican debt
due to British subjects; and it is understood that there was a party
here who favored this design.
606 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Because Commodore Sloat did not rush to the execution of the
orders issued in anticipation of war, on the very first report of a
collision between the United States and Mexico, the anxious Secre-
tary of the Navy, dreading to lose the prize, hotly censured him in
a letter which reached him after the event had broken the sting of
its reproaches, and served only to assure him how well he had ful-
filled the wishes of his government. The flag of the United States
was no sooner flying, than the ColUngn'ood entered the bay of Mon-
terey. There had been a race between the Collingwood and the
Savannah. What a moment was that for us, and for the world !
What if the Collingwood had been the swifter sailer, and Sloat had
found the English flag flying on the shore! What if we had been
born on another planet! The cast was for England or the United
States, and when the die turned for us, the interest was at an end.
As a feat of arms, the conquest of California was nothing for a
power like ours. Even more feeble, and as much distracted as the
rest of Mexico, and with but a nominal dependence upon the Cen-
tral Government, but a very little force was sufficient to detach Cal-
ifornia forever from all her Spanish- American connections. What-
ever of military credit there was, is due to the Pioneers, who, under
the Bear flag, had, before they heard of the beginning of the war,
with an admirable instinct for their own rights, and the interests
of their country, rebelled against any further Mexican misrule, or a
sale to the British. The loyalty of their sentiments was beautifully
illustrated by the alacrity with which they relinquished the com-
plete independence which appeared to be within their grasp, and
turned over their conquests, and the further service of their rifles,
to the country which* they remembered with so much affection, and
a government from which they would suffer themselves to look for
nothing but wisdom and strength, and a tender consideration for
the rights and interests of the Pioneer.
For three years and a half, when there was no war, and for near-
ly two years after there was a declared peace, California was gov-
erned, and for a great part of the time heavily taxed, by the execu-
tive branch of the government of the United States, acting through
military officers. This I note as an anomaly in the experience of
the citizens of this Republic.
California, separated from Mexico, a new people began to come
in from the United States and Europe. But California was remote,
and yet but little understood. Mr. Webster himself spoke of her
as almost worthless, except for the Bay of San Francisco, and as
though the soil was as barren and thorny as the rocks of Lower
California. Emigrants came, but not many — amongst the most re-
markable arrivals being the ship Brooklyn, freighted with Mormons.
The soldiers themselves were nothing more than armed colonists.
And everything was peaceful and dull, until suddenly, when no man
expected, there came a change of transcendent magnitude.
Gold was discovered at Coloma. This was an event that stirred
EDMUND RANDOLPH. 607
tlie heart of the whole world. The motives which pervade and most
control the lives of men were touched. All the impulses that spring
from necessity and hope were quickened; and a movement was vis-
ible amongst mankind. To get to California, some crossed over
from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso, scaling the Andes. The Isthmus
of Darien became a common thoroughfare. Peaceful invaders en-
tered Mexico at every point, and on every route startled the drowsy
muleteer as they passed over to the Pacific where the coast was
nearest, or pushed on directly for California. Constant caravans
issued from our own borders, traversed every intervening prairie, and
explored every pass and gap of opposing mountains. As the long
train descended to the valley, perhajjs the foremost wagon is driven
by an old man, who, when he was a boy, moved out in this way
from Virginia to Kentucky; and passing still from one new State to
another, now when he is grown gray, halts his team at last upon the
shores of the Pacific. Ships sailed from every port on the globe.
The man at the wheel, in every sea, steered by the star that led to
San Francisco. So came the emigrants of 1849. The occupation
of California was now complete, and she became a part of the
world.
Eleven years are passed. "We looked out upon a wide expanse —
unfenced, unfilled — and though nature was lovely, our hearts sank
within us. Neither the priest nor the ranchero had prepared this
country for our habitation. We asked : Who shall subdue all this to
our uses? W^e look again; and now, upon a landscaj)e checkered
with smiling farms and dotted with cities and towns, busy and hum-
ming like the hive. What magic is it that has wrought this change?
On every hand, with one acclaim, comes back the answer: Labor,
it is Labor. Of our eleven years, here is the lesson. Man's opin-
ions and his passions were but insolence and vanity. Boasting and
praise made but the greatness of the passing day. And Labor, only
Labor, has survived. However silent, however humble and unseen,
or on what bestowed, it is Labor which has created California, and
which rules us at this hour. With our own eyes this we have seen,
and of our own knowledge we know the lesson to be as true as it
is old.
California in full possession of the white man, and embraced
within the mighty area of his civilization ! We feel the sympathies
of our race attract us. We see in our great movement hithei'ward
in 1849 a likeness to the times when our ancestors, their wives and
little ones, and all their stuff in wagons, and with attendant herds,
poured forth by nations and in never-ending columns from the Ger-
man forests, and went to seek new pastures and to found new king-
doms in the ruined provinces of the Roman Empire: or when,
swayed by another inspiration, they cast their masses upon the
Saracens, and sought to rescue the Sepulchre of Christ from the in-
fidels. We recognize that we are but the foremost rank of the
multitude which for centuries has held its unwavering course out of
Europe ujoon America, in numbers still increasing; a vast, unnum-
bered host, self-marshaled, leaderless, and innumerable, moving
608 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
onward forever, to possess and people another continent : separated
but in space, divided but by the accidents of manners, of language
and of laws — from Scandinavia to California — one blood and one
people. Knowledge is but the conservation of his thoughts, art but
the embodiment of his conceptions, letters the record of his deeds.
Man of our race has crowned the earth with its glory! And still in
the series of his works you have founded a State. May it be great
and powerful whilst the Ocean shall thunder against these shores.
You have planted a people; may they be prosperous and happy
whilst summers shall return to bless these fields with plenty. And
may the name of the Pioneer be spoken in California forever!
MILTON S. LATHAM.
j3y ^udge ^ayen p. fiAL,U
UNDER the most favorable circumstances, it is at all
times a very difficult task to write a biographical sketch
of a cotemporary. This difficulty is greatly increased
when the person whom you would portray is a member
of the same community, and when the truthfulness and
fidelity of the portrayal must be submitted to the im-
partial judgment of those who have enacted important
parts in the drama of which he is made the chief charac-
ter. The prominent events in the career of the individual
under consideration are of such recent occurrence — are
so blended and identified with the experience of every
old Californian — as to enable the chronicler to analyze
his subject without viewing him through the misty haze
of remote years, and to comment from an actual and
personal knowledge of events.
Mr. Latham's ancestors came to America in the May-
floiver. His father was a native of Virginia, and his mother
of New Hampshire. He was born in the State of Ohio
on the 23d day of May, 1829, and was fortunate in being
the son of a gentleman of eminent local celebrity, and a
person of liberal education and a generous nature. En-
joying the advantages of high social position, professional
distinction, and a mind adorned and enlarged by the re-
finements of education, his father appreciated the value
of thoroudi education, and bestowed upon his son all
^ 39
610 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the advantages to be derived from cultivated society and
collegiate training.
In 1846, he graduated from Jefferson College, Penn-
sylvania, and left his Alma Mater with a reputation for
scholarship, energy, and industry, that gave promise of
his future success and distinction. Soon after graduat-
ing, he removed to Alabama, where he studied law.
Having chosen the law for a profession, his earnest devo-
tion to study, his aptitude and genius, secured him license
to practice at an early age. In 1848, he was appointed
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Russell county, Alabama.
At the period when California was the focus of public
interest and attention, Mr. Latham selected the Golden
State as the field for his future labors and aspirations.
On the 6th of April, 1850, he arrived at San Francisco,
and at once entered upon the active practice of his pro-
fession. Sacramento having been made the capital of
the State, many of our most eminent lawyers were at-
tracted thither, and Mr. Latham among them. His ex-
treme youth attracted general sympathy. His suave and
genial manners made him universally popular, while his
abilities commanded respect from the members of the
bar as well as the entire community, and soon secured
him a very profitable business. So rapid were his strides
to public notice and favor that at the ensuing general
election after his arrival in 1850, he was elected by a.
very large majority to the important office of District
Attorney for the Sacramento Judicial District, com-
prising Sacramento and El Dorado counties. His
official position gave him an enlarged theatre of action
and a more extended and familiar acquaintance with the
people. While his civil practice had established his claim
as a logical and philosophical student of the law, his op-
portunities as an advocate soon won him a reputation
among the people excelled by no member of the profes-
sion in the State at that day. Indeed, his advancement
was so great, his hold upon the popular mind so fixed,
that in 1851, he was elected Representative to Con-
gress, triumphing over competitors who had already
established a national fame.
MILTON S. LATHAM. 611
Mr. Latham fully sustained at the forum of Congress
the reputation he had won at home ; and the honored at-
titude he occupied toward his colleagues, and his faithful
efforts to secure legislation for the best interests of Cali-
fornia, were rewarded by a reelection, and he remained
her representative till 1856.
It will be remembered that the affairs of the Collect-
orship of the Port of San Francisco had not uniformly
been administered so as to give entire satisfaction to
either public or private judgment. It is not our province
to discuss political subjects, or to inquire into the causes
or consequences of the management of the Collector's
office, that gave the Government extreme solicitude and
difficulty in selecting the proper person to take charge
of the office, and bring "order out of chaos." It is
sufficient to say, while it was a source of great public
satisfaction, that from a host of eager aspirants, Mr. La-
tham, unsolicited and in fact against his protest, was in-
vited and induced to accept the position. This dis-
tinguished compliment from the Government was based
upon the character for honesty, integrity, and fidelity to
duty that Mr. Latham had won in his Congressional
career ; and he acquired additional credit and honor for
the exactness, dispatch, and discipline that characterized
every department of the Customs during his administra-
tion.
Mr. Latham now determined to ignore the blandish-
ments of office, and devote himself to the more remuner-
ative and less exciting pursuit of private business : to use
his own words on a memorable occasion, he had "resolved
to quit Hhe filthy pool of politics.'" These hopes of
quiet happiness and repose were not, however, to be
realized. The exciting canvass of 1859 snatched him
from contemplated retirement. The influence of their
young favorite was warm in the hearts of the people, and
they determined to manifest their approval of his past
stewardship by the bestowal of yet higher honors. In
that year he was nominated for Governor of California
by the Democratic State Convention, (his principal com-
petitor being Hon. John B. Weller) and was elected by a
612 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
very large majority, receiving over 60,000 votes — his com-
petitors being Hon. John Currey, afterwards Supreme
Judge, and Hon. Leland Stanford, afterwards Governor
of the State.
It was incumbent on the Legislature, which was chosen
at the same general election, and which convened in Janu-
ary, 1860, to elect a successor to the Hon. David C. Brod-
erick. United States senator, then lately deceased. This
important matter elicited a degree of political feeling and
public interest unwonted even in the arena of California
politics. Those national questions that finally culminated
in the Great Rebellion were then being everywhere dis-
cussed. All felt the absolute necessity of having a repre-
sentative in the United States Senate who should be a
representative in fact — not merely of California or of a
political party — but of the patriotic impulses of the
people at large. In this great crisis, the Shakesperean
theory of fortune was fulfilled, and Mr. Latham became
the recipient of her gifts. Scarcely had he assumed the
office of Governor and delivered his inaugural, when he
was called on to resign and assume the senatorial toga.
Mr. Latham presented his credentials and took his seat in
the United States Senate in March, 1860, and served in
the Senate until March 4th, 1863.
This brief summary of events affords an eulogy of
which any man might be justly proud; and a lengthened
commentary upon them would be a work of supererogation.
Justice to distinguished merit, admiration for the unparal-
leled promotion to conspicuous and exalted station that
mark the career of Mr. Latham, would seem to warrant,
if not exact, some further comment.
Upon Mr. Latham's advent in California, already at-
tracted to her shores was a population above every other
people of America distinguished for their dash, intelli-
gence, and enterprise. Among them were to be found
able representatives of every profession, trade, and calling
— Professors of Colleges, ex-Governors, and Members of
Congress, divines and lawyers — who had become noted
throughout the country. These, according to their various
tastes and avocations, were earnest rivals, struggling in
MILTON S. LATHMf. 613
the most exciting and eager race of life the world ever
witnessed. The phantom of wealth — the spur of necessity
— the hopes of ambition — seemed to cauterize human
nature and freeze the heart against all impulses of gen-
erous emulation, and make every man an uncompro-
mising competitor. To succeed in such a contest, to win
and command the warm sympathy of the people, and to
retire from the struggle with their abiding confidence
and trust, was to create .a monument more enduring than
any entablature graven on steel or adamant; and affords
a model well worthy the imitation of the youth of our
country.
'No man in America has filled so many important
offices in so brief a time as has Mr. Latham, and history
affords no example among our countrymen of a person
at his age having filled such high stations. At that age
when most men plume themselves for the highest flights
of ambition, Mr. Latham has successively filled the most
honorable positions within the gift of the people. To
what peculiar trait of character or special qualification
we must attribute his extraordinary career, it would be
difficult to determine.
In his social character, he is dignified ^vithout stiff-
ness, impressive without dictation, genial without levity,
and companionable without familiarity. In business en-
gagements other than professional, his accustomed suc-
cess has followed his efforts, and he now enjoys a hand-
some fortune. He is now Manager of the London and
San Francisco Bank, which institution flourishes under
his direction. As a popular orator, he has no superior
on this coast, and the result of many a political canvass
in this State has been influenced by the powers of his
eloquence.
We have to regret that our limited space will not
permit us to give extracts from his speeches in Congress,
for he spoke to almost every question of national im-
portance that rose during that exciting period ; as they
would adorn these pages, and carry with them proofs of
tlie genius and ability of their author.
As a representative man, Mr. Latham is a fair type
614 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of California, her people, genius, and extraordinary ex-
pansion. As she, without the preliminary forms of
territorial existence, sprang almost immediately into
the condition of a great State, so did he seem to
defy the ordeal of probation through which mankind
usually pass in the vicissitudes of fortune, and stepped
forth from his minority into a manhood of established
fame.
" Palmam qui meruit ferat."
>*^ or Ti£a '
^.
ROBERT B. SWAIN
By WiLJLiAM y. Wells.
THE reputation for enterprise, intelligence, and liberal-
ity which San Francisco in her remarkable growth
has acquired abroad, is undoubtedly due, more than to
any other class, to her merchants. The same may be
true of most communities, where commerce is the vital
element of their prosperity ; but it is especially so in one
whose merchants have always exerted the chief influence
in directing the policy of municipal or State government,
in shaping congressional legislation relating to the Pacific
coast, and giving the tone to public sentiment and meas-
ures. In this lightj biographical sketches of commercial
men long identified with the city, assume something of
historical value, as inseparably connected with its material
and social progress. For many years Mr. Swain has been
known as a prominent merchant of San Francisco, filling,
during that time, positions of the highest responsibility,
political and social, and honorably associated with import-
ant movements. The records of societies organized for
literary, religious, and benevolent purposes, are silent test-
imonials of his activity in charitable w^orks; while to pub-
lic discussions of maritime questions, he brings a qiuckness
of perception and a familiarity with those subjects, only
to be acquired through business talent of a high order
joined to great experience. It is not, however, from a
merely commercial stand-point that we propose to sketch
616 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Mr. Swain. In the last ten years his name has been
interwoven with men and events which have become cel-
ebrated, and the character before us is thus additionally
representative.
Mr Swain, who is of Quaker origin, was born- about
the year 1825, in JN'antucket, Mass., his island home front-
ing upon the rude Atlantic, and his earliest assodations
having been among rugged and adventurous seamen. At
the age of seventeen, he went to New York, and becoming
a clerk in the famous house of Grinnell, Minturn & Co.,
received a thorough mercantile education. In 1855, fail-
ing health, caused by a too close attention to an extensive
commission business, in which, after having remained with
the above named firm for many years, he had embarked
for himself, obliged him to seek a milder climate, and in
that year he came to California intending to remain only
long enough to ensure a restoration to health. Increasing
interests and duties, however, required a longer stay, and
here he has ever since found his field of labor, pursuing
his legitimate business of Commission Merchant and Fire
and Marine Insurance Agent. His sphere of occupation
speedily displayed an ability and readiness of application
to diverse subjects in the walks of social and business life,
and he was evidently destined to be a leading man in the
State of his adoption. Soon after his arrival, he was
elected a Trustee of the Mercantile Library Association
of San Francisco, and thenceforth served that institution
in various capacities, having for the past four years been
either President or Yice President. He has been untir-
ing in his labors to subserve the interests of the Library,
and his disinterested efforts while presiding over its wel-
fare indicate a painstaking care for its advancement. On
the inauguration of the new Library building in June,
],§68, Mr. Swain thus concluded a speech, in which he
had proposed at some length a plan for bonding the debt
of the Association, which bonds he trusted would be event-
ually liquidated by the donations of zealous and liberal
minded citizens:
Of the ultimate success of this scheme, the Trustees have not a
thread of doubt, and it now remains to be seen whether the people
ROBERT B. SWAIN. 617
of this city will at once second tlieir efforts; whether the people of
tliis city are alive to the necessity of a literar}^ centre like this, which
is destined to work a silent but potent influence ujion the morals
cf the community and the futui-e prosperity' of the State; whether
the fathers and mothers who have sons ripening- to manhood, and to
whom membership in this Association may be a matter of vital con-
sequence, are anxious that their talents and energies be not wasted
on selfish and ignoble objects; whether they prefer for their sons
the reading-room to the race-course — the sure delight of books to the
uncertainties of the gaming table — literary pleasure to licentious in-
dulgence — and the cultivation of a refined and ennobling taste to
mere sensuous weakness and fashionable frivolity.
Afterwards, wlien the Mercantile Library was threat-
ened with extinction by reason of a crushing indebted-
ness, this appeal presented itself with renewed force. In
the efforts to rescue the institution from its financial dif-
ficulties, ^Ir. Swain, who was still its President, took
an active part, devoting valuable time to the subject, and
originating numerous practical suggestions to that end.
In New York he had been an intimate friend and
parishioner of the Rev. Dr. Bellows, and joining the
First Unitarian Church on his arrival at San Francisco,
he at once became influential as an executive member,
and was soon after elected President of the Board of
Trustees, an office which he continued to hold for ten
years. While he was filling this position, it became
necessary in 1859 to select a new pastor for the Society.
Mr. Swain at once placed himself in communication with
the Rev. T. Starr King, then in pastoral charge of the
Hollis street church in Boston, the result of which was
that Mr. King consented to transfer his labors and in-
fluence to the Pacific coast. A portion of this corre-
spondence appears in an address delivered by Mr. Swain
before the Society in 1864, and published by request. It
forms a most interesting chapter in the life of the eminent
divine, a few days after whose death, and in whose mem-
ory it was delivered; and in its style and matter, the
afiecting and beautiful tribute is highly creditable to the
oratorical powers, as well as the liberal Christian spirit
of Mr. Swain. In the spring of 1860, Mr. King arrived,
and from that time until March, 1864, the date of his
decease, he found in Mr. Swain his wisest and closest ad-
618 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
viser and friend. Indeed, from the time of his landing
in San Francisco, the two were ahnost inseparable, and
this intimate companionship may be said to have imbued
our subject with his highest aspirations and worthiest
aims in life. The sketch of that great man elsewhere in
these pages, renders unnecessary any further allusion to
this particular point. Truly fortunate was the advent of
Mr. King in San Francisco, not only for the church which
he raised out of bankruptcy by the magic of his genius,
but for the State and the country ; for to the splendor of
his eloquience is largely owing the sentiment which saved
California from the vortex of secession and the horrors
of civil war. Since his arrival in California, Mr. Swain
has seen the affairs of the Unitarian Society changed from
the most deplorable financial aspect to one of flourishing
prosperity — a result traceable in no small degree to his
own prudent management and unwearied efforts. About
the time of his retiring from the Presidency of the Board
of Trustees, the pews rented for a premium of $24,750
above the annual assessments, amounting to $12,000;
enabling the society to wipe out entirely the debt of the
church, which had lingered along from the time the new
edifice had received the shock of its illustrious builder's
decease two months after it was consecrated. Mr. Swain
resigned only when the society was free from debt.
Although frequently solicited to serve in a public
capacity, having been several times applied to by nomi-
nating conventions to become a candidate for Senate and
Assembly, he invariably refused. While claiming to be
an ardent and original Republican, he shrunk from con-
tact with the coarser machinery of politics, preferring the
dignity of his own calling as a merchant and his books,
to active participation for personal ends in a political
canvass. Early in 1863, he was appointed, without solici-
tation, and as we believe without his knowledge. Superin-
tendent of the United States Branch Mint at San Fran-
cisco- Following the rule that had invariably guided him
hitherto, he hesitated before accepting, but finally yielded
at the request of many citizens and all the officers of the
Mint. The complimentary manner in which the office
ROBERT B. SWAIN. 619
was tendered by President Lincoln, would scarcely have
justified a refusal.
The office upon which Mr. Swain now entered has of
late years come to- be regarded as more strongly identified
with the interests of California than any other in the gift
of the Federal Government. It has been a reliable bank
of deposit for the miner, with a capital of thousands of
millions behind it for security, and to some extent the
regulator of finance on the Pacific coast. The position
was no sinecure. The Mint is a hard-working mill, with
the glare and heat of a chemist's laboratory. It has never
been a stepping-stone to political preferment; it has never
been a school for Senators or Congressmen. It requires
skilled labor and scientific attainment. The amount of
work done within its walls may be imagined from the fact
that since its creation in 1854 not far from three hundred
millions of dollars, or more than half the sum coined
by the Philadelphia Mint since 1793, has been struck from
its presses. Mr. Swain's management of the vast funds
placed in his charge, merits a much more lengthy and
detailed description than can be here devoted to the sub-
ject. In the manipulation of the precious metals, the
Government supposes that there will be a considerable
natural loss or wastage, and accordingly a large allowance
is given by law to the officers of the Mint for that purpose.
Although in some years, under a previous administration,
this allowance had not only been exhausted but largel}^
exceeded, under that of Mr. Swain the loss in no year
was ever more than a few hundred dollars, showing the
nation an instance in which a great public trust was
conducted as honestly and thoroughly as any private
business. It has been said of Mr. Swain, that '' he has
succeeded in accomplishing what few men ever accomplish
— administering a department of the government service
so as to disarm party animosity, and leave no place for
criticism to hang a complaint upon." In assuming control,
he resolved to be uninfluenced by cliques, combinations,
or parties. Of course, tremendous pressure was brought
to bear for places, but office brokers and office hunters
soon learned that the new Superintendent could not be
620 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
used as a tool. While demanding that the employes
should be unconditionally loyal to the Government, in-
tegrity, capacity, and faithfulness, were the chief requis-
ites. The Mint was a branch of the Government espe-
cially requiring the public confidence, and he steadily
refused to permit it to be prostituted to political ends ;
and this course met the entire approval of Mr. Lincoln
and of several Secretaries of the Treasury. The re-
markable success of Mr. Swain in the discharge of his
duties for six years, we think, may in a great measure be
attributed to this polic}^
After holding the position for about two years, con-
sulting rather his own tastes and inclinations than the
notoriety of public station, he tendered his resignation
of the Superintendency. It may be that this course
partly grew out of an honest indignation in his own
breast at the persistent misrepresentations by persons
anxious to supplant him, to meet which Mr. Swain, with
becoming dignity and conscious rectitude, would not
descend to a contradiction. The letter was sent without
the knowledge of his many friends and the public gen-
erally. His popularity and the estimation in which his
services were held is shown by the fact that as soon as it
became known that his resignation was in the hands of
the Department at Washington, a paper, signed by all
the bankers and many of the leading merchants of San
Francisco, was presented to him, requesting that he
withdraw the document, and a dispatch from the same
gentlemen in reference to the matter was also sent to
Secretary McCulloch. By a singular coincidence, this
dispatch was crossed on the wires by one from the Sec-
retary himself preferring the same request to Mr. Swain.
Thus urged, he consented to retain his place at the head
of the Mint, which he continued to hold until the sum-
mer of 1869 — his administratien of its affairs compelling
the unqualified endorsement of the Department, while
the character and unimpeachable integrity of the Super-
intendent was made the theme for special encomium on
the floors of Congress.
In 1865, Mr. Swain was one of the founders, in con-
EGBERT B. SWAIN. 621
junction with other philanthropic gentlemen, of the San
Francisco Benevolent Association, which patterns after a
like society in New York known as the ''Association for
Improving the Condition of the Poor." Of this institu-
tion Mr. Swain has been the President from the date of
its organization. At its first anniversary meeting in
May, 1866, in an address to the members, he gave a
graphic statement of the scope of the Society's useful-
ness and charities during the year then just ended. Mr.
Swain said:
It is not permitted to the trustees to relate in detail the facts that
have been gathered bearing on the extent and natui'e of indigence
and suffering in our city, because a proper regard for the peculiar
sensitiveness of the poor has imposed upon them the obligation of
secrecy. But if I could di^oilge a tithe of the information which
we have gained — if I could tell of the poverty and despair that is
nurtured in our very midst — of the squalid destitution prevailing here
— which exists not a stone's throw from the abodes of wealth and
splendor — if I could make known to the generous-minded people of
this city how, through the gentle beneficence of this society, which
is but the wise concentration of the individual charities of the mem-
bers, anguish has been assuaged, bleeding hearts cured, widowed
mothers assisted to the necessaries of life, hungry little children fed,
and their delicate, naked bodies clothed against the wet and cold;
if I could relate a small portion of the tales of wretchedness and
woe that have been whispered into the ears of the officers — tales of
disappointed ambition, buried hopes and expectations, blasted for-
tunes, unexpected penury and discouraged hearts; and if I could
paint a picture of the army of houseless, homeless, hungiy, shiver-
ing, dejected, sorrow-stricken people whose sufferings they have re-
lieved, and some of whom have been raised from the slough of des-
pond beyond the necessity of further aid — if I could present such
pictures as these to the full gaze of a kind, indulgent public — pictures
w^hich have had their reality in the experience of this Association — I
am sure that parents who remembered their children, men who have
wives, women who have husbands upon whom, perhaps in this
capricious age, fortune may one day frown — I am sure that such
would never allow this Society to w^ant for funds. For its scope is
broad and cathohc. It extends the hand of charity to all. It is no
resjDecter of persons, color or race. Whether the applicant be Jew
or Gentile, Greek or Roman, American or foreign, black or white,
young or old, Protestant or Catholic — whatever the sex, whatever
the sect, whatever the skin, so long as it is a being bearing the
impress of humanity and made in the image of God, the case re-
ceives immediate attention according to its nature and exigency.
Nor does it supersede existing charities, but it cooperates with them,
and so far as is practicable, makes them the more available to those
G22 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
for whom tliey are designed. The work which it performs is various.
Some are furnished with food, some with fuel, some with, clothing.
Some are assisted in the payment of rents, who would otherwise with
their children be turned houseless into the streets. Some are as-
sisted to employment; some furnished with the means to reach
distant relations, who will care for them; and in one instance, to
illustrate the scope and breadth and comprehensiveness of this
Society, a beneficiary — a very excellent woman — was provided with
a worthy husband, with whom she is now living happily.
To many public charities during the last ten years^
Mr. Swain has been a contributor, and. of several to this
day an active working member, devoting time, money,
and labor to alleviating the necessities of his fellow-
creatures. At the Southern Relief Meeting held in
April, 1867, in San Francisco, he was one of the officers,
and took a prominent part by word and action in for-
warding the object of the assemblage; during the war,
he was an indefatigable member of the Sanitary Commit-
tee ; for many years he has been Secretary of the Board
of Trustees of the Ladies' Protection and Relief Society ;
is Treasurer of the San Francisco Lying-in Asylum and
Foundling Hospital, and an officer in several other chari-
table institutions that need not be mentioned. In the
debates and proceedings of the San Francisco Chamber
of Commerce, Mr. Swain has been a constant participant
for many years, and from its earliest days has been Vice
President or a Trustee of the institution. The records
are replete with the results of his practical suggestions
on commercial subjects. His especial pride in life is his
mercantile education. At the opening of the new Mer-
chants' Exchange in July, 1867, being introduced in his
official capacity of Superintendent of the Mint, he said
in the course of a speech of considerable length :
But I am not overpleased, Mr. President, with the association into
which you have brought me. It is not as a public officer that I
desire to be known. Creditable as it may appear to enjoy the con-
fidence of the people and the Government, I regard the vocation of
the merchant in the broadest and the most comprehensive acceptation
of that word as the most important of all. In the one case, the
accident of position or office may give a factitious importance to the
individual, to which he may not be entitled. But in the case of the
merchant, his influence, his power, his importance, are not reflected,
are not derived, are not uncertain. They spring out of the depths
ROBERT B. SWAIN. 623
of his own nature, and no external surroundings can raise him to a
place higher than that to which his own genius may lift him. I
claim to rank as a merchant; as a merchant I believe I hold a public
office. I dCtsire no prouder honor than to hold humble rank with
men v/ho have so distinguished their class. I regard honorable
distinction as a merchant as infinitely more valuable than I do the
highest glory that can come from any office in the gift of people or
President. "Whose name stands higher in the catalogue of merchants,
higher in the roll of fame, higher in the annals of history; than that
of George Peabody? What office in the gift of Prince, Potentate, or
President, can confer such distinction as has been earned by this
simple, unpretending merchant and banker? Indeed, does not his
name shine out more glowingly than that of any Prince or President
himself? And this, not because he has become possessed of huge
wealth, but because his mind has been disciplined while accumu-
lating that wealth, to a correct knowledge of the uses to which it
should be applied, v/hich so few understand. Such men, too, were
Robert B. Minturn, Jonathan Goodhue, and Peter Cooper, now
living, and a host of others.
Mr. Swain not only possesses the faculty of express-
ing himself readily and neatly on public occasions, but
he is also peculiarly happy in the composition of ad-
dresses, while his pen has frequently been engaged in
contributions to the press, both by editorials and com-
munications, on a variety of subjects, but usually in the
discussion of topics of pressing public interest. His style
is compact and logical, and when occasion seems to re-
quire it, men and measures are handled with a force and
directness that leaves nothing to be inferred.
In retiring from the responsibilities and cares of
office, he gladly resumed his place as a private citizen,
enabling him to pursue his regular mercantile business,
which, however, he had never abandoned during his super-
intendency of the Mint. The office came to him unsought,
and he left it without regret, satisfied to know that the
department over which he had presided for so many years,
continually enjoyed the confidence of the people and of
the Grovernment, that in the discharge of his duty he
established many valuable precedents which no successor
can set aside, and that during his official career not a
word was whispered even among his political enemies
against the upright management of an institution which
sends forth two-thirds of the coinage of the country.
624 REPRESENTATIVE 5IEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Notwithstanding that he has figured conspicuously as a
man of affairs — as a public man — those who know him
intimately are aware that he does not court prominence
or notoriety — has no ambition to be a leader. If he has
taken a leading part in public matters, it was with the
consciousness that duty demanded the consecration of
time and influence to useful objects, and the building up
of a purer and more elevated tone of society, while his
own impulses leaned to the studious seclusion of his lib-
rary or the quiet of his legitimate calling. Together
with a strict fidelity to every engagement, and unclouded
clearness and accuracy in business, he has a cheerful,
elastic, ingenuous manner that invites confidence, and is
in keeping with a kindly, sympathetic nature. Still in
the prime of life, Mr. Swain has been fortunate in retain-
ing, through many years, all his valuable early friendships,
while the range of his commercial connections has widely
extended on both sides of the continent.
FREDERICK F. LOW.
J3y y/'lLLIAM y. )VeLLS.
THE appointment of Governor Low as United States
Minister to China, while regarded as a titting recog-
nition of his services in the several honorable stations he
has occupied under the Federal and State Governments,
was particularly pleasing to Californians — not only his
intimate friends, but the community at large. The in-
creasing importance of California, and its position rela-
tively to China, seem especially to designate that State
as a point from which to select envoys to the Asiatic
countries bordering on the Pacific; a policy, however,
which has too often been overlooked by administrations
previous to that of President Grant. But Mr. Low, al-
though a Calif ornian proper, made so by twenty years'
residence in the land of gold, has a reputation somewhat
national in character, having filled the offices of Collector
of the Port of San Francisco and Member of Congress,
both during periods of great public agitation, and when
abilities of no ordinary kind were demanded; and the
same may be said of his term as Governor of California.
He is not only a representative Californian, but a repre-
sentative American, and is endowed with those qualities
of mind which eminently fit him for a leading foreign
mission. In view of the international questions incident
to our proximity to the vast populations across the Pacific,
the Chinese Mission rises to the first importance. Our
40
G26 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
representative to that ancient Government is liable to
have submitted to his judgment, subjects involving com-
mercial and maritime issues of incalculable weight. A
third of the human race live opposite to us; and these
nervously active and imitative people are brought by the
modern appliances of steam travel nearer to the factories
of the North and the cotton fields of the South than
England was forty years ago, when European labor
reached America by sailing craft, sometimes occupying
six weeks in crossing the Atlantic. The natural anxiety
which all feel who are interested in our relations with
China was relieved u]3on the announcement of the name
of the new Minister, from whose good sense, tact, and
experience, much was to be expected.
Mr. Low was born in 1828, in the State of Maine,,
where his ancestors were among the earliest settlers.
After completing an academical education, he engaged in
mercantile pursuits in Boston, whence he came to Cali-
fornia in 1849, arriving in San Francisco in the height
of the gold excitement on the first trip of the steamship
Panama^ in June of that year. Continuing business as
a merchant in San Francisco until 1854, he went to
Marysville in the following year, where he established a
banking house, and was widely known as a prosperous
banker. In 1861, he was elected to the thirty-seventh
Congress, and repairing to Washington took an active
part in the vital issues then convulsing the nation. The
civil war had broken out, and during the whole of his
Congressional term every hour was big with events in
which the national existence was at stake between con-
tendmg armies. The record of Mr. Low finds him ever
prompt, energetic, and uncompromising in his devotion
to the cause of the Union. The limits of our sketch will
not admit of more than this condensed allusion to his
course at that time, familiar as it is to the general reader
for its unshaken patriotism. In counsel with statesmen
of veteran experience, his clearness of discernment and
fertility of resource were ever apparent in times of emer-
gency. At the expiration of his term in the spring of
1863, he was appointed by President Lincoln Collector
FREDERICK F. LOW. 627
of the Port of San Francisco, succeeding Ira P. Rankin;
and here, as in the halls of Congress, he showed an apt-
itude for business, and a quick comprehension of intricate
revenue questions, that commanded the respect of the
merchants with whom he came in contact. Soon after
assuming the office of Collector, he was elected Governor
of California, and entered upon his duties in December,
1863, serving the full term of four years, when, in 1867,
he returned to private life.
This, in brief, is the public career of Mr. Low. We
believe it will be universally conceded that w^e have in
no respect overestimated his services or abilities. During
the larger portion of his term as Governor the civil war
was raging, and his activity in holding California true to
the Union gave great satisfaction to the Government and
to the people of this coast. He devoted himself to the
finances of the State, and by his prudence, sagacity, and
business intelligence, cleared off the floating debt, amount-
ing to something like $1,000,000, and placed the State
Treasury on a cash basis. His administration was dis-
tinguished for unflinching opposition to all special and
local bills, and a determined enmity to such as were calcu-
lated to squander the funds of the State for the benefit
of individuals. His veto of several bills granting aid to
railroads, and for other similar schemes, gave him the un-
limited confidence of the people. His inaugural and
messages, terse, vigorous and practical, were generally ad-
mired as lucid expositions of the state of public affairs,
for the clear comprehension of which, his experience as
merchant, banker, and legislator had given him peculiar
advantages. He declined a renomination in 1867, which,
in the language of one of the leading journals of Cali-
fornia, was the mistake of his life, and a great mistake for
his party. The appointment of Minister to China was
tendered to him by President Grant without solicitation,
and his acceptance of that important and delicate mission
was more in deference to the wishes of the leading busi-
ness men of the Pacific coast than to his own inclination.
He has naturally given considerable attention to the various
difficult questions accompanying our increased intimacy
628 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
with China — perhaps more than most men not directly
interested in them. His predecessors to China during the
last twenty-five years have been Caleb Cushing, Humphrey
Marshall, Mr. Parker, Robert McLane, William B. Reed,
Anson Burlingame, and J. Ross Browne. Mr. Low, albeit
he has done his State service in various responsible posi-
tions, is still a young man, and the future may yet be bur-
thened with his honors. 'Next to his clear-headed insight
into involved questions, and abilities as a negotiator,
perhaps the secret of his remarkable success in life may
be found in his amiability and urbanity, which are appre-
ciated by a wide circle of friends, and which draw men
towards him almost without an effort on his part.
As a public speaker, he exemplifies the unpretending
directness of his character, seldom aspiring to flights of
eloquence, always sensible and to the point, ready in
language and appropriate in style. At the dinner given
in San Francisco to commemorate the opening of the
line of steamers between that port and China, in January,
1867, Mr. Low, who presided on the occasion, concluded
as follows an eloquent speech on the relations of the
United States with China:
Until within a few years, China has been to us a sealed hook,
practically, and even now we are permitted to examine only the out-
side and the title-page; and it seems but yesterday that Commodore
Perry anchored his fleet in front of Japan, and gave the Tycoon the
option of opening his outside door, or having it battered down with
shells made of American iron. Who can foretell all the results of
intimate commercial relations with these countries during the next
ten, twenty, or fifty years? China, with an area of 5,000,000 square
miles, a coast line of 3,350 miles, and containing a pox^ulation of
410,000,000 people, or about one-third of the whole world, thrown
open to unrestricted intercourse with, and the indomitable energy
of the American people, what mutual advantages may not be expected
to flow from it? The ruling powers in China will learn that free
intercourse will be of advantage to them; that they can increase their
imports of merchandise with profit, and dispense with the large
amounts of precious metals which are annually received in payment
of exports, and hoarded. And while the Chinese are receiving th-ese
valuable lessons, may not our magnates in finance learn that the true
remedy for the unsettled state of our financial affairs is to be found
in securing a balance of foreign trade in favor of the United States,
rather than in acts of Congress making the selling of gold a mis-
demeanor? We must learn to treat the Chinese who come to live
FREDERICK F. LOW. 629
among us decently, and not oppress them by unfriendly legislation,
nor allow them to be abused, robbed, and murdered, without extend-
ing to them any adequate remedy. I am a strong believer in the
strength of mind and muscle of the Anglo-Saxon race, which will
win in the contest for supremacy with any people, without the aid
of unequal and oppressive laws; and the man who is afraid to take
his chances on equal terms with his opponents is a coward, and un-
worthy the name of an American. Were I to sum up the whole
duty imposed upon us, I should say let us be honest, industrious,
and frugal; be persevering and progressive, and remember Raleigh's
maxim, that, "Whoever commands the sea commands the trade of
the world; and whoever commands the trade of the world commands
the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.''
flTiri?; -^Y
iZlv >J
ANTONIO MARIA PICO.*
THE little of romance that attaches to the name of
California is connected with the days prior to
American intrusion, when the scattered missions and
presidios held the aborigines in bodily and spiritual thrall,
and a few descendants of the heroes of the Spanish con-
quest lorded it over broad leagues of territory, and main-
tained an estate of patriarchal independence. Afterwards
came the coarse, brutal days of the gold-digger ; nor have
we in our history any other epoch to which we can look
back with something of that romantic feeling which clings
around the older days of chivalry in the lives of older
countries, except the epoch of the Spanish rule. One of
the few remaining lives which connected us, as by a pal-
pable link, with the past, was that of Antonio Maria
Pico. Like the Castros, Vallejos, and other familiar
Spanish names, that of Pico is united with the early
history of the Californias. Don Antonio Maria was born
at Monterey, California, in 1808, when our own nation had
barely attained its majority, while our revolutionary
fathers still directed the career of the Republic ; when the
Regent held a brilliant court at St. James', and nearly
twenty years before the American colonies of Spain as-
serted their independence. Then the Californias were to
the world at large as much Urra incognita as the shores of
Tanganyika are to us to-day. Their very name savored
of the age of fable. It seems now almost wonderful that
** For explanatory note, see Preface.
632 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the changes of these sixty years — the growth of one great
nation from feeble infancy to vigorous maturity, the
decadence of others, the overthrow of monarchies, the ex-
tinction of dynasties — should have transpired within the
span of one human life ; and yet they were all crowded
within the experience and ken of Sefior Pico. The same
thought might be expressed upon the death of any man
of equal age, but they are not so naturally suggested as
in the case of this old Californian, whose own youth
reaching back to the romantic period of our history,
naturally connects itself with the contemporaneous scenes
which have been enacting in the world's greater drama.
When but sixteen years of age, Pico was called from
his home at Monterey to San Juan Capistrano, by Padre
Ramon, to take charge of the books and business of that
Mission. He afterwards removed to San Jose, where he
held for many years the office of Alcalde; while dis-
charging the duties of that position, he induced the
people of San Jose to commence the erection of the old
Mission Church.
He was residing at that place, and in the prime of life,
holding office under the Mexican Government, when the
Americans under Fremont broke over the mountains and
on to the plains of California, and the Federal Navy scoured
the coast and seized the ports of California. Pico was a
Colonel in the Mexican service, but was unable, with the
means at his disposal, and the equipments at his command,
to successfully oppose the progress of the American troops.
The Mexican forces retreated towards Los Angeles, and soon
afterwards the war in California was closed by capitulation
and a surrender to the United States. Col. Pico soon
came to appreciate the heroic qualities of the American
soldiers, and formed that strong attachment for Gen.
Fremont which he ever afterwards manifested.
Upon the calling of the Convention at Monterey to
form the Constitution of California, in 1849, Col Pico was
elected a delegate from Santa Clara county, and took his
seat in that body, and was a useful member in its delibera-
tions: was appointed Prefect by Gov. Burnett, and in 1850
was elected a member of the General Assembly from
ANTONIO MARIA PICO. 633
Santa Clara county. In 1856, upon the organization of
the Republican party, and the nomination of Col. Fremont
for the Presidency, Col. Pico united with that party, and
did much to secure the California Spanish vote to the
support of the Republican ticket. On the hrst nomina-
tion of Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency, the California
Republican State Convention selected Col. Pico as one
of the Republican candidates for Presidential Elector, to
which office he was chosen by the people at the sub-
sequent election. Mr. Lincoln, after entering upon the
duties of his office, appointed Mr. Pico Receiver of publie
moneys at the land office in Los Angeles; but as the
duties of the office required him to be much absent from
his family, he soon resigned it.
Col. Pico died at his residence at San Jose on Sunday
morning. May 23d, 1869. Four months thereafter, his
mother died at Castroville — having attained the great age
of ninety-eight years. The old lady left more than a
hundred descendants and probably a thousand relatives to
mourn her death.
Like so many of the race to which he belonged, Senor
Pico was physically an extremely handsome man. Of
commanding presence and courtly address, he impressed
the stranger as one of the finest samples of that noble
Spanish type which is yearly becoming more rare. LTpon
the more intimate acquaintance which was enjoyed with
his generous hospitalities, one was impressed by the
goodness of heart, simplicity of character, fine sense of
honor, and that sweetness of disposition which is the per-
fection of manliness, rather than by the dignity of exterior
which first commanded attention. These very virtues and
excellences in Sefior Pico contributed to cast a shadow
over the closing years of his life. In the early American
days, by abuse of his confidence and betrayal of his
trustfulness, he was stripped of his princely possessions,
and was subjected thereafter to feel the mortifications and
bitterness of one who had been despoiled through the
means of all which he knew to be best and noblest in his
being. He held aloof, as far as his strong human feelings
and nature would permit, from Americans, to whom his
684 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
misfortunes were due, never learning their language nor
associating upon a basis of intimacy save with a proved
and chosen few. Although he opposed them patriotically
upon their invasion of his country, he was one of the first
of prominent and influential Californians to come forward,
upon the conclusion of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
to accommodate himself and those of his countrymen who
looked to him for example and counsel, to the new order
of things. It is believed that his many troubles aggra-
vated the heart disease to which he finally succumbed.
He left a reputation unsullied, a name which has been
honored in his life, a wide circle of deeply attached
friends, nor — as we believe — -an enemy on the face of the
.earth.
WILLIAM MORRIS STEWART.
MR. Stewart was born in the State of New York, in
the year 1827. He is the oldest son of a numerous
family of brothers and sisters. His parents are native-
born Americans, of remote English or Scotch ancestry.
During the War of 1812, his father enlisted as a volun-
teer from the State of New York, serving during a por-
tion of the war, and until honorably discharged. He is
now a pensioner of the government, and in the enjoy-
ment of faculties still unimpaired by the ravages of time.
In early youth, Mr. Stewart worked upon his father's
farm, his ordinary avocations and every-day life being
little different from that of other boys under similar cir-
cumstances. An ardent desire for the acquisition of
knowledge was one of his leading characteristics, and for
the accomplishment of this end, all his spare time was
employed in the study of such books as could be pro-
cured in the neighborhood of his home.
After passing through the usual routine of work and
study, (at a time when public schools were neither so
numerous or so thorough as now) Mr. Stewart, by com-
bining his own earnings with judicious pecuniary assist-
ance furnished by friends who took an interest in his
progress, was enabled to enter Yale College as a regular
student. At this seat of learning he remained for about
three years, managing in that time, by close study, to
master a course which generally occupied a longer period.
Mathematics was his favorite pursuit, and in this branch
he acquired such extraordinarv -i-ofi-^/r^ncy that his assist-
636 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIPIC.
ance was required in the preparation of a mathematical
work upon which one of the professors was at that time
employed. His Alma Mater afterwards conferred upon
him an honorary degree, in recognition of his early dili-
gence and subsequent eminence.
When Mr. Stewart left Yale College, the excitement
concerning gold discoveries in California was at its height,
and he caught the contagion. After making a few neces-
sary preparations, he started for California in 1849, ar-
riving at San Francisco in that year, in time to take an
active part in those measures which prepared the way for
an admission to the Union. Mining was then the occu-
pation to which a large part of the population were de-
voted, and in a short time Mr. Stewart found himself at
work in the mines. He followed this pursuit for some
years. Then, having determined to study law, he made
application to Hon. John R. McConnell, then in the full
tide of a lucrative practice at Nevada City, Cal. The
enthusiasm and zeal of the young man was a sufficient
earnest of that unflinching energy and close application
so essential to the successful prosecution of legal studies.
His personal appearance at the time of this application
was anything but prepossessing: he was attired in buck-
skin pants, heavy boots, slouch hat, and such other gar-
ments as generally completed a miner's costume; but this
rough exterior could not conceal that native hue of reso-
lution which animated his whole appearance. Arrange-
ments, satisfactory both to pupil and preceptor, were
made, and preparations for the bar were commenced im-
mediately. These were carried on with characteristic
perseverance for the space of three months, at the end
of which time he applied for admission, was subjected to
a rigorous and searching examination, was declared to be
qualified, and a license to practice granted forthwith.
Shortly after becoming a full-fledged attorney, he was
elected a Justice of the Peace, and discharged the duties
of the office without '' fear, favor, or affection." Though
the questions that came before this petty tribunal were
generally unimportant, they were always decided on
principle; and the correctness of these decisions is evi-
WILLIAM MORRIS STEWART. 637
denced from the fact that they were rarely reversed on
appeal.
After serving one term as a Justice, the ambition for
more exalted fields of labor, together with an aptitude
for business w^iich had already been exhibited, led to
the formation of a partnership between Mr. kjtewart and
his old preceptor. During a portion of the time which
this partnership lasted, Mr. McConnell held the office of
Attorney General of the State, and being at one time
compelled to be absent, he selected his partner to fill his
place until his return.
For the successful conduct of important criminal
cases before the highest judicial tribunal of the State,
and for the preparation of sound legal opinions upon
mooted constitutional questions, no mean order of ability
is required. It is therefore no small tribute to say that
he performed his duties in a manner such as to meet
with the universal approval of the people, and to add in-
creased lustre to a rapidly advancing reputation. At
about this time, Mr. Stewart was married to the third
daughter of Gov. Henry S. Foote, of Mississippi, and
shortly after this event the partnership between Mr.
McConnell and himself was dissolved by regular limita-
tion of time.
Mr. Stewart then commenced to practice for himself.
That there is always room at the top of the ladder of
fame, however much its approaches may be crowded^ was
with him an appreciated maxim, and it is no matter
of wonderment that we see him disputing the place for
precedence with older and more experienced practition-
ers. Force of will, celerity of action, indomitable per-
severance, strict integrity, and a restless energy that
could never be quieted, are qualities which Mr. Stewart
possessed, and it was these attributes which enabled him
to take a high place at the bar, even at the very outset
of his career — a place which he always maintained, never
losing an inch of ground once gained, but steadily push-
ing forward towards the very front ranks of the profes-
sion. At this time business was becoming somewhat
stagnant at Nevada City; many important mining suits
638 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
had been settled ; and but few real estate cases of any
magnitude were likely to arise in a country where titles
were unclouded and local resources were but beginning
to be developed. Hence a better location was to be
found, and Downieville, Sierra county, was the chosen
place. A removal was accordingly efiected in the year
1857.
Here, among comparative strangers, the struggle for
professional advancement and its unfailing emoluments
was renewed with unabated vigor. Immediate employ-
ment on one side or the other of every important case,
a high reputation for professional skill, and a leading
position at what was then a very able bar, are indicative
of his standing at this time; but Downieville soon shared
the fate of other mining towns, and settled down from a
state of undue excitement to a condition of comparative
quietude : it was no longer the place for an active, enter-
prising, and rising young man.
Fortunately at this juncture (1859) the discovery of
extensive silver mines at Washoe afforded just the op-
portunity for a man of Stewart's composition to reap
riches and renown in an almost incredibly short space of
time. It did not take long to decide so vital a question,
and a second removal was effected with commendable
promptitude. This move was made just in time to meet
the flood of immigration which shortly after began to
flow towards the region hitherto regarded as a mere
barren waste, but now believed to teem with exhaustless
mineral wealth. From the confusion which ensued,
sprung endless litigation. Disputed boundaries, priority
of locations, non-compliance with legal forms, the mutual
rights of holders of adjacent claims — these and kindred
questions were the fruitful parents of numberless law-
suits. This was just the location for a man possessed of
great fertility of resources and willing to encounter any
obstacles, which were generally surmounted by the per-
tinacity with which they were met. Here was a battle-
field where new and untried expedients were more likely
to eventuate in success than a strict compliance with
long established precedents ; where celerity of movement
WILLIAM MORRIS STEWART. 639
was of more effect than regular approaches ; where ^^Tapo-
leonic genius falsified all military maxims. There were
few precedents for information of lawyers or the guidance
of the bench. Some of the questions which arose were
novel, and many of them very intricate. Some had never
before arisen, and others had been passed over without
definite decision. There was no reasoning upon such
cases from analogy: they must be decided each upon its
own individual merits and the circumstances under which
it arose. Difference of situation led to conflicting de-
cisions. From chaos must be educed a system of order;
from a confused mass of decisions, evidence, and opinions,
must be formed a steady and unvarying rule of law.
It is no flattery to Mr. Stewart, still less is it an in-
justice to his compeers, to say that he contributed as
much towards this result — towards forming a correct
system of jurisprudence for the State of Nevada — as any
one lawyer within the borders of the State. An ex-
tensive practice necessarily made him acquainted with all
important points which arose. The '' one ledge theory,"
a mixture of law and geology, was a proposition ad-
vanced by him, and demonstrated in many instances.
Mr. Stewart never argued a case without preparation:
by conversing with witnesses, and a careful examination
of authorities, he made himself familiar with every issue
which could by possibility arise, so as never to be taken
at a disadvantage. An anecdote related by Dr. Merritt
of Oakland, in Mr. Stewart's presence, is illustrative of
his character. The Doctor was in Virginia City attend-
ing to some legal matters, and was recommended to con-
sult with Mr. Stewart before commencing suit. The
parties were introduced, whereupon Mr. Stewart said,
''Well, Doctor, state your case." The Doctor then com-
menced, but had not proceeded far when he was inter-
rupted with the inquiry, ^' Have you a witness to prove
that fact ?" An affirmative answer, and the Doctor went
on with the statement, but was frequently interrupted
during the course of his narrative with the same inter-
rogatory. At length the conclusion was approaching,
when Dr. Merritt stated a fact upon the proof of which
640 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
the whole case hinged, when Stewart again asked, "Have
you a witness to prove that fact?" "No." ^^ Then you
must go right out and get one!' This anecdote, although
probably overdrawn as to the mendacity of witnesses or
the readiness of lawyers to use perjured testimony, is yet
strikingly illustrative of tha-^etermination never to go
to trial \vith the risk of a surprise, and consequent dis-
comfiture.
When a case was ready for court it was conducted
towards its conclusion with the same assiduous zeal which
marked its preparation. Truth w^as drawn from the lips
of an unwilling or an interested witness, more by force
of will and an accurate knowledge of human nature, than
by subtle rules of logic or a confusing mode of examina-
tion.
As a forensic speaker, Mr. Stewart is a man of marked
ability. He argues a case closely, never leaving the main
point for the sake of saying a fine thing. His speeches,
considered merely as compositions, are not calculated to
impress one with the ability of the speaker. They are
clear, methodical, almost entirely devoid of ornament,
especially that of a meretricious character, but yet they
are forcible and convincing, addressed to the understand-
ing rather than to the imagination of his auditors. When
occasion requires a display of rhetorical skill or oratorical
powers, his speeches differ from a mere juridical argument.
In summing up his character as a lawyer, we may truthfully
say that he is an eminent one, especially in that depart-
ment — mininsr law — to which his attention has been most
closely directed.
At this period of his life (1860, '61, '62) he was
eminently successful. Business poured in upon him
to such an extent that he was frequently compelled
to refuse important suits. Up to this time, he had
taken but little part in politics, preferring the pursuit of
a practice which yielded an enormous revenue, and a
plenitude of renown. But a lawyer in esse is a politician
in posse; good lawyers generally expect to go to Congress ;
Stewart was no exception to the rule ; yet his transposition
from the bar to the Senate chamber was due as much to
WILLIAM MORRIS STEWART. 641
the desire of the people to employ trained ability, as to
his own ambition for political preferment.
For the reasons before enumerated, he was elected one
of the Senators from J^evada, at the first meeting of the
Legislature for the ratification of the constitution, a posi-
tion to which he was reelected in 1869. That energy
and activity which wins for its possessor a place in the
front rank of advocates in a mining State, is duly ap-
preciated in Congress, where industry is a commodity
valued in proportion to its scarcity.
Prior to the war, and indeed ever since ^Ir. Stewart
attained his majority, he had been a Democrat, in full
affiliation with the leaders of the party, and an earnest
advocate of its leading doctrines. He voted for Breckin-
ridge in 1860.
After Mr. Lincoln's election, when all chances for a
peaceful settlement had vanished, and an adjustment of
sectional differences could only be effected through the
arbitrament of the sword, Mr. Stewart unhesitatingly
severed his connection with his old political associates,
and allied his fortunes wdth those who were for a vigor-
ous prosecution of the war. Nevada was admitted to
the Union during the days when the storm of war raged
fiercest; when the cries of those who sought for peace
were drowned in the general uproar for war, and it is not
strange, therefore, that she sent men whose "voices were
for war" to represent her in the national councils. Gov.
Nye and Mr. Stewart, both uncompromising LTnion men,
were elected at the first meeting, and were both retained
for a second term of office.
Since Senator Stewart's entrance into political life, his
course is known to the whole country. Before the con-
clusion of the war, there was but little opportunity for
a new-comer to display his abilities, as the plan of offensive
operations had been determined upon, and was undeviat-
ingly pursued. With the close of the contest, affairs were
changed, and an opportunity for distinction was open, such
as is seldom offered. A new system of tactics w^as to be
followed; the relations of the States had been suspended,
but not entirely dissolved ; to heal animosities engendered
41
642 EEPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
by a long and bloody war; to reestablish the authority
of the general government, without unnecessary harshness
to the Southern States; to restore harmony and good
feeling between the two sections by the enactment of
enlightened laws ; to fix the political status of the emanci-
pated negroes; to temper justice with mercy, and angry
passions with a leaven of magnanimity, required qualities
which go far towards forming high-minded statesmanship.
At this conjuncture, Senator Stewart offered his " Uni-
versal Amnesty and Universal Suffrage" resolutions, which
he vigorously supported with his voice and vote. There
can be little question but that if those resolutions had
been adopted the vexed question would have been speedily
and definitely settled. The fate of these resolutions is
too well known to require comment. At this period,
Senator Stewart maintained close personal relations with
President Johnson, and gave an undivided support to the
leading measures of his administration. Unfortunately
for the whole country, a humane and magnanimous policy
did not prevail, and harsher measures were decided upon.
Senator Stewart was elected as a Republican at a time
when sectional hostility was at its height; but since his
entrance into the halls of Congress, had not advocated
extreme measures, and hence could not in strictness be
termed a ^^ Radical." But party lines were closely drawn,
and a choice must be made. Senator Stewart readily
gave his adherence to measures introduced by Repub-
licans, though they were somewhat in conflict with former
expressed opinions. This partial change of opinion arose
from two causes: a conviction of previous error, and a
belief that more extreme measures were necessary for
the salutary treatment of the reconstruction question.
He has since given his undivided support to those
Congressional enactments known as the ^^ Reconstruction
Acts," commencing with the '' Civil Rights Bill," and
ending, for the present, with the '' Fifteenth Amendment."
Of this latter document, upon which has been exhausted
the language of panegyric or invective, according to the
political tenets of the commentators, Senator Stewart
is, we believe, the author; and however much it may be
WILLIAM MORRIS STEWART. 643
decried as a public measure, no one can fail to admire
the simplicity of a document which accomplishes, within
the compass of two lines, a purpose which has been ad-
vocated by able partizans ever since the formation of the
government. It is the concentrated essence of the doc-
trines of the original abolitionists and emancipationists.
Mr. Stewart, though before known as a moderate Ee-
publican, was an advocate of the impeachment of President
Johnson, and worked and voted with the thirty-five senators
who declared the President guilty as charged. He was
never classed as one of those whose vote was in the least
degree doubtful. He possessed the confidence of his as-
sociates, as is evidenced from the fact of his appointment
upon the ''Judiciary" and other important Congressional
committees.
But whilst devoting so much time to national affairs,
he has not neglected matters of moment to the people
of this coast. The Pacific railroad has at all times re-
ceived a large share of his attention, and he has con-
tributed every thing in his power to the completion of
an enterprise of so much importance to the people of this
section of the Union. Other lines of railroad have also
derived benefit from his efforts, for it is but recently that
he has contributed a large share of his time towards the
completion of a plan for a railroad through the San
Joaquin Valley.
Every measure having for its object the development
of the mining regions, lessening the hardship of the in-
habitants, or contributing to their greater security and
comfort, has met with his hearty support. The establish-
ment of complete postal facilities, those great civilizers,
has been an object of especial care. He was an early and
earnest advocate of Chinese immigration.
In Congress, Mr. Stewart is looked upon as an able
and efiicient member. His speeches are marked more by
force than fire: like his forensic efforts, they are almost
entirely devoid of ornament, reaching conclusions less
by artificial refinements of logic, than concise arrange-
ment, and simple brevity of statement.
In personal appearance, Senator Stewart is rather a
644 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
striking looking personage : he is considerably over six
feet in height, and rather stout, without being inclined
to corpulency. He has light hair, a clear, blue eye, and
a long, flowing beard. He is just approaching middle
age, and in the full enjoyment of a vigorous manhood.
Socially, Mr. Stewart is pleasant and affable, without be-
ing familiar; dresses plainly, without ostentation or show,
holding himself aloof from no one, however humble his
condition may be. He has implicit confidence in those
by whom he is surrounded, and this trait has more than
once been the cause of unfriendly impositions.
Taking success as a criterion of merit — a generally
accepted rule — we can safely pronounce Senator Stewart
a great man. The writer of this hasty sketch is aware
of the fact that there is but a slight line of demarcation
between the office of a truthful biographer and that of a
mere servile adulator. Looking from the standpoint
of justice, however, and free from political or personal
bias, he has endeavored to do simple justice to a person-
age with whose public acts the people are already
familiar.
HUGH P. GALLAGHER
pr p. f . p.
REV. Hugh P. Gallagher was born in the County Don-
egal, Ireland, in the year 1815. From his tender
years he manifested a desire to devote his life and ener-
gies to the sacred ministry. He was distinguished for
his assiduity and rapid advancement in English and
classical learning. When quite young he left his pater-
nal home with letters dimissory from his bishop, to seek
a new and wider field in which to labor in the cause of
religion. He landed in America in 1837, and immediate-
ly entered the Theological Seminary of St. Charles Bor-
romeo, in Philadelphia. Shortly afterwards, he w^as ap-
pointed Professor of the Latin and Greek languages in
that Seminary.
Whilst prosecuting his ecclesiastical studies in that
institution, he possessed advantages of which he did not
fail to profit. At that time. Most Rev. F. P. Kenrick,
the late Archbishop of Baltimore, whose literary fame is
not limited by the boundaries of our Continent, but holds
high place in every kingdom of Europe, was President
of the Seminary. His brother, the Most Rev. Peter R.
Kenrick, the present venerable and learned Archbishop
of St. Louis, was Rector of the Seminary. Rt. Rev. E.
Barron, afterwards Bishop of Liberia, in Africa, was Pro-
fessor of Moral Theology, and Rt. Rev. M. O'Connor,
the first Bishop of Pittsburg, Professor of Dogmatic The-
ology. These illustrious men, by their writings and mis-
sionary labors, have done much to place the Catholic
Church, in the United States, in its present elevated and
646 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
dignified position. Under the instruction and influence
of such tutors, did our young Levite live and learn, dur-
ing his whole collegiate career, until he was elevated to
the priesthood in 1840.
From ihis date, Father Gallagher, as we shall now
call him, entered upon the duties of a Catholic Pastor.
He was appointed, for his first Mission, to the parish of
Pottsville, at that time one of the largest and most im-
portant congregations in the interior of Pennsylvania.
Here was a field wherein to exercise his zeal. This was
the centre of the great coal district of Eastern Pennsyl-
vania. Thousands and tens of thousands of operatives
had gathered there from every quarter of the globe.
Many of them were addicted to the frightful vice of in-
temperance, the prolific source of broils, fights, bloodshed
and murder.
Father Gallagher's compassionate heart was moved by
the misery and scandal produced by these excesses, and he
resolved to use his utmost efforts to stem this tide of
vice and immorality, which threatened to sweep over
the land, bringing ruin and desolation in its course.
With the skill and prudence of a more matured experi-
ence, he commenced a course of instructions on the vir-
tue of temperance. He spoke with such paternal affec-
tion and pleaded with such pathetic earnestness, that
more than five thousand hardy miners came forward and
pledged themselves to total abstinence from all intoxi-
cating drinks. The improved condition and regularity
of conduct of these teetotalers had a happy influence in
winning over many of the votaries of inebriety to enlist
under the temperance banner.
In the following year. Father Gallagher was appointed
to govern a parish in western Pennsylvania. Here also
his efforts in the cause of temperance were crowned with
success. His labors were of the most trying character,
as he was obliged to travel over a great extent of country
to visit the different congregations entrusted to his pas-
toral charge. One of a less robust constitution would
have succumbed under the incessant calls made on his
time, both by day and night. All Catholics, who are sick
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 647
and dying/ have a right to the services of the priest at
whatever hour he may be called. It was not an unfre-
quent occurrence with Father Gallagher, after being worn
down and exhausted with the arduous labors of Sunday,
celebrating the late Mass, preaching, teaching the cate-
chism, singing vespers, instructing the young and ignor-
ant, and in various other duties, to be called out in a
23itiless storm, to visit a dying person some fifteen or
twenty miles distant, and to make this journey not un-
frequently on a trackless road over snow-clad hills.
In 1844. Father Gallagher was called by his ecclesi-
astical superior to Pittsburg, to take charge of the The-
ological Seminary. His duties here were of no ordinary
kind, for he was not only the President of the Institution,
charged with its management and discipline, but occupied
different chairs of instruction, and at the same time had
care of a large parish. About this time, a concerted op-
position to the Catholic Church and to the rights of Cathol-
ics, citizens of the United States, was organized under
the name of the Native American Party. The Churh, her
institutions and her teachings, were maliciously misre-
presented, and Catholics were held up to the scorn and
contempt of their fellow-citizens throughout the land.
The press and the pulpit were equally fierce and imjust
in their attacks on Catholics. Pittsburg was without a
newspaper to defend the rights of Catholics, or to give an
honest and fair statement of the doctrines and discipline
of the Church.
Under these circumstances. Father Gallagher was
waited on by many prominent citizens, who earnestly so-
licited him to cooperate with them in establishing a pa-
per devoted to the exposition of the real doctrines of the
Catholic Church, and to its vindication from the multi-
plied slanders and calumnies of a misguided press. . The
financial part of the undertaking they promised to attend
to, provided Father Gallagher would undertake the edi-
torial department. Weighed down, as he was, by his nu-
merous occupations, he might well have refused this new
burden ; but not so : the interests of the Church, of his
fellow- Catholics, and the enlightenment of his fellow-cit-
648 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
izens generally, demanded his aid, and he would not, even
if he could, resist their imperative appeal. The Pittsburg
Catholic was then established, and, under the editorial
management of Father Gallagher, attained an enviable
reputation. Its influence was soon felt. The fires of re-
ligious intolerance were subdued, the voice of calumny
silenced, the bitterness of fanaticism mitigated, and men
blushed for the ignorance by which they were impelled
to acts of violence and injustice. Peace and good will
succeeded to strife and hatred. These happy results
were due, in a great measure, to the course which Father
Gallagher adopted. The editorials of the " Catholic'' were
plain, clear, outspoken expositions of doctrine, whilst the
answers to assailants were the embodiment of Christian
charity, pitying rather than censuring, the deluded spirit
which aniiliated them. The demon of discord and re-
ligious animosity disappeared, we hope never again to
visit our land, fanning the flames of burning churches,
asylums, or convents.
This great task being accomplished, Father Gallagher
was called on by his bishop to complete the work com-
menced by the Reverend and illustrious Prince Gallitzen,
in Loretto. Prince Gallitzen belonged to the noble house
of Gallitzen, in Russia. Honors, position and fame
awaited him, had he remained in the Greek Church; but
this his conscience forbade : for after examining all the
arguments, pro and cow, and devoutly and perseveringly
imploring the assistance of Divine light, he was convinced
that the Roman Catholic Church was the only Church
which had claims to Divine origin. He, therefore, re-
nounced honors, country and home, to become an hum-
ble missionary in the then wilds of Pennsylvania. His
work was blessed by Almighty God. A flourishing con-
gregation grew up under his pastoral care. To succeed
such a devoted missionary and carry on his great under-
taking, was Father Gallagher now called. He set to work
with an indomitable spirit, that neither knew nor courted
repose.
The mantle of the illustrious Gallitzen had fallen on
a worthy successor. The work of his ministry was bless-
HUGH P. GALLAGHEE. 649
edj and diffused blessings. As the congregation was
growing large and important, it became necessary to es-
tablish schools. To this end, Father Gallagher purchased
an extensive tract of land, and erected thereon a commo-
dious building for a boarding and day school. He invit-
ed the Sisters of Mercy to take charge of it, which invita-
tion they accepted ; and in a very brief period, he had the
satisfaction of witnessing St. Aloysius' Academy for young
ladies in full operation, crowded with boarders and day
scholars, diffusing the blessings of a sound moral and re-
ligious education.
The male children were now to be provided for. The
energies of Father Gallagher were again taxed to supply
this desideratum. For this purpose he devoted a large
farm belonging to the church, and had the necessary
buildings erected. This for him was an easy task; but
how was he to procure teachers? A merciful Providence,
which seemed to guide and bless all his undertakings,
came to his relief. A community of Franciscan Brothers
in Ireland had determined to found a home of their Or-
der in the United States. This coming to the knowledge
of Father Gallagher, he immediately invited them to Lor-
etto ; whither they came and opened the St. Francis' Col-
lege. This school now ranks among the foremost of
educational establishments in the East. The Legislature
of Pennsylvania chartered it, conferring on it University
privileges. Its graduates now shine bright among the
literati of the Atlantic States. These two institutions are
proud monuments of the zeal of Father Gallagher in the
cause of education. The labors of our good Father in
this portion of the Lord's vineyard culminated in the
erection of a magnificent church, whose massive walls and
lofty spires will proclaim "His praise from generation to ,
generation."
In 1850, the Rev. Father, with that indefatigable zeaL,
which characterized him, started a Catholic newspaper
at Summitville, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, called the
Crusad.r, aided in its editorial managemx^nt by the late^
Rev. Thos. McCullough, and the Right Rev. Dr. Mullen,,
present bishop of Erie. As the name imports, these gifted
650 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
divines did good service as soldiers of the cross ; and the
various articles from their pens were written with such
eloquence, boldness and force, as to challenge the ad-
miration even of the enemies of the Catholic faith. Any
one on this or the other side of the Rocky mountains^
who perused them, will bear testimony to the fact, that
they have not been surpassed, if equalled, in any Cath-
olic publication of our day.
In the year 1852, he was appointed Theologian to the
First Grand Plenary Council of bishops, held in the City
of Baltimore. Our own venerable and learned archbishop,
Alemany, who was in attendance at the Council as bishop
of Monterey, was most solicitous to obtain the services
of a pious, learned and zealous priest to aid him in estab-
lishing the Church on a solid basis on these shores^
whither were coming people of every clime, attracted by
the golden yield of river beds and mountain sides. Our
illustrious prelate's keen perception was not slow to
single out Rev. Father Gallagher from among the many
holy and devoted priests invited to the Council. He earn-
estly besought the Reverend Father to join him, placing
before him the gi»eat w^ants of his diocese, the immense
field of labor in it, and the incalculable good to be accom-
plished. These arguments had their weight; but how
could he leave a parish where so much Jiad been done,
and yet much more was to be accomplished ; where he was
beloved and revered with filial affection? Rt. Rev. Dr.
•O'Connor had already yielded an unwilling consent to the
';solicitations of Bishop Alemany for a temporary absence
i*of Father Gallagher, who, ever willing to make any and
every sacrifice where the glory of his heavenly Master
-wsiB to be extended, and the welfare of his neighbor to be
promoted, consented to the importunities of the Arch-
bishop, and immediately made preparations to set out
to his distant and laborious mission. The prayers of
tlkousands, for whose spiritual benefit he had so success-
folly toiled, like the odor of sweet incense ascended to
ihe throne of grace, entreating, imploring new benedic-
i?i:oiis on the work of the devoted pastor. The lisping
riSW?pplication of innocent childhood joined with the trem-
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 651
ulous petition of old age, and the earnest prayers of strong
manhood, besought the Giver of every good gift to bless
and protect their zealous and self-sacrificing pastor. The
efficacy of such intercession was made manifest by the sub-
sequent career of Father Gallagher. It seems a work of
supererogation to speak to Californians of his life, his
labors and success; thousands are willing witnesses of
all that we may assert.
Immediately after his arrival in this State, in the fall
of 1852, he proceeded to Benicia, where, as yet, there
was no Catholic Church. He took instant measures to
j3rocure a lot. He was fortunate in obtaining the site on
which the present church stands. The lot being secured,
it became necessary to open a subscription for the erec-
tion of a church. The Church of Benicia was the first fruit
of the labors of Father Gallagher, in California. Subse-
quently, he visited Shasta and Weaverville, in both of
which towns he obtained lots on which to erect churches ;
he also started collections for building them. About this
time, he was appointed to the charge of St. Francis'
Church, in San Francisco. As the Catholic population
of the city was rapidly increasing,, there was not sufficient
church accommodation to supply its requirements, and
Father Gallagher made considerable additions and im-
provements in St. Francis' Church. Archbishop Alemany
now resolved to build the cathedral of St. Mary, a deter-
mination with whom was equivalent to its realization. He
called on Father Gallagher to assist him in this gigantic
undertaking. How could he fail, thus aided ? The work
was commenced and carried on until St. Mary's Cathedral
now stands a stately monument of the noble generosity of
the citizens of San Francisco, and an imperishable testi-
mony of the zeal and energy of the good Archbishop and
Father Gallagher.
Whilst engaged in carrying on the cathedral, our Rev-
erend Father found time to visit other portions of the
diocese, and exert his influence. Thus he secured in the
beautiful city of Oakland, by his personal influence, the
large block on which the Catholic Church now stands.
With his usual zeal he opened a subscription for a church.
652 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
which was crowned with his accustomed success. At this
time also he had charge of the important mission of Sacra-
mento, the duties of which he performed satisfactorily
and successfully.
His untiring energy was afterwards to be exerted in a
new field. With the approbation of Archbishop Ale-
many he undertook^ in 1853, the publication and editorial
management of the Catholic Standard in San Francisco,
which did good service in the cause of religion and mo-
rality during its brief career.
Thus was the time of Father Gallagher constantly and
usefully employed in the great work in which his heart
and affections were centered. To labor for the glory of
God and the benefit of his neighbor, was the sacred and
inspiring influence that caused him to quit his home and
country, to sunder the bonds of love and reciprocated
affection which united him to his dear congregation in
Loretto ; and this heaven-born zeal now guided him in
all his undertakings. Though frequently obliged in the
interests of the church, morality, and benevolence, to min-
gle with public and ^prominent men, he ever obtained and
preserved the respect and esteem of all political parties ;
for he rose far above all party distinctions or sectional
feelings. Thus whatever right, favor or privilege he
sought was gracefully conceded. Such was the confidence
in his integrity, even among those who differed from him
in religious belief, that they earnestly cooperated with him
in every measure for which he claimed their assistance.
The growing wants of the church in this State imper-
atively demanded renewed exertions to meet its claims.
The members of the priesthood were few and entirely
inadequate to the labors required of them. Religious
institutions were limited in number. There was no hos-
pital or other religious charities through which to diffiise
the blessings of religion. To provide for all these wants
which pressed heavily on the heart of the good Arch-
bishop, he requested Father Gallagher to visit the Atlan-
tic States and Europe, and in his name to make arrange-
ments for securing the services of faithful and zealous
priests and some religious communities. He left San
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 653
Francisco for this purpose on the 1st of December, 1853,
and his success on this mission surpassed the brightest
anticipations. Several priests, animated with a holy ar-
dor, volunteered to accompany him to the distant shores
of the Pacific ; fourteen students were placed in ecclesi-
astical institutions in Europe to complete their studies
and fit them for the great work of the ministry in Califor-
nia. A community of Sisters of Mercy, numbering sev-
eral members, who had adorned the highest social circles
in Ireland, in a spirit of self-sacrifice listened to the irre-
sistible appeal of Father Gallagher, and cheerfully left
their homes to minister to the wants of the stranger in
the far off West. With what fidelity they have discharged
this sacred duty, the whole people of San Francisco can
testify ; for they have witnessed their self-denying labors at
all times, and more recently the noble heroism with which
these ministering angels rushed to the rescue of the plague-
stricken patients during the small-pox epidemic of 18G8-
9. A community of Sisters of the Presentation generous-
ly volunteered to dedicate their lives for the benefit of
the rising generation of California. Thousands of young
ladies in San Francisco have already experienced the ad-
vantages of the teachings of these good Sisters. Whilst
they have been instructed in the highest grades of polite
literature, they have been trained gently in the paths of
virtue, purity and modesty, to shine as bright ornaments
in society.
Such was a portion of the work of Father Gallagher
during his visit to Europe. He received, besides, pecu-
niary and other assistance for the church in California.
The ex-Emperor of Austria, Ferdinand, gave him a gener-
ous donation ; and from various other parties he received
presents of vestments, chalices and other church furniture
to a very large amount. The diocese reaped a rich re-
turn from these labors of love.
It was then the intention of Father Gallagher to re-
turn to his dear congregation of Loretto, and there pass
the remainder of his days in the quiet discharge of his
priestly duties ; but, at the urgent solicitation of the Most
Reverend Archbishop Alemany, he was prevailed upon to
654 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
make tlie sacrifice a second time, and smider the ties
which bound him to his cherished home.
The great panic which seized our whole population in
1855, in consequence of the failure of Adams' Express and
Blinking Company ; the immense losses sustained by the
mining and working classes by that bankruptcy; and the
want of confidence in other moneyed institutions, directed
public attention to Father Gallagher as one in whose
sterling integrity any and every trust might be reposed.
Hundreds called on him requesting, nay begging him to
take on deposit for safe keeping their hard-earned savings.
His was not the heart to resist the entreaties of these good
people, some of whom had been swindled out of the gains
of years. Although he consented to be the guardian of the
fruits of their toil, it was with extreme reluctance, for his
duties in the ministry occupied almost every moment of
his time. He was unwilling to be mixed up in financial
affairs, knowing with what a jealous eye his every act
would be scanned by a community which had just passed
through a crisis in which thousands had been reduced to
destitution and beggary. His only thought was to benefit
those confiding people to the best of his ability; and, great
as was the demand on his time and energies, he was ready
to devote himself to the advantage of the community. De-
positors, with sums varying from fifty to hundreds and
thousands of dollars, crowded in upon him. His little
room, which heretofore was sacred to study and repose,
vfas now converted into a Banking office, without the
many salaried clerks generally found in such institutions.
Father Gallagher alone performed all the duties of Re-
ceiver, Paying Teller, Treasurer, Book-keeper and Presi-
dent — all without fee or reward, except in the conscious
satisfaction that he was laboring honestly and successfully
for parties, whose confidence and esteem were more pre-
cious than gold. A busy scene was his little room each
day, as some came to doposit, and others to draw money.
Millions thus passed through his hands, every dime of
which has been fully and satisfactorily accounted for.
Such constant attention to these matters and his many
other occupations began to make inroads on his con-
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 655
stitution; his failing health warned him that limits
must be put to his labors, or he would soon fall a victim
to his zeal. He settled up his accounts with all interest-
ed, and retired from this business with the benedictions
of all who had been depositors. Few men in this venal
age can present a brighter or more enviable record.
Tired and worn out with the labors of the preceding
year, the Reverend Father was compelled to leave the city
and retire for a while to the country, with a view to re-
pair his health and reinvigorate his exhausted energies.
In May, 1860, he proceeded to Yreka for this purpose ;
but his indefatigable zeal and active mind would not per-
mit him to take that rest so necessary to exhausted na-
ture. He had not been long there before the religious
wants of the poor people appealed to his feelings, and in a
very short time he obtained a large lot, and transformed the
capacious house of Gen. Colton into a temporary church.
In August, 1860, he set out for Washoe, which was
then looming in the distance as the great resort of the
miners of the Pacific coast. When there, he found ''the
harvest rich but the laborers few;" and at once went to
work and erected three churches — one at Carson, one in
Yirginia City, and one in Genoa — to each of which was
attached a large lot of ground, and a cemetery to the one
in Yirginia City.
In 1861, with the approbation of Archbishop Alemany,
Father Gallagher undertook to supply the increasing de-
mand for church accommodation in San Francisco. While
looking for land for this purpose he was presented by Hon.
Horace Hawes with the large lot at Tenth and Howard
Streets, and erected thereon a church sufficiently spacious
as was deemed at that time, to accommodate the congre-
gation for many years ; but the rapid growth of the city
in that direction soon made it necessary to put up a much
larger and more commodious building. The zeal and
energy of Father Gallagher were again taxed to provide
the funds for its erection. His appeal to the congrega-
tion and his fellow-citizens was met with a promptness
and generosity, which showed the high esteem in which
he was held by them. The new church was quickly com-
656 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC. ^
pleted and paid for, and the old one converted into a
Temperance Hall and School-House. Subsequent ad-
ditions and improvements to the new church have made
it capable of seating a larger audience than any other
church edifice in San Francisco. The school accommoda-
tions have also been augmented^ so that at the present time
eleven rooms are crowded with children of the district.
For several years the greatest exertions w^ere required
to sustain St. Joseph's school, but as it was a work in
which the dearest interests of his congregation were at
stake, Father Gallagher spared neither time nor labor to
make it a success. We have been present at the exam-
inations and exhibitions of this school, and take pleasure
in recording our high estimation of the proficiency shown
by the pupils in the various branches of study. The
pleasurable emotions which filled the Rev. Father's heart,
we could have envied, as this crowd of smiling, happy
innocents gathered around him daily. He seemed con-
tented, satisfied, repaid for all the anxiety and labor he
had expended on the school. He has thus ranked himself
among the first of the promoters of education in San
Francisco.
Prominent among the causes of the high appreciation
in which Father Gallagher was held by his fellow-citizens,
may be placed his unselfish zeal in the cause of education.
The true, unfailing way to reach the hearts of parents, is
to show a kind, affectionate interest in their offspring; and
this Father Gallagher has done so effectually as to secure
the confidence and affection of parents and children.
In our notice of Rev. Father Gallagher, we should be
adjudged derelict in our duty, did we fail to mention ^
another praiseworthy institution which owes, in a great
measure, its origin and present prosperity to his zealous
labors. We mean the Magdalen Asylum. The worthy
Sisters of Mercy, filled with the spirit of their Divine
Master, who, to the penitent Magdalen, said ''many sins
are forgiven her because she hath loved much," and
took her under his special protection, to save her from
the sneers and contempt of the proud Pharisee or the
no less dangerous solicitations and enticements of false
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 657
friends, had already established a home and shelter for
the poor fallen daughters of Eve, who wished to abandon
a life of sin and infamy, and return again to the paths of
virtue and morality. Already had those chaste servants
of God rescued many an erring woman and thrown the
mantle of charity over their past transgressions and led
them in the way of sanctification and eternal life. But
their means were limited, and the accommodation insuf-
ficient to meet the constantly increasing demands on their
charity. It was under these circumstances that Father
Gallagher was applied to by the good Sisters, to assist
them. At once he sought our venerable Archbishop,
and readily obtained permission to undertake the erec-
tion of a new building wdiich should serve as an asylum
for penitent women. It was thought that an edifice
might be constructed of ample dimensions to satisfy the
present want, at an outlay of eight or ten thousand dol-
lars ; but such a building was not equal to the zeal and
charity of Father Gallagher. He started out on his elee-
mosynary peregrinations, and soon, through the generos-
ity and public spirit of the citizens of San Francisco, had
twenty-one thousand dollars at his command. Thus en-
couraged, he laid the corner-stone of the present beautiful
structure on the San Bruno road in 1865, and carried it
on to a successful termination. Since the opening of the
new Asylum, there have been seldom fewer than one
hundred inmates within its walls.
Few citizens can realize the great, noble, and divine
work of charity which is silently and unostentatiously
carried on by these ministering angels, the Sisters of
Mercy. Eight hundred human beings, once the idolized
objects of parental endearment, the pride and joy of the
household hearth, who listened to the seductive voice of
deceivers, had fallen and become objects of contempt, at
whom the finger of scorn was pointed — worse than plague
spots on the community — lost to society and to God —
sunk into the lowest depths of immorality and vice — have
been reclaimed, regenerated, restored to society and God,
in the Magdalen Asylum of San Francisco, through the
patient, gentle, merciful influence of the Sisters of Mercy.
42
658 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Thus to the exertions of Father Gallagher, hundreds
of parents, whose hearts had been wrung by the fall of
their daughters, whose hoary heads were hastening to a
premature and dishonored grave, are indebted for the
Asylum, where their lost ones have been sheltered from
the attacks of their enemies, protected from the cold and
ofttimes cruel charity of the world, and trained in the
glorious paths of virtue and morality. This is effected by
the pure, simple, devoted, self-sacrificing lives of those
heroic Sisters, as well as by the words of learning and divine
charity in which they are daily instructed. As there is
joy in the celestial mansions among the blessed spirits
which surround the Throne of Grace, on one sinner do-
ing penance, so here on earth the parental hearth and
heart have been gladdened, when the poor, weak, frail
one has sought refuge in the Magdalen Asylum. A warm,
fervent prayer, gushing up from the bruised and bleeding
heart, has ascended like the fumes of sweet incense to the
footstool of Mercy, in thanksgiving for the return of the
prodigal, and in earnest supplication that blessings in-
numerable should be granted to the Sisters of Mercy,
and good Father Gallagher.
It is not our purpose, nor is it necessary, to enter into
further details of the labors of this indefatigable divine.
Firm and consistent in all the teachings of the Catholic
church, zealous and exact in the discharge of his duties
as a minister of that church, he has not only secured the
approbation and affection of his ecclesiastical superiors
and the congregations committed to his care, but has
conciliated the respect and esteem of those who differ
from him in religious tenets. •Catholic in all the feelings
of head and heart, he pursues '' the even tenor of his
way," intent alone in extending the kingdom of his
Heavenly Master, and diffusing on earth peace and good
will to men. His zeal in the ministry, his distinguished
ability and learning, his labors for the promotion of edu-
cation, his efforts in the cause of morality, and the gen-
eral success of all his undertakings, entitle him to be
classed among the Representative Men of California.
The various articles furnished by Father Gallagher
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 659
while acting as editor, prove that he wields a facile pen
with force and vigor. Earnest and impressive, he also
ranks high as a pulpit orator. The extract which follows
this sketch is a specimen of his descriptive powers and
style.
(Extract from a ^cctuit on §omt,
Delivered in St. Joseph's Church, Tenth Street, San Francisco, in 1862.
BY REV. FATHER HUGH P. GALLAGHER.
Towards evening of the 13th April, 1854, the Padrone, as he is
called (that is, the conductor of our conveyance) directed my atten-
tion to an object just dimly visible from that point of the road lead-
ing from Civita Vecchia to Rome: it was the great dome of St.
Peter's ! I felt with gratitude that the day-dream of my life from
boyhood was at length promised an early realization. I was soon
to stand within the city of Romulus and Remus — the Eternal City,
the works of whose historians, poets, and orators, had been the
labors of my early years. As I conned each stubborn line of her
ancient classics, whether prose or verse, I had to become familiar
with her feuds, wars, conquests, treaties, conspu*acies, revolu-
tions, changes of government, and laws — even her very topo-
graphy. It seemed as if I could find my way through the streets
of ancient Rome at midnight without a lamp; that I could recognize
her heroes, officials, and authors, at sight, and hold familiar con-
verse with them without the formality of an introduction. Whatever
fourteen years' companionshij^ with one of the most distinguished gra-
duates and professors of the Propaganda left undone in f amiharizing
me with the very arcana of Christian Rome, was more than supplied
by the accurate description of Baron Geramb; and since I became
an ecclesiastic. Christian or modern Rome has been all to me.
From the moment I got the first glimpse of the city, I could
scarcely withdraw my eyes from it for an instant. Such were my un-
founded fears at that moment, that only by identifying my com-
panions could I reassure myself that I must not again experience
the disappointment of the morning dream : as the exile far away oft
in visions of slumber revisits the home of his childhood, but wakes to
disappointment — the loved ones disappearing with his sleep — he re-
fuses to withdraw his eyes or to relax his grasp, determined, this
time, from more vivid phantasm to force reality.
That night I slept within the city of the seven hills — ^the city of
the Caesars — where dwells the visible Head of the Church, the direct
660 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
successor of St. Peter, the reigning vicar of our blessed Lord! Be-
times next morning, I hastened to gratify my anxious eyes by behold-
ing him. For this purpose, I sought the Sistine Chapel, and was
not disappointed. My success, however, in gaining admittance there,
■where so many w^ere unfortunate, was the result of a lucky expedient.
To avoid crowding, tickets of free admission to the Pope's chapel
are issued to those who make timely application. This privilege is
sought to be monopolized by members of royal families visiting tliere,
foreign ambassadors and their suites. Clergy are admitted, but they
must present themselves in ecclesiastical costume — a sutane and
clerical hat. In my impatience to be there, I neglected these re-
quirements, and presented myself in my usual apparel. With many
others, I was refused admittance by the Swiss guard, who, under the
command of Capt. Schmidt, sentineled the entrance. To the re-
monstrance of a member of the Pope's household in my behalf, the
captain's answer was that " his instructions w^ere peremptory'. " As
the rest retired disappointed, I addressed the old commander, now
at leisure, quite familiarly in stout Teutonic, his mother tongue.
The gallant and warm-hearted old veteran, thinking it too bad
tliat, having journeyed from the uttermost bounds of the earth, I
should be disappointed, politely allowed me to pass in, remarking that
my slight foreign accent, in the pronunciation of some German
words, was doubtless caused by emigrating from Fatherland when
young. It was a slight mistake. To have corrected it, would not
have helped my purpose; so he enjoyed his theory and I my choice
seat in the Sistine chapel.
In the sanctuary just before me sat the sovereign pontiff, Pius
the Ninth, suiTounded by cardinals and prelates, celebrating the
Mass of the Presanctified — the most solemn commemoration of our
Lord's passion and death — for it was Good Friday. His hands were
joined, his countenance turned gently upwards, and those large,
lustrous eyes fixed immovable, as though rivetted on objects beyond
the clouds — on the dread mysteries of eternity.
At the proper signal, all engaged in the ceremonies formed in
solemn procession, and passed just by me to the Pauline chapel;
whence they returned in a few moments, the Pope bearing the Most
Blessed Sacrament under a gorgeous canopy. I was but too happy
in being permitted to join the procession in which were corporeally
present the visible and invisible Head of the Church — Peter and his
Divine Master. How amply did the weather-beaten, Avayvvorn pil-
grim from the distant Pacific feel rewarded in finding himself, at his
journey's end, in the company of Peter, and the Apostles, and the
Lord himself ! What powerful incentive to his cherished faith, that
alone explains the supernatural, to find himself in physical contact
with the living link of that unbroken chain that unites him with the
Deity ! In the consolations of that moment, he felt his holy faith
enkindled, intensified, illumined, and rewarded: in a word, the
nearest approximation to penetration behind the veil of faith — to the
fruition of vision, the realization of the promise, "I am with you."
At tliree o'clock p. m. of the same day, the same sacred edifice was
HUGH P. GALLAGHER. 661
thronged by crowds to witness the office of Tenebrae, and gratify their
love of the marvelous by hearing the world-renowned Miserere sung
by the Pope's choir. The Tenebrae is the ordinary office of those three
great days of Holy Week, performed solemnly in the larger churches.
The trij)le or triangular candlestick is placed, having fifteen candles
lighted. As the office proceeds, fourteen of the candles are gradually
extinguished, indicating the death of the prophets, or the extinguish-
ing of those lights of the people of God. The fifteenth is finally
removed behind the altar, indicating the death of our blessed Lord,
and the fulfilment of all the prophecies. On its removal, the clergy
knock gently on the cover of their books, representing the earthquake
that occurred at the moment He expired on the cross. This done,
the candle is brought back unextinguished, and replaced, represent-
ing that He has arisen, to die no more — the unfading light of the
world ! This psalm commences as the wailing of a guilty world
and its suppliant cry for mercy. Mid the earthquake's rumblings,
a solitary voice is heard in deep, pathetic, plaintive tones, crying,
' ' Have m ercy on me , O God ! according to thy gTeat mercy !" Number-
less voices just then become audible, as the spirits of a thousand
worlds catching the tone of supplication: "And according- to the
multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out our iniquities!" At the
verse, Averte faciem tuam ("Turn away thy face from my sins") the
petition is caught up, and wafted higher and higher by different,
shall I say relays of voices, as though these souls would carry their
supplications to the very feet of the Most High.
Wliile these plaintive notes are dying away in the distance, the
tone is caught up by a solitary voice, as of an angel bending dov/n
from the skies to receive that petition and lay it before the Throne
of Mercy. That voice is listened to, as it files heavenwards, until it
becomes inaudible in the clouds. At that moment, you hear the
rapt audience endeavoring to supply by a long inhalation the ex-
haustion they experienced in f olloAving with bated breath the angel's
flight. As you enjoy this celestial chant, you hear the full vibrations
of the dulcet-toned string and the clear silvery ring of the wind in-
struments; but it is a deception. There is naught there but the
perfected harmony of the human voice : there are no sounds in the
Pope's choir but the voices of men!
^4^ Of THx'^
'iriri7BR:iT7]
/r/^/?^
HENRY HUNTLY HAIGHT.
HENRY HuNTLY Haight was bom at Rochester, in the
State of New York, May 20th, a.d. 1825. His
ancestors were English on the paternal side, the first one
who emigrated to America, Jonathan Teal Haight, having
come to New York from England under the old Dutch
regime. On the maternal side, he is descended from the
old Scottish family or clan of Cameron, his great grand-
father, Ewen Cameron — a cousin of the celebrated
Lochiel — having come to New York from Scotland in
1790, and settled in the western part of the State. His
father, the late Fletcher M. Haight, a law}^er of eminence
and distinguished ability, and who was at the time of
his death, Judge of the United States District Court for
the Southern District of California, was also a resident
of western New York, where, with the exception of a
few years in St. Louis, he lived until he removed to
California in 1854.
Mr. Haight was the eldest son of a large family of
children. He entered Yale College at the age of fifteen
years, from whence he graduated in 1844; and having
decided to adopt as a profession one that had been
hereditary in his family for several generations — that of
the law — entered at once upon its study in the law office
of his father. In 1846, his father removing to St. Louis,
Mr. Haight accompanied him, and was shortly afterwards
admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Missouri. ,
He immediately commenced the practice of law in St.
Louis, in connection with his father, and remained there
664 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
until late in 1849, when he turned his steps towards the
newly acquired territory on the Pacific. He arrived in
San Francisco on the 20th of January, 1850, then a small
town, its dwellings consisting principally of tents and
rough board shanties; and although its population was
already large, yet by far the greater portion consisted of
persons who were making it but a temporary stopping-
place on their way to the mines. Among those, however,
whose faith was strong in the future greatness and pros-
perity of San Francisco was Mr. Haight, and he decided
at once to make it his home. He immediately com-
menced practicing law, first in connection with the late
Gen. J. A. McDougall, and later with his father, who had
followed him to California. His abilities were soon ac-
knowledged; and young as he was, he soon occupied an
eminent position in the front rank of the bar of Cali-
fornia, and which he has ever maintained.
From the time of his arrival in San Francisco until
the spring of 1867, he has resided and practiced law in
that city, with the exception of a short absence in the
Eastern States, during which he was united in marriage
to a daughter of the late Capt. Bissell of St. Louis.
In 1867, he removed his residence to Alameda county,
continuing, however, his law practice in San Francisco,
until called by the people, in the fall of that year, to as-
sume the office of Chief Alagistrate of the State.
He had never been, with but one exception up to the
time of his nomination for Governor in 1867, actively
engaged in any political struggle. Occupying the promi-
nent position he always has during his long residence in
San Francisco, he had often been pressed by his friends
to accept nominations for judicial and other honorable
offices, but had invariably declined. Although taking a
jealous interest in the affiiirs of the country and the
cburse of events, he had never, beyond an occasional
article from his pen, entered publicly into the discussion
of the political questions of the day, until the Presiden-
tial campaign of 1864, in which he took part with the
conservative party in the support of Geo. B. McClellan.
It would not be proper here to enter into an examina-
HENRY HUNTLY HAIGHT. 665
tion of the political questions that then agitated the
people, and we have but mentioned the subject to show
that the course pursued by Mr. Haight and the constitu-
tional principles announced by him in that memorable
campaign, were remembered and approved of by the
people of California when they elected him Governor of
the State three years afterwards by the large majority of
nine thousand and five hundred.
He was nominated for that position by the Democratic
State Convention that met in San Francisco in June,
186 7. He had at first steadily declined to allow his name
to be used before the convention, but at last, yielding to
the pressing solicitations of his friends, he consented.
His name v/as presented to the convention by the Hon.
J. B. Crockett, who prefaced the nomination by the fol-
lowing remarks, to the truthfulness of which any one
who has personally known Mr. Haight for any length of
time, will cordially assent:
I rise to perform an agreeable duty in presenting for the high
office of Governor of the State of Cahfornia, a gentleman whom I have
known from his boyhood. I have known him twenty years; and I
can say, truthfully say, that I have never known a truer, better, more
honest, or more upright man than he whose name I will present to
the convention; a man distinguished for his integrity and perfect
uprightness of character in all the walks of life; a man against whom
not a word of reproach has been or is likely to be uttered; a man in
whose keeping the honor and welfare of the State will be perfectly
safe; a man who will be a party to no scheme, who will not yield to
any corrupt influences, and w^lio will administer the government of
the State with ability, in the spirit of the constitution and the laws;
and who will do honor to the office and to the party which elects
him. And I do now nominate for the office of Governor of Cah-
fornia, Henry H. Haight.
The remarks of Judge Crockett were received with
great applause, and Mr. Haight was immediately nomi--
nated by acclamation. His principal opponent in the-
campaign was George C. Gorham, the nominee of the
Republican party. The contest was a most spirited and
exciting one, probably more so than any previous guber-
natorial election that ever took place in the State, not
even excepting the memorable struggle of September,,
666 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC. "^
1859. The election resulted in the triumph of the entire
Democratic State ticket, Mr. Haight's majority over Mr.
Gorham being as already stated.
There is probably no better or surer method of ascer-
taining the position occupied by a man in the opinion of
his fellow-citizens, and the character he bears among
them, than for him to become a candidate for some pro-
minent office, especially at a time when party feeling
runs high. Every act of his life, and every word that he
has ever spoken that can by any known mode of conclu-
sion or misconstruction be made to bear upon the ques-
tion at issue and turned against him, are immediately
blazoned forth in the public journals. Not only is his
public life subjected to the scrutiny of his political op-
ponents, but his private life and affairs, and the motives
that may have influenced him in any particular matter,
are dragged forth and commented upon w^ith perfect
freedom. To a reasonable extent, it is right enough that
such should be the case, but party zeal often oversteps its
legitimate boundary, and engages in systematic defama-
tion and abuse. The man who successfully passes through
such an ordeal and escapes therefrom with untarnished
reputation, is to be considered something more than for-
tunate; and no better proof can be adduced of the high
moral standard of Mr. Haight than to say, that during
the entire gubernatorial contest just alluded to, bitter as
it was, no attempt was made to attack his private char-
acter.
Gov. Haight was inaugurated December 5th, 1867,
and since then has administered the State government
with general acceptance. His official term as Governor
expires in December, 1871.
HENRY HUNTLY HAIGHT. 667
lutteis,
Delivered at Sacramento, Cal., May 8th, 1869, upon the Completion of the Pacific
Eailroad.
BY GOVERNOK H. H. HAIGHT.
Fellow-Citizens : We meet to-day to celebrate one of the most
remarkable events of this eventful age, and whose influence upon
the future of our countiy and upon human destiny it would be diffi-
cult properly to measure; one of the grandest tiiumphs of American
enterprise, engineering, and constructive skill and energy of which
our history can boast. It ushers in a new era in American progress,
and while it is an event of world-wide significance, it is one of special
importance to our own country and our own State.
I recollect some years ago looking at a picture, which many of
} ou doubtless have seen, representing a family of pioneers who had
accomplished the tedious journey overland, and having reached the
crest of the Sierras, stood gazing with enraptured vision upon the
magnificent panorama which extended before their eyes in the Valley
of the Sacramento. The noble river in the distance seemed like a
silver thread meandering through the great valley; the purple sum-
mits of the Coast Kange rose in front to the westward, and far to the
south stretched the fertile plains of the San Joaquin, until in the
soft haze of our landscapes their limit was lost in the horizon.
In a metaphorical sense we stand upon such an eminence to-day.
Behind us is the rugged journey, with its desert sands, its savage
tribes, its cooling springs, making oases, where at times we have
rested from our toil; around us is the pure air and over us the blue
sky, while within us our hearts beat high with hope and confidence,
and before us lies in its beauty the rich prospect of our boundless
future.
In looking back over our journey, did time permit, one would be
tempted to extend the re\dew beyond our own personal experience,
and the history of our own State and country, to note a few of the
most memorable epochs which have marked human progress during
the eighteen centuries that are pa^t. To trace the history of civih-
zation, however, dui'ing this period would require far more than the
time now allotted, and is a subject which would task the loftiest
powers. Otherwise, it might be interesting to dwell upon those
prominent epochs which have signalized the progress of mankind,
since the advent of Christianity marked an advance from paganism
to theism, and from a religion of forms to one of spirit; from the
time when the code of Justinian marked a memorable era in legisla-
tion, to the period when Magna Charta developed a new and rational
theory of government, and thence to the enlightenment of the present
dav. This progress, it is true, has not been uniform or constant.
The tide has had its ebb as well as its flood. There have been tem-
668 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
porary retrogressions in almost every department of human activity —
in science, in government, and in religion.
Nations have exchanged places in the scale; some have relinquished
freedom for despotic rule, religious liberty for blind superstition,
power for weakness, and science for ignorance, while other nations
have risen from barbarism to the heights of knowledge, and from
small beginnings have attained greatness in the arts and sciences, in
freedom, wealth, and power.
The great nations of the present day are none of them ten cen-
turies old. England's greatness dates from the revolution of 1640,
before modern civilization had penetrated the domain of the Czar,
before the Prussian monarchy or the American Kepublic were known
among the nations, when Spain was the leading power on land, and
Holland was mistress of the seas.
Human progress for the last two centuries has known little pause.
Dynasties have risen and fallen; revolutions and civil wars have
deluged portions of the world with blood; but heretofore good has
been evolved out 'of evil, and, during war and peace, political
changes and national vicissitudes, the minds of men have been year
by year more emancipated from thraldom, and more active in investi-
gation, and in useful invention and discovery.
In the history of human progress it seems to us as if the chapter
devoted to the present century would fill as large a space as the
eighteen centuries which have preceded it. It is now but little more
than two-thirds gone, and yet what improvements and discoveries
it has witnessed. When the last century closed, and for some years
afterwards, no steamboat had been built. Nearly a fourth of the
present century had passed before railway construction was in-
augurated, and nearly half of it was gone before electricity was
pressed into man's service, as his messenger to annihilate distance
and bring into instant intercourse the most remote islands and con-
tinents. Anthracite coal was never used as fuel in dwellings, nor
was any city lighted with coal gas until after the year 1800.
Time would fail to enumerate even the most important discov-
eries and inventions of this century. In locomotion, in the art of
printing, in weaving and sewing by machinery, in dyeing and color-
ing; in hydraulics and optics; in the application to machinery of
steam and hot air; in the thousand improvements in fire-arms; in
light, lighthouses, and lightning; in photography, from the daguerre-
otype to the card photograph; in agricultural implements; in cabinet
work and house-building; in steam navigation; in ship building; in
railways and electro-magnetic telegraphs, with their various appa-
ratus of wire and cable, and printing; in house warming; in lighting
streets and dwellings; in metal pipes and tubing; in sewerage and
drainage; in cotton, wool, flax, hemp, and silk production and man-
ufacture — in all these and many other channels the minds of men
have been busy and fruitful during the sixty-nine years of the present
century, until the limit of invention seems to be almost reached and
human ingenuity exhausted.
Marshall's discovery of the particles of gold in the mill-race at
HENRY HUNTLY HAIGHT. 669
Coloma, was the beginning of a great revolution in the commerce
and business of the world, and in the nominal .value of labor and
property. It changed our geography, and gave a new expansion to
American ideas. What had before seemed hyperbole, became real-
ity; the empty boasts of stump orators seemed about to be verified
by facts. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had secured us in pos-
session of the fairest, the most genial and fruitful part of the Ameri-
can continent, and as we in our partial judgment think, of the globe.
We had almost realized the poet's dream of exchanging our "pent-up
Utica" for "the whole boundless continent." We still lacked the
British Possessions and Mexico, but we were in the position of one
gorged with food and incajDacitated from further indulgence, until
time was allowed for digestion and assimilation. I speak of a revo-
lution in the commerce and business of the world, and in the value
of labor and property. Two substances alone, gold and silver, are
an accepted standard of value and a universal medium of exchange.
Like all other articles, the intrinsic value of these metals is regulated
by the quantity produced, the cost of production, and the demand
for their use. The demand has increased with the expansion of com-
merce, but its increase bears no ratio to the increased supply. The
whole amount of gold and silver in the old world at the discovery of
America was estimated to be $170,000,000, and the total annual
product of gold in the world for some years previous to 1848, was
but $20,000,000. At this rate it would have required a century to
produce $2,000,000,000. Within the past twenty years there have
been added to the stock of j^recious metals more than this latter sum.
The obvious result would be, as it has been, to diminish the ex-
changeable value of gold and silver, so that to procure many of the
necessaries and comforts of life requires about three times as much
money as it did twenty years ago.
This, however, is not the time to weary you with statistics, or dis-
cuss questions of political economy. The Oregon and Mexican
treaties gave us a new geography; but neither Oregon, with its
majestic river, its productive soil, and its " continuous woods," nor
California with its healthful and equable climate, was accessible
to immigration by any except the roving trapper and frontiersman.
Trackless deserts, infested by tribes of Indians, and lofty mountain
ranges intervened between the States of the Union and the newly-
acquired territory along the Pacific.
The thirst for gold in 1849 and the few following years stimulated
a multitude to defy all dangers aud difficulties in the effort to reach
the new El Dorado. An almost continuous line of emigrants crossed
the plains and reached the Pacific, way-worn with travel, and deci-
mated by famine, pestilence, and massacre. Another army crowded
steamers and sailing vessels for the Isthmus of Panama, and en-
countered the miasma of the tropics and the discomforts of a voyage
in over-crowded and ill-supplied vessels. Thus, by sea and land, the
stream of adventurers poured into the region of gold. Europe added
its contribution, and the penal colonies of Great Britain also — some
of which latter was of indifferent quality.
670 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
So they came in 1849 and 1850, a vast throng, mostly men in the
prime of life, full of adventurous energy — the ^lite of the enterprise
of older countries, carrying with them, in spite of some vicious and
dangerous elements, a large infusion of Anglo-Saxon respect for law,
order, and constituted authority.
The tract of emigration across the plains was dotted with the
graves of those who fell by the way, and in the lack of ordinary com-
forts multitudes more would have soon found a grave in California
but for the salubrity of its climate.
The early emigration was composed of heterogeneous elements.
All forms of vice and dissipation were indulged unblushingly by men
and women set loose from the restraints of settled society, and freed
from the control of a sound public sentiment. There were many
noble spirits who labored to lay broad and deep the foundations of
religious, educational, and charitable institutions, and to organize
Republican government on these shores. Some of them have rested
from their labors, leaving behind them monuments more enduring
than marble, and some are still pursuing their career of usefulness
among us.
In looking back at the past, how checkered is the prospect! Con-
flagrations have swept our cities and towns with the besom of de-
struction. The commercial metropolis of the State has more than
once been almost wholly destroyed by fire, with no insurance to re-
pair the broken fortunes of its citizens, and the present capital has
suffered not only from fire, but from the more appalling disasters of
flood. Mercantile embarrassments and disaster, with extreme de-
preciation of property, were superadded to the ruin wrought by flood
and fire.
There are shadows in the picture like all of this world's experience;
but in disaster and distress, Saxon and Celtic energy vindicated its
claim to supremacy over all the obstacles of accident and of nature.
The winter of our discontent has been exchanged for glorious sum-
mer, and a stable edifice of prosperity has been reared upon the ruins
of our shattered fortunes. No more invincible perseverance has ever
been manifested by any community under disheartening circum-
stances than by that of Sacramento, and her citizens are at last
sharing with those of other cities a prosperity beyond that of any
former period, and rejoicing in the certainty of a bright future.
For the first year of our California experience, those of us who
were here, felt many longings for the old homes and friends we had
left beyond the mountains; an intense desire for some rapid and
du^ect communication with the Eastern States, pervaded the mass
of the population. It was never absent from our thoughts by day,
or from our dreams by night. The lack of it induced many to bid a
reluctant farewell to the sunny skies and attractive scenes of Cali-
fornia, and seek their former homes east of the mountains.
Our only communication with the East in those days was the
Panama steamer, first occasional, then monthly. The journey over-
land consumed months, and a telegraph or railway during the present
generation was looked upon as chimerical. Installments of news
HENRY HUNTLY HAIGHT. 671
came once a montli in the shape of letters, and Eastern papers, forty
days old, which were eagerly purchased at fabulous prices.
In the winter of 1849-50, the streets of San Francisco were
thronged with miners driven there for shelter from the inclemency
of the season. The prevailing style of dress was a flannel shirt in
lieu of a coat, and in addition to the ordinaiy nether garments a pair
of long boots, purchased at the moderate price of six ounces, or
ninety-six dollars, in gold dust. Most of the large rooms in the city
were used as gambling saloons, with the accessories of bands of
music and well-stocked bars. Here, day after day, were to be seen
dense crowds of men of all nationalities and races, bending in ab-
sorbed attention over the gaming table, ignoring all distinctions of
race or color in the excitement of iDlay. Comparatively few were
without weapons, and yet the number of homicides was relatively
small. The sight of a lady was sufficiently rare to cause a street
full of men to stop and turn to look at one passing.
The advent of spring dispersed the crowds of miners throughout
the mountains, and produced a stagnation for the time in San Fran-
cisco. I must not weary your patience by dwelling upon the scenes
of the past so familiar in memory to many of you. Suffice it to say,
the i)ublic gaming-house was soon succeeded by the school-house,
the hospital, and the sanctuary. The common law and a code of
well considered statutes superseded the vague, uncertain, and strange
rules of Mexican and civil law, and Courts organized in accordance
with American usages took the place of the unfamiliar and irregnilar
judicial administration of Courts of first instance.
One thing must be said in honor of our people, and it is but
justice to say it: no more liberal, even lavish, charities ever character-
ised any community than those of the people of this State. The
direction then given to benevolent impulses will never cease to be
felt. It has conferred lasting honor upon our State and reflected
credit upon human nature. It was the offspring of circumstances.
Men came here strangers, without families and homes. There was
a present feeling of mutual dependence. Wealth, too, was easily
acquired, and as a consequence lightly esteemed. Open-handed
charity was the custom, and the people were educated to give at any
time to any worthy object. Hence the benefactions of which Cali-
fornia has been j)rolific, and which are known to the world, and
hence the facihty with which money can be obtained among us for
any v/orthy or laudable purpose.
California in the early days was known to possess mineral wealth,
and this was thought to be her only attraction, aside from climate.
The general judgment was that the country was worthless for agri-
culture. The long drought of summer was thought to render profit-
able husbandly impossible. On approaching her shores, we were
told that the earth became so parched with drought in the dry
season that it was rent with fissures, which in some districts ren-
dered journeying unsafe. Trees, it was thought, would perish in
summer from lack of moisture.
Such was California in the past, with neither schools, hospitals,
672 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
or churches, with few public journals, with no agriculture, no fire-
sides or children, no settled public sentiment, no railways or tele-
graphs, no ship-yards, wharves, or docks, no public buildings, no
manufactures, and no communication with the East except by three
small steamships, the germ of our present steam marine.
The country, however, was here, with its cloudless sky and its
healthful air, its fruitful soil, its noble harbor and bay, and its water-
courses opening access to the two great inland valleys: and the
pioneers were here, with faith in its future, with fixedness of pur-
pose, with large hearts and stalwart arms.
This was our past — what is our present? But little more than
twenty years have gone, and what has been accomplished?
Look around you, and see these philanthropic and benevolent in-
stitutions which now constitute your highest praise. Sanctuaries
representing every form of religious belief — Gentile and Hebrew,
Protestant and Catholic. A Public School system, well organized
and endowed, growing every year in efficiency, placing instruction
within reach of all. A University, furnished with ample means for
growth, in addition to private institutions of learning. Hospitals,
private and public. Asylums for the Insane, for the Deaf, Dumb,
and Blind, and for the Orphan. Benevolent associations to relieve
the wants of the distressed and suffering, of every creed and nation-
ality. A public press, which for enterprise and devotion to the
public interests, is certainly not inferior to that of any Eastern State.
Thousands of comfortable homes, in the best sense of the word, with
troops of rosy-cheeked children. A sound and discriminating pub-
lic sentiment. A system of interior railways, well advanced towards
completion, which will soon render the most distant jDarts of the
State accessible. Spacious and elegant ferry and river steamers. A
well organized citizen soldiery, as a reliance against attack from
without or lawlessness within. Telegraphic communication between
the commercial centre and every considerable town in this State, and
the States north and east. Ship-yards and dry-docks, foundries and
factories — lines of steamship, north, west, and south — public build-
ings for the criminal and the unfortunate. A State Capitol, nearly
completed, which for solidity, spaciousness, and architectural ele-
gance, has few equals on the Continent. These are but a part of
our present. To present a complete statement within the short
compass of an address would be impossible; but there are two things
more to be noticed. Agriculture, not mining, is now the basis of
our prosperity, the sinews of our commerce and the source of our
wealth. The fame of our gold is eclipsed by that of our wheat.
Agriculture is daily becoming a greater interest, and gold mining
relatively, if not absolutely, less. Breadstuffs, wool, wine, and silk,
seem now developing into the great industries of our State, but our
agriculture will naturally be diversified and profitable beyond what
would be possible elsewhere, owing to the peculiarities of our
climate.
The other feature of our present is the great Continental Railroad,
the completion of which we are met to celebrate to-day. If any one
i
HENRY HUNTLY HAIGHT. 673
had asserted six years ago that to-day would find us rejoicing over
a completed Pacific Railway, he would have been ridiculed as an idle
dreamer. It is due to candor and truth to say, that even after the
large grants made by Congi'ess, the number of those who regarded
the enterprise as spurious, and as nothing more than a Dutch Flat
turnpike, probably exceeded the number of those who expected to
witness its completion. It is unnecessary to give a history of a work
with which you are all so familiar. Many of you recollect that not
far from this place, in the month of January, 1863, the first ground
Vv^as broken in the constiTiction of the Pacific Railroad, by the then
Governor of the State, now the President of the corporation. The
enterjorise encountered some opposition, which has probably retarded
by a twelvemonth the completion of the work. I am not here to
sound tha praises of individuals or of communities, but it is simple
justice to say that the men who projected and successfully executed
this gigantic undertaking have exhibited a degi-ee of foresight, of
industry, sagacity, and business capability, which merits high praise.
I say this the more freely because it is well known that I have
never looked with approbation upon the loan of State funds or credit,
or the gift of State property to any corporation of this character.
The people will doubtless oppose any such polic}^ in the future as
they have in the past.
It is a question of low taxes and exemption from debt on one
hand, and a burdensome debt and high taxation on the other. All
the railroads which are required will be built by private enterprise,
without loading the State with an incubus of debt, crippling its
finances for half a century, and furnishing a prolific source of cor-
iniption. If we expect to derive benefit from a Pacific railroad by the
infiux of population, we should be able to point immigrants to a
State free from debt, where the surplus earnings of the industrial
and mercantile classes are not all absorbed by the tax-gatherer.
While, too, we should be willing to be just to all, we need not
forget that most powerful private corporations have some interests
in conflict with those of the public, and that they are justly regarded
with some jealousy.
To return, however, from this digression: It cannot be otherwise
than a source of just pride to the citizens of Sacramento, that what-
ever credit attaches to any community in the State for the conception
and execution of this gi^eat enterprise, belongs rightfully to them. I
say this not to utter any implied censure upon other communities on
this day of festivity and rejoicing, but it is said as the simple truth.
The men who conceived the project and carried it through to suc-
cess are all citizens of Sacramento, and the fact cannot be othei*wise
than gratifying to her people.
It was an arduous undertaking from first to last. The progress,
at the outset, was slow through the foot-hills and up the mountain
slopes of the Sierras. Hills were cut through, canons bridged, until
after about four years of labor the iron track reached the solid granite
of the summit. A tunnel of 1,650 feet through granite rock, in-
volved enormous expense and labor, and caused a delay of a year.
43
674 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
The mountain was finally pierced, and the iron track started but
little more than a twelvemonth ago for its race toward the Eocky
Mountains. That the rapidity of its construction since that time has
been a marvel, and that all anticipations have been exceeded, is
notorious.
AVe stand here to-day to rejoice not only over the completion of
this great thoroughfare of commerce, but to rejoice still more with
devout thanksgiving over a prosperity not exceeded, if equalled, in
any community on the globe. It is safe to say that there is no State
or country where more elements of substantial prosperity exist, where
greater contentment perv^ails, where labor is so well rewarded, where
wealth is so generally diffused, where a sounder currency is to be
found, and where climate and other causes are more promotive of
the health and happiness of all classes.
I have thus, in these discursive remarks, glanced briefly at the
past and present of California. What shall be said of her future?
Lift your eyes and expand your conceptions to take in the magnitude
of her destiny. An empire in area, presenting advantages and attrac-
tions to the people of the Eastern States and Europe far beyond those
presented by any other State or Territory, who will set limits to her
progress, or paint in fitting colors the splendor of her future ?
When we reflect upon what has transpired during the twenty
years that are past, isolated as the State has been, what will be her
progress during the twenty years that are to come ? Extrinsic causes,
of course, may influence our destiny for good or evil. Mismanage-
ment at home or at Washington, profligate public expenditure,
foreign war, and unwise legislation, famine and pestilence, may, at
times, retard our progress, but if the people of California are true
to themselves, this State is destined to a high position, not only
among her sister States, but among the commonwealths of the world.
AVhat is to be her future in the useful arts, with the popular
intellect trained and developed by a complete sj^stem of general edu-
cation; in the fine arts, when the exquisite tints of her iand>scapes
and sky, and the stupendous scenery of her mountains are transferred
in glowing colors to the canvas, and the sculptor's genius chisels into
forms of beauty the marble of her quarries; in commerce, when trade
is freed from its shackles; when her ships visit every shore, and her
merchant princes control the commerce of this great ocean and the
populous countries upon its border; in manufactures, when our silk
and woolen goods, by their superior quality, displace the fabrics of
older nations; in agriculture, when our wine and wheat are as eagerly
sought after as our gold and silver; in science and literature, when
institutions of learning, of the first order, afibrd every facility, and
accumulated wealth secures leisure for scientific and literary pursuits.
In the answer to these questions, we might be charged by our
Eastern brethren with . blind partiality aud exaggeration. We are
content to leave the answer to time.
The day is at hand when a more splendid civilization than any
which has preceded it, will arise upon these distant shores. A vast
population will pour into this Canaan of the new world. Already
HEXRY HUNTLY HAIGHT. 675
we hear the hum of preparation in every quarter: akeady we listen
to the tread of the advancing hosts. From the north, east, and south,
from the lakes to the gulf, the swelling tide of population will gather
volume, and pour in a mighty tide across the Continent, bringing to
us the youth, the enterprise and energy of the older countries in
search of adventure, of freedom, and of riches on the shores of the
Pacific. Tourists will be attracted by the most sublime scenery on
the Continent, and thousands will come to repair physical consti-
tutions racked by the extremes of climate, the inclement aii% and the
miasma of the States east of the mountains.
These words may seem boastful to our brethren at the East, but
we know whereof v/e speak, and in simple truthfulness can say no
less. One reminiscence more before I close. The 14th day of this
month terminates the first century of the occupancy of this State
by the white race. One hundred years ago, on that day, the first
settlement of white men was made within the borders of California.
A party of immigrants then arrived, not in a luxurious passenger
car, whirled along the dizzy heights and profound gulfs of the Sierras
by a ponderous engine, waking the echoes of the mountains with its
roar and rattle, but led by a Franciscan friar, not in quest of gold or
ofiice, or of a more comfortable home, but stimulated by religious
zeal, and bearing the standard of the cross. After a laborious and
painful journey overland through Mexico, Father Juan Crespi arrived
at San Diego, on the 14th day of May, 1769. F'ather Junij)ero Serra
followed, arriving on the 1st day of July, of the same year.
It seems singularly appropriate to signalize the centennial anni-
versaiy of the settlement of California by the completion of this
crowning work of Saxon civilization, which links together in iron
bonds the two great oceans of the world, and carries California at
one bound into the centre of the great family of nations.
If, after the lapse of this hundred years, the good friar could
awake from his slumber and revisit the scenes of his self-denying
labors, with what speechless amazement would he gaze upon the
transformation wrought on these shores since his day ! It is doubt-
fid, however, whether the changes of the past hundred years,
amazing as they have been, are more wonderful than those that will
occur within the hundred years to come. Where is the fancy ad-
venturous enough to conceive the changes to occur before the cease-
less course of time brings the second centennial anniversary of the
settlement of California?
In conclusion, however, some things must be borne in mind, if
we expect that prosperity which seems to gild with its rainbow of
promise the horizon of our future.
Railwaj^s and telegraphs are potent civilizers, but these alone will
not constitute or conserve any State — much less a free State. Cor-
ruption and vice can travel on railways with as much ease as in stage
coaches. California may have all the facilities of travel and inter-
course, and its people accumulate wealth bej^ond the dream of
avarice, and yet be miserably poor in all the higher elements of solid
and endui'ing happiness. What the moral character of the future
676 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
population of this State is to be, depends largely upon the genera-
tion which is living to-day.
When we contemplate the magnitude of the destiny in store for
our noble State, let us realize that we must ourselves furnish to those
who are to come after us that lofty example which we wish them to
follow. "We must set our faces like a flint against corruption in high
places as in low ones — in legislative halls and primary conventions.
We must make no compromise with gilded dishonesty. We must
refuse to recognize tw^o codes of morals, one for private and a low^er
one for political affairs.
Above all, we must recollect that the only basis of morality is
religion; that no people who are unmindful of their obligations to
their Creator can permanent^ prosper; that no amount of material
wealth can compensate for the decay of public and private virtue.
And whatever our religious convictions may be, or whatever forms
of worship or tenets of faith our judgments approve, while we obey
the calls of patriotism and render unto Csesar the things that are
Caesar's, let us be careful to render unto God the things that are
God's.
'•^ or Taa'**
(^y?xtn^^ wyi-viA^pL.
^/
DELAZON SMITH.*
THE progenitors of Delazon Smith were among the very
earliest settlers of Xew England. Capt. Jonathan
Smith, the grandfather of Delazon — as was his father —
was born in the colony of Rhode Island. Capt. Smith
was commissioned a captain in the war of the Revolution,
and performed signal and important services from the
inception of the war at Bunker's Hill until the final vic-
tory at Yorktown. From the memoir published of the
late Rev. Stephen R. Smith, (who was the nephew of
Capt. Smith) we make the following quotation :
My father's family, or rather that of my grandfather on my
mother's side, was, by intermarriage and common ancestry, intimately
connected with several ©f the prominent families of the State of
Hhode Island. The Hopkinses, Wilkeiisons, and Harrises, and
others in the vicinity of Providence, were near relations; among these
the Stephen Hopkins whose name apjDears among the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, I have always understood, was cousin-
german of my grandfather. The children of my grandfather, John
Smith, of Scituate, Rhode Island, were six sons and one daughter,
namely, Richard, Joseph, Jonathan, Oziel, Thomas, Hope, and Sarah.
The sons were in their several spheres distinguished for their devotion
to the cause of national freedom. Richard, the eldest, was a sub-
altern in one of the New England regiments, during one or two of
the campaigns of what was known as the French War, and which
terminated in the capture of Quebec and the cession of Canada to
Great Britain. Josejjh, though never in the regular service, was one
of those Green Mountam hoys who stormed the breastworks at the
battle of Bennington; while his son, a lad of only fifteen years,
fought in the second battle on the same day. Jonathan, (the grand-
father of Delazon) with a lieutenant's commission, on hearing of the
* For explanatory note, see Preface,
678 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
battle of Lexington, marched immediately with his company to Cam-
bridge; was several years in the Continental service, and lived till a
very advanced age in the enjoyment of his country's bounty. Thomas
declined a commission, and entered the service as a volunteer. He
was killed at the bridge in Springfield, New Jersey. Captain Olney,
of the Ehode Island line, has given in his own memoir, an interesting
account of his feelings and fears when left to guard the bridge,
where he lost his life. Oziel, though devoted to the cause of liberty,
was emphatically a man of peace, and though occasionally called out
for short periods of service, it is not known that he ever remained
longer than immediate duty required.
The maternal grandfather of Delazon was Joseph
Briggs, Esq., a native of Massachusetts, and at the time
of the Revolution, a citizen of Vermont. He was also a
captain in the War of Independence: he particularly dis-
tinguished himself in the battles of Bunker's Hill, Benning-
ton, Saratoga, and Monmouth, and was present at the
surrender of Burgoyne. On one occasion, in the midst
of the battle, his superior officer, having deserted the
American standard, and sought protection under the
British banner, Captain Briggs moved gallantly forward
to the command, rallied the dismayed and panic-stricken
men, charged the enemy boldly and courageously and
turned the tide of battle, achieving a victory at a moment
when defeat seemed inevitable.
At the close of the war, he returned to his home and
resumed the peaceful pursuits of private life, covered with
honorable scars, and content with the consciousness of
duties well performed, and rejoicing in an honorable peace
with its blessings, and the unquestioned freedom of his
country. Thus could the young Senator point with pride
to his ancestry and to his country's record, which estab-
lishes the fact that he descended from ^^figUing stock:'"
indeed, every battle-field where a foreign foe has been met
and resisted by American arms has been wet with the
blood of his kindred. One brother offered himself and
was sacrificed upon the altar of his country during the
war with Mexico.
Delazon Smith was the fourth son of Archibald Smith,
and was born in the village of New Berlin, in the county
of Chenango, State of New York, on the 5th of October,
1816. His father was an humble mechanic, in moderate
DELAZON SMITH. 679
circumstances. His mother was a woman of extraordinary
intellectual powers, and of remarkable excellence of
character and disposition, universally esteemed as a
womanly perfection of nature's noblest handiwork. She
died in the year 1825, leaving five surviving sons of ten-
der age, to rely at the very commencement of their career
mainly upon their own individual, native, inherent energy,
for success in the great battle of life.
In the year 1831, when but fifteen years of age, Delazon,
provided with but a small bundle of clothing which he
carried under his arm, and almost penniless, started for
the ^' West." After a temporary residence of two or three
years in Western New York with an elder brother who
had preceded him, and where he sought, and to a limited
extent obtained, the facilities of an education, he renewed
his journey westward. Having heard that there was a
manual labor college in Ohio, where indigent young men
could obtain an education and meet their current expenses
by the daily labor of their hands, young Smith lost no
time in making his way to that institution. He arrived
at Oberlin in the spring of 1834, where he remained two
years as a student of the " Collegiate Institute." Then
he withdrew because of his refusal to acquiesce in the
practice which then prevailed of enticing away, harboring,
secreting, and running off North slaves from the Southern
States.
On leaving Oberlin, the young student repaired to
the city of Cleaveland, where he published a large edition
of a small work entitled, ^' Oherlin Unmasked;'' and it is a
significant and somewhat remarkable fact, that even at
that early period in the history of anti-slavery agitation,
he actually depicted, as w^ith the ken of a prophet, the
state of things as they existed at a later period. Having
arrived in Cleaveland, and resolved upon the study and
practice of the law, Mr. Smith at once entered his name
as a student in the ofl&ce of a prominent attorney of that
city. In the meantime, he contributed much to the
columns of the newspaper press^ and frequently became
involved in controversies on the subject of religion and
politics.
G80 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
In the spring of 1838, Mr. Smith received a flattering
invitation from an association of appreciative gentlemen
to return to the city of Rochester, in his native State, for
the purpose of establishing a newspaper, to be called the
Neio York Watchman. This position he accepted, and
edited the Watchumn for a period of two years, in the
meanwhile continuing the study of the law.
In the memorable campaign of 1840, Mr. Smith edited
and published a very able, spirited, and influential Demo-
cratic paper, entitled the True Jeffersonian. His maiden
political speeches, delivered to large and promiscuous
audiences, were made in the Presidential contest of 1836;
and though he had taken an active and prominent part
in the New York State elections of 1838, yet it was not
until the campaign of 1840 that his extraordinary abil-
ities as a political or '^ stump" speaker became generally
known. During that excited and bitter contest, under
the banner of Van Buren and Johnson, he did more than
a soldier's duty: he performed herculean labor. In addi-
tion to sustaining his True Jeffersonian with marked and
acknowledged ability, he canvassed with great success
the States of New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
After the close of the campaign of 1840, Mr. Smith
established a daily paper called the Western World, but
owing in part to the utter prostration of the Democratic
party, he discou tinned it, and soon after, in the fall of
1841, returned to Ohio, and located in the city of Day-
ton, w^here he at once established a Democratic jom^nal,
which he named Western Umpire, which came to be the
leading Democratic paper in that section of the State.
When the then Chief Magistrate of the nation vetoed
the Congressional bills re-chartering a national bank,
etc., and after Mr. Tyler's policy had become essentially
Democratic, Mr. Smith, as the editor of the Empire, and
as a Democratic orator, gave to the executive and hig
administration a prompt, generous, and able support.
In 1843, a difference of opinion arose between Mr.
Smith and some of his partisan friends and associates, in
reference to the propriety and policy of his defence and
support of certain measures of Mr. Tyler's administra-
DELAZON S^nTH. 681
tion, which eventuated in Mr. Smith's voluntarily with-
drawing himself from the editorial control of the Empire.
Soon afterwards, however, he established another paper,
called the Miamian^ in the same city.
Prior to the Baltimore Convention of 1844, Mr. Smith
declared his preference for and hoisted the name of Gen.
Lewis Cass for the Presidency, in the meantime insisting
that President Tyler's overtures to be readmitted into
the Democratic party should be generously and cordially
met, and the leading measures of his administration, be-
ing substantially Democratic, sustained and defended, his
honest friends fcllowshipped, and his Democratic ap-
pointees protected and preserved in position.
When Mr. Polk was chosen as the compromise
standard-bearer of the Democratic party, Mr. Smith
placed his name at the head of his paper, and was every-
where found energetically, eloquently, and gallantly bat-
tling, under the motto of '' Oregon and Texas," for Polk
and Dallas.
At the close of the campaign of 1844, President
Tyler appointed Mr. Smith as Special Commissioner of
the United States to the Republic of Ecuador, in South
America. In the execution of this mission, Mr. Smith
was clothed by his govermnent with full powers to treat
with the government of Ecuador. He was especially in-
structed to remain at Quito from nine to twelve months,
and if at the expiration of that period the objects of his
mission had not been accomplished, or if in his judgment
there was no immediate prospect of a satisfactory issue,
he should return to the United States. Upon his arrival
at Quito, Mr. Smith found the government to which he
had been accredited embroiled in intestine wars. After
having remained at the capital of the Republic for one
month, and exchanged a few letters with the self-con-
stituted officers of the provisional government, and
ascertaining the utter impossibility of accomplishing the
objects of his mission, he returned home.
On his return from South America, in the spring of
1846, Mr. Smith located himself in what was then the
territory of Iowa, where he purchased and settled upon
682 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OP THE PACIFIC.
a farm, and engaged in the labors of agriciilturej associa-
ting therewith, to a limited extent, the practice of the
law. In the formation of the State government, he took
a prominent and active part. During his residence in
Iowa, he appears to have been the especial favorite of the
Democracy of his (Van Buren) county, for on three several
occasions they presented his name as their first choice for
Congress, and once to a Democratic State convention as
their choice for Governor.
In the year 1850, Congress, at the close of the long
session, declared the seat of Hon. Wm. Thompson, from
Iowa, vacant, it having been contested by the Hon. Daniel
F. Millar. Understanding that no convention would be
held, and that Mr. Thompson would not contest the
matter before the people, and did not desire to run for
an election to fill the residue of the term, the Democratic
friends of Mr. Smith held a mass meeting and placed him
in nomination for that position. Subsequent!}^, however,
Mr. Thompson resolved upon making the canvass^ and
the result was the election of Mr. Millar, the opposition
candidate.
During his residence in Iowa, Mr. Smith was con-
stantly on hand engaged in fighting the battles of the
Democracy, and with the same zeal, intrepidity, and elo-
quence which had characterized all his previous efforts in
the advocacy and defence of his favorite principles.
During the Presidential campaign of 1848, he edited
with decided ability the Iowa Democrat^ in support of
Cass and Butler, the Democratic nominees; and in the
meanwhile canvassed upon the stump a large portion of
the State, in company with Gen. A. C. Dodge, our late
Minister to Spain, and the late Chief Justice Joseph
Williams. Yery much of the credit for having in that
day placed the Territory of Iowa upon her feet as u Dem-
ocratic State is eminently due to Mr. Smith.
Having lost several members of his family by death,
and having suffered deeply from sickness and other mis-
fortunes during his residence in Iowa, Mr. Smith resolved
upon seeking health and home and fortune by removing
still farther Westward. Accordingly, in the spring of
DELAZON SMITH. 683
1852, he set out with his family in an ox- wagon for the
Territory of Oregon, crossing the Plains and the Rocky
Mountains. He was five months making the journey from
the Missouri River to the Dalles of the Columbia. Himself
and family suffered severely for a protracted period with
sickness whilst on the Plains, but at last arrived in safety
and health in the Yalley of Willamette, thougli not until
they had lost every head of cattle, and in fact every thing
in the shape of property which they possessed.
Undaunted, and neither dismayed nor disheartened,
Mr. Smith selected for himself a land-claim (under the
act of Congress of 1850, granting lands to all citizens who
should reside upon and cultivate the same for a period of
four consecutive yearsj in the county of Linn, in the heart
of the Valley, and soon thereafter established his family
there. Having thus provided a home, he applied himself
vigorously and unremittingly to the practice of the law,
devoting the proceeds to the cultivation and improvement
of his farm, and to securing the comforts and surrounding
himself with the elegancies of life.
In the spring of 1854, the Democracy of Linn county
nominated Mr. Smith as a candidate for the Legislature,
and he was elected by a majority of upwards of two hun-
dred. In the following year, he was again nominated for
the same position, and returned by a majority of four
hundred.
Upon the convening of the Legislature, he was chosen
Speaker of the House of Representatives, receiving nine-
tenths of the votes cast. In 1856, he was again renomi-
nated and reelected to the Legislature by an increased
majority, and in the year following, he was chosen one of
the delegates to the convention to frame a constitution for
the State government; and finall}^, in July, 1858, he wah
chosen one of the first United States Senators from tht
State of Oregon, by a four-fifths vote of the members of
the Legislature assembled in joint convention.
Did the space allotted to this hurried sketch allow,
we should take pleasure in quoting briefly from some of
the numerous speeches, addresses, and orations delivered
by Mr. Smith on various occasions, and which have been
68 i REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
published from time to time, as specimens of his style of
oratory: but a want of space must deprive us of this
pleasure.
The most prominent characteristics of Mr. Smith were
energy, perseverance, and warmth of feeling and attach-
ment. Whatever he resolved upon doing, he did with
remarkable energy and singleness of purpose: no impedi-
ment deterred, no adversity appalled him : he never flagged
or faltered, nor would he readily bow or bend to the storm ;
if he did, he rose again, and not less determined than ever.
No man was more devoted to country, home, and friends.
Unreserved, frank, and candid, no one would go further,
or sacrifice or suffer more, to serve his friends. As a
debater, he reasoned inductively and analogically: was
always ready, forcible, and elegant; and none who heard
him were permitted to doubt either his patriotism or his
sincerity.
Mr. Smith, in casting lots, drew the short term, ex-
piring on the fourth of March, 1859. Upon the expira-
tion of his brief term of office, he returned to Oregon,
and took a prominent part in political movements in that
State. He was in good health and spirits, and his friends
confidently predicted for him many years of brilliant
usefulness. But Providence dashed the hopes of the
statesman and the expectations of his friends, and put a
period to his career. Within a week after the result was
known of the Presidential election of 1860, Mr. Smith
was taken suddenly ill, and died in a few days thereafter.
His widow still lives on the family homestead, a large and
valuable farm in Linn county. Mr. Smith was a true
friend and faithful servant of the people of Oregon, by
whom his memory is gratefully cherished.
STEPHEN JOHNSON FIELD
By the ^ditor
JUDGE Field is the son of the late Rev. David D. Field,
an eminent Kew England divine. David Dudley
Field, who has been, for a quarter of a century, one of
the foremost members of the American bar; Cyrus W.
Field, the projector of the Atlantic submarine telegraph;
Jonathan Field, formerly President of the Massachusetts
Senate; and Rev. Henry M. Field, editor of the New
York Evangelist, are all brothers of the subject of this
sketch.
Stephen Johnson Field was born in Haddam, Con-
necticut, November 4th, 1816. In 181 8, his father moved
to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he resided until
1837, and from 1851 until his death in 1866. When
thirteen years of age, young Field accompanied a relative
to Greece and Asia Minor, where he remained for nearly
three years, studying the modern languages. Returning
he entered Williams College in the fall of 1833, had the
Greek Oration in the Junior year, and graduated in 1837
with the Valedictory Oration, the highest honor in his
class. In 1838, he went to ISTew York city, and entered
upon the study of the law in the office of his brother,
David Dudley Field. During this year, he met with an
accident which resulted in serious and permanent injury
to one of his knee-joints, and has ever since caused a
slight lameness.
686 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
After being admitted to the bar, he became the part-
ner of his brother, with whom he remained until June,
1848, when he went to Europe, and remained abroad
until the fall of the next year. On his return, he was
carried by the tide setting for California to that State,
where he arrived on the 28th of December, 1849. Among
his fellow-passengers were Gov. Purdy and Gregory Yale,
Esq.
Mr. Field settled at Marysville, of which place he was
one of the earliest citizens. ^'He was chosen by the first
settlers Alcalde, (under Mexican usage) and officiated in
that capacity until the organization of the judiciary of
the State — his decisions being final, and his jurisdiction
extending over an immense, indeed an undefined, terri-
tory." Subsequently, for many years, he practiced his
profession in the various Courts of the State, and was
engaged before the Supreme Court at nearly every term
of that tribunal. For several years before his elevation
to the Supreme Court bench, he was generally regarded
as the first lawyer of Northern California. He also
represented Yuba county in the second session of the
Legislature, and the State is indebted to him for very
many of the laws which constitute the body of her legis-
lation.
In 1857, Mr. Field was elected one of the Justices
of the Supreme Court of California, having received his
nomination from the Democratic party. His nomination
was endorsed by many leading newspapers politically op-
posed to him, and his election by a large majority was
not only a political triumph but a popular recognition
of those qualities which subsequently enabled him to
adorn that high station. After his election, and before
the commencement of the term for which he was chosen,
he was appointed by Governor Johnson, Justice of the
Supreme Court, to fill the unexpired term of Judge
Heydenfeldt, resigned. This appointment, coming from
a political opponent, was an endorsement of the popular
estimation of his high character. He took his seat on
the bench in October, 1857, and in 1859, upon the
resignation of Judge Terry, became Chief Justice of the
STEPHEN JOHNSON FIELD. 687
State. In the latter year, he was married at San Fran-
cisco to Miss Sue Y. Swearingen.
In 1863, while still discharging the duties of Chief
Justice of the State, Judge Field, upon the unanimous
recommendation of the Senators and Representatives in
Congress from the Pacific coast, was nominated by Presi-
dent Lincoln and confirmed by the Senate, an Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He
has ever since continued in the active performance of the
functions of this high office.
At the bar, Judge Field was a most skillful opponent.
He came to the trial of a cause thoroughly master of all
its details; then, with his mind steadily fixed upon its
principal points, he proceeded with coolness, caution, and
boldness; never thrown off* his guard; never surprised
by a new proposition; and always developing strength
when the cause demanded it, he seldom failed to evolve
whatever there was in a case. Without being what is
popularly called a great speaker, Judge Field argued his
cases with force and eff'ect, whether before a court or jury.
There was a nervous strength and an enthusiasm in his
clear-cut, logical arguments, which seldom failed to con-
vince.
Upon the bench Judge Field was equally distinguished.
His leading characteristic is his clear comprehension of
the great principles of the law: in all cases he seeks to
apply the broad and general rules of right and justice, and
in order to do this, to brush away the trifles and techni-
calities by which they may be obscured. This is especially
true of his opinions in cases involving the titles to land.
When carefully examined, they will be found to embrace
a system of land laio, scattered, it is true, through twelve
volumes of the Reports of the Supreme Court of the State
of California; sufficiently comprehensive to meet nearly
all questions arising in the acquisition, protection, and
transmission of this species of property. It is undoubt-
edly owing to this fact that his decisions have so generally
stood the test of time, and are now recognized as author-
ity not only in California, but in all the States of the
Pacific.
688 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Judge Field enjoyed the intimate acquaintance and
friendship of the late Judge Joseph G. Baldwin, who en-
tertained for his legal abilities profound respect. Judge
Baldwin regarded with great pleasure and satisfaction
Judge Field's elevation to the high place which he now
holds, and in a communication to the Sacramento Unions
under date of May 6th, 1863, he gave a brief history of
Judge Field's career, and discussed his character and
abilities as a lawyer and jurist. And he did not hesitate
to declare that, '^ by the appointment of Judge Field to
a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United
States, the State of California has been deprived of the
ablest jurist who ever presided over her courts."
Since his elevation to the Supreme Bench of the
United States, Judge Field has not ceased to exercise his
talents for the benefit of his adopted State. As peculiarly
owisng to his exertions, may be mentioned the final settle-
ment of a basis for land titles in San Francisco. It is
generally understood 'that the act of Congress confirming
the Yan Ness Ordinance, and the subsequent and final act
of Congress substantially confirming the decision of the
Circuit Court in the Pueblo case, emanated from him.
His constant solicitude has been to evolve something like
order from the chaotic condition of the land titles in that
city, believing that he could render no more efficient
service to the rising metropolis of the Pacific, and con-
sequently to the whole State, than in conferring upon it
one of the first essentials to the prosperity and financial
health of any community — certainty in the title to the
lands upon which it is built.
^/?
j^^H '«^
3. *
Sn.&aTed-&T J C E^ittee froci a D^goerreo'.-I^
c//r77l<'/}?^^f^UD-
C FBOM CALIF DRj;iA
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL
^Y ^ILLIAM fi. JR.HODEa
Vita sine Uteris, mors est.
WHEN intelligence of the death of Gen. McDougall
reached California^ not a citizen of that State but
felt that one of her brightest intellects, purest patriots^
and wisest counselors had departed. The fame of the
dead senator had penetrated every corner of that new
dominion. As a lawyer, he had been eminently success-
ful; as a public officer, incorruptible; as a statesman,
w^isc, forearmed, and magnanimous. More learned than
Baker, more successful than Hoge, and more consistent
than Pratt, he led that mighty phalanx of great West-
erners who at an early day immigrated into California,
and by their united genius lifted her up into the position
of one of the noblest States that adorn our confederacy.
By their services, she early attained her proudest charac-
teristic, the Umjnre State of the Pacific !
James A. McDougall was born in Albany county, in
the State of New York, in November, 1817, a-nd received
the rudiments of his education at the Grammar School
of that place. At a very early age, he assisted in the
survey of the first railroad built in the Slate of New
York — that connecting the two cities of Albany and
Schenectady. His attention thus early was directed
towards internal improvements, particularly to railroads,
U
690 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
and some of the most important acts of his life owed
their germs to this commencement. Here, indeed, may
be seen the origin of his advocacy of the Great Pacific
Railroad, to the construction of which he devoted much
of his time and all of his talents: of this, however, we
shall speak more at large hereafter.
After completing the survey of the Albany road, Mr.
McDougall resolved to adopt the profession of law as the
'business of his life, and set about the study with indus-
trious alacrity. He devoted all his time to this object,
and with characteristic energy soon mastered the rudi-
ments of the profession. Whilst still a mere boy, he
emigrated to the great West — in 1837 — and settled in
Pike county, Illinois. Here he at once developed talents
of the highest order, and rose with unprecedented ra-
pidity to the highest honors of the forum. In 1842, he
was elected Attorney General of Illinois, and at the con-
clusion of his first term of office in 1844, was again elected
to the same position.
During his early career in Illinois, it was his fortune
to meet and come into friendly rivalry at the bar with
such men as Baker, Hoge, and Pratt. Nor is it doing
any injustice to those distinguished jurists to assert that
he fully equaled, if he did not surpass, them all. Indeed,
for varied literary as well as legal lore ; for scrupulous
good taste in all his compositions; for fiery eloquence
and aptness of quotation, no citizen of Illinois has ever
yet approached him.
From Illinois, he led an expedition of his own form-
ing, in 1849, to the head waters of the Rio del Norte.
The object of this venture was primarily, exploration of
the country, with a view to settlement, and secondly, a
search for the precious metals.
The enchanting news from California seems to have
taken entire possession of the minds of some of the ablest
and most adventurous spirits of the far West, and hence
the brilliant array of distinguished names that adorned
the early annals of the Golden State. The results of the
expedition not being satisfactory, instead of returning
homewards, the caravan turned its face to the westward,
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL. 691
and started across the deserts and hills of the Gila and
Colorado for the El Dorado of the West.
Soon after his arrival in California, he settled in San
Francisco, and devoted his attention to the practice of
law. From the first moment of his appearance at the
bar in that city, he became a man of mark and distinc-
tion. It was no easy task to take precedence of such
men as Tilford, Randolph, and Sloan; yet McDougall
soon found himself an overmatch for them all, and shared
the dangerous honor of preeminence alone with Lock-
wood of Indiana. The contests between these two jurists
of the law were always terrific, and very often extremely
rough and personal. What Lockwood lacked in polish,
he made up in erudition, and what was wanting in
McDougall's delivery, was fully compensated for in sar-
castic humor. Lockwood was ponderous in his blows,
whilst his rival was alert and watchful. It was the old
battle between Fitz James and Roderick Dhu, between
David and Goliah, between rude strength and practiced
skill. The Damascus blade generally triumphed over the
rude claymore and the tough bull's hide. When the
verdict came, it was received usually in sullen silence by
the defeated Hoosier. The New Yorker smiled, birt
said nothing. Well he knew that when the appeal came
to the Supreme Court, nothing could resist the polished
irony, nervous vigor, and apt learning of his luminous
pen. Still the battle was left undecided up to the period
of Lockwood' s death. After that event, it was generally
conceded that James A. McDougall stood at the head of
the California bar. 'No sooner had he established his
right as a leader than he received the nomination of the
Democratic party for the office of Attorney General of
the State. He was triumphantly elected to that position
in 1850, and served with great distinction. His legal
eminence soon led to political preferment, and he was
chosen member of Congress, as a Representative, in 1853.
Previous to his election, the question of the con-
struction of a continental railroad began to exercise the
minds of the most sagacious politicians on both shores
of the hemisphere. On the western, McDougall took the
G92 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
lead. Unquestionably the most scientific of the laymen
who advocated the measure, he soon, by his studies of
the geography of the interior of the continent, led even
the scientific corps who had been detailed by the Federal
government to take the initiative steps towards its con-
struction. It soon became the hobby of McDougall, as it
had been for many years with Senator Benton of Mis-
souri. All sources of information were explored by him
with indefatigable industry, and his first great speech in
Congress was upon his favorite theme. Before quitting
home, he delivered several powerful speeches on the
subject, and by his warm and magnetic eloquence aroused
the leading minds of California and Oregon to a just ap-
preciation of the subject.
• Much has been written to prove who was the real
father of the Pacific Railroad. It matters but little who
first suggested the general idea; but the honor of prac-
ticalizing the thought is due to James A. McDougall.
His powerful advocacy of the measure in Congress led to
the first action of the Covernment on the question, and
his ready learning on all the branches of the subject
effected more towards its completion than all the surveys
put together. In 1855, he declined a renomination for
Congress, and resumed the practice of law in San Fran-
cisco. In 1861, he was elected a United States Senator
to Congress, and came forward with renewed strength in
the prosecution of his favorite measure.
The war having in the meantime broken out between
the sections North and South, afforded a wide field for
proving the utility of the undertaking, and he did not
fail to present the argument in its new light, as a neces-
sary war measure. At this period his party being in a
large minority in Congress, upon others, more in sym-
pathy with the national administration, devolved the
chief duty of presenting the question. But still, upon
the shoulders of the Western Titan rested the heaviest
part of the burthen. Ably seconded by Sargent and his
colleagues, all difficulties were finally removed, and he
lived to see the darling object of his political life on the
'ligh road to success.
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL. 693
In addition to the labors he performed on committee,
as Chairman of the Pacific Raikoad, he served also, and
with no less distinguished honor, on the Finance Com-
mittee, and upon that of ^aval Affairs.
Whilst in Congress, his principal speeches, aside from
those on the Railroad, were delivered on the subjects of
the expulsion of Senators Bright and W. P. Johnson; on
Emancipation; on Slavery in the District of Columbia;
on the establishment of a Steam Mail Line to China and
Japan; on the Civil Rights Bill; on Reconstruction; on
the Restoration of the Southern States; on the Freedmen's
Bureau; the Continental Telegraph Lines; the National
Academy; and upon that singular subject, the sale of
liquor by retail within the purlieus of the Capitol.
Upon all these questions he spoke with the learning
of a scholar and the moderation of a statesman. We
doubt if there has ever been a more logical, eloquent,
and unanswerable argument than that contained in his
speech delivered in the Senate of the United States on
the 12th March, 18G2, on the subject of the Right of
Confiscation of Southern property. He threw a mighty
blaze of historical and legal light upon the question, that
amazed and confounded his opponents; and he silenced,
if he did not convince them. It was in this celebrated
speech that he defined his position on the question of
negro slavery. Standing there as a representative, he
did not hesitate to affirm :
Do not understand me, Mr. President, as being in any sense, in
the remotest degree, an advocate for slavery in any form. I have
never, since I have had opinions, entertained the opinion that it
could exist to the advantage of any free State. I regard its influ-
ences as being worse upon the white than upon the slave poj^ulation.
I understand, too, that when I present my opposition to this meas-
ure, I come in contact with what is the popular opinion and feeling
of the people throughout the free States. That cannot measure my
conduct. I understand the business of a Senator here in the pass-
age of laws to be to inquire into what laws are necessary and just,
what laws presented are impolitic or unjust, and to give his support
to the one, and his opposition to the other. No notion of popular
opinion should or will control me.
But lest his motives might be impugned, he took occa-
sion also to say:
694 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
Sir, as far as I am able to read of the wisdom taught by the his-
tory and counselings of the past, the measure now proposed can
never secure i3eace. The policy involved in it will continue an angry,
remDrselss^, relentless war, which if it do not involve subjagation,
will involve extirpation. I fear that the country, and not only the
country but the Senate, have been led wild with anger; that they
have caught some of the angry spirit of their adversaries, and in-
stead of taking lessons from the great States of the world, and the
greab teachers of ancient and modern times, have taken their advice
from Richmond and Montgomery.
Bjt Sanator McDougall Wcis also a leader of public
opinion on another subject, which at the time of the de-
livery of his address subjected him to unworthy 'criticism
and ill-natured comment. We allude to his Franco-
Mexican speech on the 3d February, 1863. The policy
advocated by him at that time soon afterwards became
the settled plan of the Federal Grovernment, though at
the moment of its expression no statesman was more
bitter in his denunciations than Mr. Secretary Seward.
This led to some ill-feeling betwixt the two statesmen,
and induced General McDougall to pay a very equivocal
compliment to the American premier. It is related, upon
good authority, that McDougall, returning home one night
from a prolonged session of the Senate, indulged rather
freely in his favorite beverage, so much so as to fall down,
without the power of self-elevation. At this moment a
policeman approached, and before assisting him to rise,
asked him who he was. He answered very laconically,
^' Don't you see? I'm Sewardr
This anecdote leads us to remark that the most char-
acteristic speech he ever made was in the Senate, not
long before his death, on the sale of intoxicating bev-
erages within the Capitol building. This speech is full
of the most delicate wit, subtle irony, and eloquent
learning. Classical quotations, and historical incidents
and allusions, abound in it from beginning to end. As
an ironical defence of drunkenness, it has no parallel in
English literature; and though McDougall was famous
before for his classics, this effort left him without a peer
in the Senate of the United States.
As a specimen of McDougall' s serious style, his eulogy
on the death of Col. E. D. Baker, Senator from Oregon,
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL. 695
and killed in the battle of Ball's Bluff, is appended to
this sketch. No finer eulogy than this was ever spoken
upon the floors of Congress. The speech upon the sale
of liquors in the National Capitol will also be found in
this volume, immediately following the eulogy just re-
ferred to.
Yet, with all his talent, learning, and industry, he
had one fault. This pursued him most relentlessly to his
grave, and he died the victim of the same habits that cut
off Prentiss in the splendor of his career and the meridian
of his fame — the same enemy that throttled Alexander
the Great, conquered Alcibiades, and killed Lord Clive ;
and though we could not pardon his self-indulgence
during life, we may be permitted to forgive it, now that
he is no more. JReguiescat in pace! He died at Albany,
near the spot of his birth, on the 30th of September,
1867, aged fifty years.
Delivered in the United States Senate, December 11th, a. d. 1861.
BY GEN. J. A. MCDOUGALL.
Mr. President: Within the brief period I have occupied a seat on
this floor, I have listened to the formal announcement of the decease
of the two Senators nearest to me by the ties of association and
friendship, both representative men, and among the ablest that ever
discoursed counsel in this Senate. I trust I shall be pardoned if it
be thought there is something of pride in my claim of friendship
with such distinguished and not to be forgotten men. The l^te
Senator from Illinois, as well as the late Senator of whom I am about
to speak, were my seniors in years, and much more largely instructed
than myself in public affairs. Differing as they had for a period of
more than a quarter of a century, they had met together, and in the
maintenance in all its integrity of the great governmental institution
of our fathers, they were one. Coming myself a stranger to your
counsels, I looked to them for that home advice in which there is no
purpose of disguise or concealment. Their loss has been, and is, to
me like the shadows of great clouds; but while I have felt, and now
696 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
feel their loss, as companions, friends and counselors in whose truth
I trusted, I feel that no sense of private loss should find expression
when a nation suffers. I may say here, however, that, while for
the loss of these two great Senators a nation suffers, the far country
whence I come feels the suffering of a double loss. They were both
soldiers and champions of the West — of our new and undeveloped
possessions. A few months since, the people of the Pacific, from
the sea of Cortez to the Straits of Fuca, mourned for Douglas : the
same people mourn for Baker. The two Senators were widely dif-
ferent men, moulded in widely different forms, and they walked in
widely different paths; but the tread of their hearts kept time, and
they each sought a common goal, only by different paths.
The record of the honorable birth, brilliant life, and heroic death
of the late Edward Dickinson Baker has been already made by a
thousand eloquent pens. That record has been read in cabin, and
in hall, from Maine to furthest Oregon. I offer now but to pay to
his memory the tribute of my love and praise. While paying this
tribute with a proud sadness, I trust its value will not be diminished,
when I state that for many years, and until the recent demands of
patriotism extinguished controversial differences, we were almost
constant adversaries in the forum and at the bar. A great writer, in
undertaking to describe one of the greatest of men, said: "Know
that there is not one of you who is aware of his real nature." I
think that, with all due respect, I might say of the late Senator the
same thing to this Senate, as I am compelled to say it to myself. Of
all the men I have ever known he was the most difficult to comprehend.
He was a many-sided man. Will, mind, power, radiated from one
centre within him, in all directions; and while the making of that
circle, Vv^hich, according to the dreams of old philosophy, would con-
stitute a perfect being, is not within human hope, he may be regarded
as one who at least illustrated the thought. His great powers cannot
be attributed to the work of laborious years. They were not his
achievements. They were gifts, God-given. His sensations, memory,
thought, and action, went hand in hand together, with a velocity and
power which, if not always exciting admiration, compelled astonish-
ment.
Although learned, the late Senator was not what is called a scholar.
He was too full of stirring life to labor among the mouldy records of
dead ages; and had he not been, the wilderness of the West furnished
no field for the exercise of mere scholarly accomplishments. I say
the late Senator was learned. He was skilled in metaphysics, logic,
and law. He might be called a master of history, and of all the
literature of our own language. He knew much of music — not only
music as it gives present pleasure to the ear, but music in the sense
in which it was understood by the old seekers after -svisdom, who held
that in harmonious sounds rested some of the great secrets of the
infinite. Poetry he inhaled and expressed. Tiie afflatus called divine
breathed about him. Many years since, on the then wild plains of
the West, in the middle of a star-lit night, as we journeyed together,
I heard first from him the chant of that noble song, The Battle of
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL. 697
Ivry. Two of its stanzas impressed me then, and there are other
reasons why they impress me now :
The King lias come to marshal us, in all his armor drest;
And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest;
He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye ;
He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high;
Right graciously he smiled on us, as ran from ^\ing to wing,
Down all our line, a deafening shout, " God save our Lord the King!'*
And if my standard-bearer fall, and fall full well he may,
For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray.
Press where ye see my white plume shine, amidst the ranks of war,
And be your oriflamme to-day, the helmet of Navarre.
Hurrah! the foes are moving; hark to the mingled din
Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring cul-verin.
The fiery Duke is pricking fast across Saint Andrew's plain.
With all the hirehng chivalry of Gueldres and Almagne;
" Now by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of France,
Charge! for the golden hhes: now upon them with the lance!"
A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears in rest,
A thousand loiights are pressing close behind the snow-white crest;
And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, Hke a guiding star,
Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre.
He was an orator — not an orator trained to the model of the Greek
or Eoman school, but one far better suited to our age and people.
He was a master of dialectics., and possessed a skill and power in
words which would have confounded the rhetoric of Gorgias, and
demanded of the great master of dialects himself, the exact use of
all his materials of wordy warfare. He was deeply versed in all that
belongs to the relations and conduct of all forms of societies, from
families to States, and the laws which have and do govern them.
He was not a man of authorities, simply because he used authorities
only as the rounds whereby to ascend to principles. Having learned
much, he was a remarkable master of all he knew, whether it was to
analyze, generalize, or combine his vast materials. It was true to
him, as it is fei'ue of most remarkable minds, that he did not always
appear to be all he was. The occasion made the measure of the
exhibition of his strength. "When the occasion challenged the effort,
he could discourse as cunningly as the sage of Ithaca, and as wisely
as the king of Pylus.
lie was a soldier. He was a leader; ** a man of war," fit, like the
Tachmite, "to sit in the seat, chief among the captains." Like all
men who possess hero blood, he loved fame, glory, honorable re-
nown. He thirsted for it with an ardent thirst, as did Cicero and
Caesar: and what was that nectar in which the gods delighted on
high Olympus but the wine of praise for the great deeds accomplished?
"Would that he might have lived, so that his great sacrifice might
have been offered, and his great soul gone up from some great
field, his lips bathed with the nectar that he loved! None ever felt
more than he —
Since all must life resign,
Those sweet dehghts that decorate the brave
' 'Tis folly to decline.
And steal inglorious to the silent grave.
698 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
But it was sometMng more than the fierce thirst for glory that carried
the late Senator to the field of sacrifice. No one felt more than he
the majestic dignity of the great cause for which our nation now
makes war. He loved freedom, if you please; Anglo-Saxon freedom;
>'or he was one of that great old race. He loved this land, this whole
land. He had done much to conquer it from the wilderness; and by
his own acts he had made it his land. Hero blood is patriot blood.
When he witnessed the storm of anarchy with which the madness of
depraved ambition sought to overwhelm the land of his choice and
love; when he heard the battle-call.
Lay down the ax, fling by the spade.
Leave in its track the toiUng plowj
The rifle and the bayonet blade,
For arms Hke yours are fitter now:
And let the hands that ply the pen.
Quit the hght task, and learn to wield
The horseman's crooked brand, and rein
The charger on the battle-field.
Our country calls; away, away!
To where the blood-streams blot the green;
Strike to defend the gentlest sway
That time in aU its course has seen.
It was in the spirit of the patriot hero that the gallant soldier,
the grave Senator, the white-haired man of counsel, yet full of youth
as full of years, gave answer, as does the war-horse, to the trumpet's
sound.
The wisdom of his conduct has been questioned. Many have
thought that he should have remained for counsel in this hall. Mr,
President, the propriety of a Senator taking upon himself the duties
; of a soldier, depends, like many other things, on circumstances;
I and certainly such conduct has the sanction of the example of great
i names. Socrates — who was not of the councils of Athens simply
: because he deemed his office as a teacher of wisdom a higher and
i nobler one — did not think it unworthy of himself to serve as a com-
j mon soldier in battle; and when Plato seeks best to describe and
j most to dignify his great master, he causes Alcibiades, among other
i things, to say of him:
I ought not to omit what Socrates was in battle; for in that battle after which
the Generals decreed to me the prize of courage, Socrates alone, of all men, was
the saviour of my life, standing by me when I had fallen and was wounded, and
•preserving both myself and my arms from the enemy. But to see Socrates when
•our army was defeated and scattered in flight at Dehas, was a spectacle worthy to
behold. On that occasion I was among the cavalry, and he on foot heavily armed.
After the total rout of our troops he and Laches retreated together. I came up by
chance; and seeing them, bade them be of good cheer, for that I would not leave
them. As I was on horseback, and therefore less occupied by a regard of my own
situation, I could better observe than at Potidoea the beautiful spectacle exhibited
by Socrates on this emergency. * * * He walked and darted his regards around
with a majestic composure, looking tranquilly both on his friends and enemies; so
that it was evident to every one, even from afar, that whoever should venture to
Attack bim would encount^ a desperate resistance. He and his companion thus
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL. 699
departed in safety ; for those who are scattered in flight are pursued and killed,
whilst men hesitate to touch those who exhibit such a countenance as that of
Socrates, even in defeat.
This is the picture of a sage painted by a sage; and why may not
great wisdom be the strongest element of a great war? In the days
when the States of Greece were free, when Kome was free, when
Venice was free, who but their great statesmen, counselors, and
senators, led their armies to victorious battle? In the best days of
all the great and free States, civil place and distinction was never
held inconsistent with military authority and conduct. So far from
it, all history teaches the fact that those who have proved themselves
most competent to direct and administer the affairs of government,
in times of peace, were not only trusted, but were best trusted with
the conduct of armies in times of war. In these teachings of his-
tory there may be some lessons we have yet to learn; and that we
have such lessons to learn I know was the strong conviction of the
late Senator. It is with no sense of satisfaction that I feel it my
duty to say that I have been led to the opinion that there is much
soundness in the opinion he entertained.
It is but a brief time since the late Senator was among us, main-
taining our countiy's cause, with wise counsel, clothed in eloquent
words. When, in August last, his duties here as a Senator for the
time ceased, he devoted himself exclusively to the duties of a soldier.
Occupyin ^ a subordinate position, commanded where he was most
fit to command, he received his orders. He saw and knew the
nature of the enterprise he was required to undertake; he saw and
knew that he was required to move underneath the shadow of the
wings of Azrael. He did not, he would not, question the require-
ment made of him. His motto on that day was: "A good heart and
no hope. " He knew, as was known at Balaklava, that some one had
blundered; yet he said: "Forward, my Brigade, although some one
has blundered." Was this reckless rashness? No! It may be called
sacrifice, self-sacrifice; but I, who know the man who was the late
Senator — the calm, self-possessed perfectness of his valor — and who
have studied all the details of the field of his last offering with a sad
earnestness, say to you, sir, to this Senate, to the country, and par-
ticularly to the people of the land of the West, where most and l3est
he is known and loved, that no rash, reckless regardlessness of danger
can be attributed to him. It is but just to say of him that his con-
duct sprung from a stem, hero, patriot, martyr spirit, that enabled
him to dare, unflinchingly, with a smile to the green earth, and \vith
a smile to the bright heavens, and a cheer to his brave companions,
ascend the altar of sacrifice.
A poet of the middle ages, speaking of Carthage as then a dead
city, the grave of which was scarcely discernible, says:
For cities die, kingdoms die;
A little sand and grass covers all
That was once lofty in them, and
Glorious; and yet man, forsooth,
Disdains that he is mortal! Oh,
Mind of ours, inordinate and proud!
700 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
It is true cities and kingdoms die, but the eternal tliouglit lives
on. Great thought, incorporate with great action, does not die, but
lives a universal life, and its power is felt vibrating through all spirit
and throughout all the ages. I doubt whether or not we should
mourn for any of the dead. I am confident that there should be no
mourning for those who render themselves up as sacrifices in any
great, just, and holy cause. It better becomes us to praise and
dignify them. It was the faith of an ancient people that the souls
of heroes did not rest until their great deeds had been hymned by
bards, to the sounds of martial music. Bards worthy of the ancient
time have hymned the praise of the great citizen. Senator, and soldier,
who has left us. They have showered on his memory
Those leaves, which for the eternal few
Who wander o'er the paradise of fame.
In sacred dedication ever grew.
I would that I were able to add a single leaf to the eternal ama-
ranth. In long future years, when our nights of horror shall have
passed, and there shall have come again *' the welcome morning
with its rays of peace," young seekers after fame and young lovers
of freedom, throughout all this land, yea, and other and distant
lands, will recognize, honor, and imitate our late associate as one of
the undying dead.
On the Resolution to Prohibit the Sale of Spirituous Liquors in the National
Capitol Building, dehvered in the United States Senate, April 11th, 1866.
Mr. President: It was once said that there were as many minds
as men, and there is no end of wrangling. I had occasion some
years since to discourse vdth a reverend doctor of divinity from the
State which has the honor to be the birthplace, I think, of the
present President of this body. While I was discoursing with him,
a lot of vile rapscallions invited me to join them at the bar. I de-
clined, out of respect to the reverend gentleman in whose presence
I then was. As soon as the occasion had passed, I remarked to the
reverend doctor, *'Do not understand that I declined to go and join
those young men at the bar because I have any objection to that
thing, for it is my habit to drink always in the front and not beliind
the door.'' He looked at me with a certain degree of interrogation.
I then asked him, "Doctor, what was the first miracle worked by
our great Master?" He hesitated, and I said to him, *' Was it not
at Cana in Galilee, where he converted the water into wine, at a
marriage-feast?" He assented. I asked him then, "After the ark
had floated on the tempestuous seas for forty days and nights, and
JAMES A. MCDOUGALL. 701
as it descended upon the dry lands, what was the first thing done by-
father Noah?" He did not know that exactly. "Well," said I,
*' did he not plant a vine?" Yes; he remembered it then.
I asked him, "Do you remember any great poet that ever illus-
trated the higher fields of humanity that did not dignify the use of
wine, from old Homer down?" He did not. I asked, "Do you
know any great philosopher that did not use it for the exaltation of
his intelligence? Do you think, doctor, that a man who lived upon
pork and beef and corn-bread could get up into the superior re-
gions — into the ethereal? No; he must
' Take nectar on high Olympus,
And mighty mead in Valhalla.' "
I said to him again, "Doctor, you are a scholarly man, of course —
a doctor of divinity — a. graduate of Yale : do you remember Plato's
Symposium?" Yes, he remembered that. I referred him to the
occasion when Agatho, having won the prize of Tragedy at the
Olympic Games at Corinth, on coming back to Athens, was feted by
the nobility and aristocracy of that city; for it was a proud triumph
to Athens to win the prize of Tragedy. They got together at the
house of Phsedrus, and they said, "Now, we have been every ni5Tht
for these last six nights drunk : let us be sober to-night, and we \^ ill
start a theme;" which they passed around the table, as the sun goes
round, or as they drank their wine, or as men tell a story. They
started a theme, and the theme was love — not love in the vulgar
sense, but in its high sense — love of all that is beautiful. After they
had gone through, and after Socrates had j)ronounced his judgment
about the true and beautiful, in came Alcibiades with a drunken
body of Athenian boys, with garlands around their heads to crown
Agatho and to crown old Socrates; and they said to those assembled,
"This will not do; we have been drinking, and you have not." And
after Alcibiades had made his talk in pursuance of the argument, in
which he undertook to dignify Socrates, as I remember it, they re-
quired (after the party had agTeed to drink, it being quite late in the
evening, and they had finished their business in the way of discus-
sion) that Socrates should drink two measures for every other man's
one, because he was better able to stand it. And so one after
another they were laid down on the lounges in the Athenian style,
all except an old physician named Aristodemus, and Plato makes
him the hardest-headed fellow except Socrates. He and Socrates
stuck at it until the grey of the morning, and then Socrates took his
bath and went down to the groves and talked academic knowledge.
After citin^this incident, I said to this divine, " Do you remem-
ber that Lord JBacon said that a man should get druiik at least once
a month, and that Montaigne, the French philosopher, endorsed
the proposition?"
I said to him further, " These exaltants that bring us up above
the common measure of the brute, wine and oil, elevate us, enable
us to seize great facts, inspirations, which, once possessed, are ours
forever. And those who never go beyond the mere beastly means
702 REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE PACIFIC.
of animal support, never live in the high planes of life, and cannot
achieve them. I believe in women, wine, whisky, and war."
The reverend doctor replied, " Well, General, you are right; but
I cannot afford to say it."
I do not know but that it would be well for the sober Senator
from California to indulge himself somewhat more in generous wine;
and I do not know but that it would be of service to the Senator from
New Hampshire, and I am sure it would have a kindly influence
upon the Senator from Massachusetts. I think all these propositions,
all these regulations, all this style of determining liberties that ought
to be common to all men, by virtue of ismatical influences, is wrong,
and I utterly protest against it. I think it was well when we had
our lunch-room in the Senate chamber, where we quietly sat down
and drank our wines at our pleasure. The times have come to be so
false that men dare not say what they honestly think to be the truth
and the right. That sin of cowardice shall never come to my door.
I say the whole proposition is wrong. Let the Senator from Massa-
chusetts, if he chooses, drink his wine as his forefathers did before
they cut down all the apple-trees in that State. Because apple-
trees raised apples, and apples made cider, and cider made brandy,
they cut them down all through New England; but in his grand-
father's time, every gentleman of Massachusetts, or every man who
was able to afford it, had on his side-board a bottle of good apple
brandy, and he offered it to his guests the moment he received them.
Those were the good old times when gentlemen were abounding* in
the land. This kind of regulation tends to decorate humanity and
to degrade the dignity of the Senate.
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