San Joaquin

County History

History of San Joaquin County, California with Biographical Sketches - Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA - 1923

CHAPTER V

COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND LAND GRANTS

        WHERE did we get this land, California, within whose bounds lies San Joaquin County? Stole it from the Mexican government. It is so declared in milder terms by nearly all of the later days historians, Channing declaring, "The Mexican war was in reality an attack on a weak nation by a strong one." General U. S. Grant, a captain in the Mexican War, emphasizes Channing's statement when he says in his memoirs, "I regard the war as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation." "It was in no sense of the word a righteous or a justifiable war, for there was no cause for war, but the South wanted California for the extension of slavery, and James Russell Lowell in his Bigelow papers aptly expresses it when he wrote:

"They just wanted this Californy
So's to lug new states in,

To abuse ye and to scorn ye,

And to plunder ye like sin."

        At that time the South was the dominating power in Congress and President James K. Polk, a Southerner, was at their command. To obtain California was easy—just to reach out and get it though the flimsy reason of the President making this declaration, "Mexico has shed American blood upon American soil. War exists, and exists by the act of Mexico herself." Even before war was declared, in May, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat, in command of the U. S. vessels, was lying off the coast of Peru waiting for the news of war, when he was to quickly sail and take possession of California; John C. Fremont, under the guise of an exploring expedition, was sent out as early as 1844 to spy out the land; and Stephen W. Kearny, with troops, was on the march for California in less than a month after the declaration of war. It was purely a Southern war fought principally by southern soldiers and commanded by southern officers, thousands of them, who later became pioneers of California, controlled its political affairs, held nearly all of the official positions and engaged in business pursuits. It was one of the shortest wars in history—less than twelve months of actual fighting. On September 14, 1847, General Winfield Scott, riding a white horse, at the head of his troops, made his spectacular march into the City of Mexico. In the treaty of peace signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, Mexico was compelled to cede to the United States all of that territory now known as Nevada, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, in fact all of the land west of the Rocky Mountains north of the Gulf of Mexico and south of the south Oregon line. Col. R. B. Mason was in command of the California troops at this time, but he did not learn of the treaty of peace, officially until March, 1848. Hence his answer to Captain Sutter and his refusal to grant the Swiss preemption rights to Coloma. I have laid this foundation of the Mexican War as we will find it later on the cause of squatter difficulties, political agitations and slavery difficulties.

The Rush to California

        The news of gold in California flew on the wings of lightning to every port in the civilized world. And in less than eighteen months there were 100,000 people in California. They came from every state in the Union, and from England, France, Germany. Ireland, Scotland, China, Mexico and Chile. The number reported to Congress by the memorial committee of the constitutional convention was 107,000. They were estimated as to nationality, as follows: 5,000 foreigners, 13,000 Californians—native born, and 76,000 Americans. As an additional report the harbor master at San Francisco reported that from April 12 until December 31, 1849, 29,069 immigrants entered the Golden Gate. And carefully note this, of the last number mentioned, 800 were females. Thousands more came by way of New Mexico from the south over the Santa Fe trail, and overland across the Sierras by the way of Sutter's Fort. In that vast multitude of "goldseekers" most of them expecting to make their fortune quickly and return home, there were hundreds of criminals of every shade and color and deep-dyed in every crime imaginable. It was a condition of things never before seen in the world's history. And without any form of government, property and life were not safe for a day.

First Constitutional Convention

        Something must be done and done quickly. The people assembled in meetings in San Jose, Sacramento and San Francisco, called upon Bennett Riley, then in command of the United States coast army and Governor, of California, to call a constitutional convention for the organization of some form of state government. For several weeks he refused to take any action, declaring that the Government at Washington had not authorized him to organize a government. A man of good common sense, however, seeing the condition of affairs, he finally agreed to call a constitutional convention. For without any means of communication with Washington except by an overland horseback journey it would be a year at least before he could receive any instructions from the Government. From his headquarters at Monterey, June 3, 1849, General Riley issued his proclamation recommending the "formation of a state constitution or a plan for a territorial government." For the purpose of electing delegates to said convention, he divided the territory into ten districts giving as far as possible an equal number of inhabitants to each district. At the time of the calling of the convention, the San Joaquin district was the least inhabited and its bounds, said the proclamation, included "all of the country south of the Sacramento district bounded on the south by the Cosumnes River and lying between the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada." That was some district. It was allotted four delegates, but so fast did the district increase in population, the people were entitled to and elected fifteen delegates.

        We have no record of the election in the district, but we know from the constitutional debates that San Joaquin had a lively fight in seating her delegates. The leading champion for San Joaquin was Wm. M. Gwin, the leader in the convention, and even at that time a notable figure in national politics. His reasons for championing the cause of San Joaquin is not known, since he was a delegate from San Francisco. Gwin's labor was virtually wasted, for six delegates only appeared and took their seats. They were an interesting six. J. M. Jones, a bright young lawyer from New York, had been in the territory just six months; he died before the close of 1851. Thomas H. Vermuele, thirty-five years of age, another lawyer, had been three years in California. O. M. Wozencroft, thirty-four years of age, a physician from Louisiana, had been four months in the country. He was afterwards appointed an Indian pension agent. J. M. McHollingworth, twenty-five years of age, was a lieutenant in Colonel Stevenson's regiment. Last, but not least, came Ben T. Moore, twenty-nine years of age, born in Florida, a lawyer by profession and a sporting man by choice. One of the Texas Rangers in the Mexican War, he came to Stockton with George W. Trahern in 1849. This convention, one of the most notable in the United States because of the fact that they established a state constitution without any constitutional authority, adjourned October 13, 1849, sine die, after framing a state constitution that answered all state purposes for over thirty years. And it was as a matter of fact a far better instrument than that framed in 1879.

        Among other commands the state constitution declared that a state election should be held November 13, 1849, for the election of state officers, to hold office for two years. The legislature should comprise a Senate and an Assembly, the former elected for two years and the latter for one year. The election was held at the appointed time throughout the state. In the San Joaquin district there were no voting places and John Kerrand and Francis D. Clark, traveling a circuit of ten or twelve miles, on horseback, carried a ballot box with them and obtained votes for the candidates. They obtained a large number of votes. Some of the defeated candidates objected to that kind of voting and had the enterprising ballot clerks arrested. The prefect, Wm. L. Dickerson, discharged the defendants as there was no law against traveling ballot boxes. The district was entitled to four senators and six assemblymen. The election was won by David F. Douglas, Benjamin S. Lippincott, Nelson Taylor and Thomas Vermuele. Of these senators only one, D. F. Douglas, remained in the county any length of time. Ben S. Lippincott, who came to California with the Stevenson regiment, was a politician; after his term expired he went to Tuolumne County and was again elected senator. He was a leading factor in the Broderick senatorial fight in 1855, and later returned to New Jersey. Thomas Vermuele resigned in two months and became city attorney of San Jose. Nelson Taylor was a very negligent senator for he did not appear in the senate until the end of the first week, and January 21, he asked a ten days leave of absence. It was granted and failing to show up on time his colleague, David Douglas, moved that Taylor's seat be declared vacant. Taylor was elected sheriff of the county in 1853, was the owner of considerable property and during the Civil War sold out, and going to New York entered the army of volunteers.

Van Buren-Fair Contest

        The assemblymen elected were J. S. K. Ogier, a native of Alabama, Ben F. Moore, of Florida, Charles M. Creanor, Richard W. Heath and John Van Benscroten of New York; Charles M. Creanor resigned in April, the legislature having elected him judge of the Fifth judicial court comprising the counties of San Joaquin, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa. Two months previous Heath and Van Benscroten resigned. To fill these vacancies an election was called for March 2, 1850. There were three candidates for the office, William D. Fair, E. L. B. Brooks and Thomas B. Van Buren. Brooks received 115 votes, and Van Buren's vote exceeded the Fair vote by over 800 majority. He was a very popular man, perhaps because he had the name of a Democratic President. He was the first July 4th orator at Stockton, and later appointed Minister to China. Both Fair and Van Buren were bright young lawyers from the south, Fair meeting a tragic death in 1861. He married the famous Laura D. Fair, who shot and killed the noted San Francisco attorney, A .P. Crittenden. Fair's marriage was unfortunate, and on her account he shot and killed himself, December 27, 1861. As Van Buren had been elected to fill a vacancy only, his time expired in December, 1850. In September, Governor Peter H. Burnett issued a proclamation for an election October 7, for several state officers, a district attorney, a senator and two assemblymen for San Joaquin. There were seventeen advertised candidates for the assembly but the voters narrowed the number to seven, Frederick Yeiser, 528, and W. C. McDougal, 312, receiving the highest votes. The senatorial fight was again contested between W. D. Fair and T. B. Van Buren. It was a close contest slightly in favor of Van Buren. The county clerk, A. C. Bradford, later a land office registrar and a grand master of state Odd Fellows, issued the election certificate to Van Buren. Fair, in the senate contested the election, each attorney presenting his own case. The contest was very interesting and Fair presented his evidence "with all the skill and talent of a lawyer of the first class and Van Buren showed himself an honorable and high-toned gentleman," said one who was present. It was shown during the contest, said the legislative report, that there were many illegal ballots cast, Mexicans, foreigners and even Indians, voting. In one precinct the county judge acting as an election judge left the precinct and went out and brought in illegal voters to cast their ballot for the judge's favorite candidate. The Senate after hearing all of the evidence gave the seat to Van Buren by a vote of nine to three. They asserted that although there was much illegal voting it was about equally divided and Van Buren polled the most votes.

Resignation of Assemblyman

        In those days, even up to 1860, there were scarcely any laws governing elections and the citizens then, as now, took no interest in the election of officers unless personally interested. Another queer election took place March 20, 1850, to fill the seat made vacant by the resignation of Assemblyman Heath. The poll was at the Stockton House and voting commenced at 10 a. m. and closed at 4 p. m. There were four candidates. In the county vote E. B. Bateman received 197, J. W. Paine, 102, and R. A. Duthel, 65. We have no record of the mountain camp vote except at Sonora. Bateman received twenty-five majority. He was a young physician, a pioneer of 1847 and the manager of a private hospital. He was of course well-known and a very kindly gentleman. A little later over twenty-five prominent citizens of the town, in a published letter requested him to present his name for county superintendent of schools. Regarding the election, the voting was very informal especially in the Isbel ranch. precinct, now known as Waterloo. The judge was David J. Staples, later very prominent in the insurance business in San Francisco. During the afternoon he concluded he had better go out and look for some lost cattle, leaving the clerk, A. W. Brush, in charge. Staples rode away on his horse and was not again seen for several days. Later Mr. Brush, telling of the incident, said "everything voted" and fifteen votes were polled.

        While the political wire pullers were advancing the claims of their friends for office—for there were six elections that year—the legislature was at work passing some exceedingly necessary laws. One of these laws was an "Act subdividing the State into counties." They cut up the state into twenty-seven counties, and many of them being very large they were later subdivided, there being today fifty-eight counties. Some of these counties are small in size and others very large, because of their mountainous districts, and small population. San Joaquin County, then as now, was one of the smallest counties in size, but one of the largest in wealth and population. The boundary of the county as defined by the committee and approved unanimously by the legislature was as follows : "Beginning at the junction of the San Joaquin River and the large slough, which is the outlet of the Mokelumne River and Dry Creek; thence up the middle of said slough to the mouth of Dry Creek; thence up the middle of Dry Creek to the southeast corner of Sacramento County; thence in a southerly direction to a point one mile north of Lemon's ranch; thence in a southeast direction to a point on the Stanislaus River one mile north of Knights Ferry; thence down the middle of the Stanislaus River to its confluence with the San Joaquin River; thence in a north westerly direction following the summit of the Coast Range to the southwest corner of Contra Costa County; thence in a northerly direction following the eastern boundary line of Contra Costa County to a point on the west channel of the San Joaquin River known, and laid down by C. D. Gibbs' map, about ten miles below Moore & Rhoads ranch, at a bend where the said channel, running downward, takes a general course north; thence down the middle of said west channel to its confluence with the main San Joaquin River; thence down the middle of the San Joaquin River to the place of beginning." This boundary line, although at present somewhat confusing, especially in the tule section, was the original act passed and approved February 28, 1850, by Gov. Peter H. Burnett.

Origin of Name San Joaquin

        The senate appointed a committee to give the "derivation and the definition" of the names which they had given to the twenty-seven counties. The names are all of Spanish origin except ten, and eight of these are derived from Indian names. The name of Butte County is French; a county is named after Captain Sutter; General Mariano G. Vallejo, a Spaniard, was chairman of this committee and probably none were better qualified to explain the meaning of the names than he. In their report, referring to San Joaquin County, the committee stated "The meaning of this name has a very ancient origin, in reference to the parentage of Mary the mother of Christ. According to divine revelation Joachim signifies 'preparation of the Lord' and thence the belief that Joaquin, who in the course of time was admitted into the pale of sanctity, was the father of Mary. . . . In 1813, Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga, commissioned on an expedition to the valley of the rushes (valle de los tulares) gave the appellation of San Joaquin to a rivulet which springs from the Sierra Nevada and empties into Lake Buena Visto. The river San Joaquin derives its name from the rivulet, and baptizes the county with the same name. Stockton is the seat of justice." The committee, then commenting on Stockton declared, "It is pleasantly situated on on a channel of the San Joaquin River, on a plain thinly overspread with oaks and shrubs, and within a day or two of the rich placers, is destined to become a city of the San Joaquin notwithstanding the lack of poetry in its name."

        The boundary lines of San Joaquin County as defined by the legislature in no manner affected the grants or their boundaries as approved by the Mexican government. In fact it was declared that no Mexican acts, if valid, should be disturbed or annulled. These grants of land were given to Mexican, or naturalized citizens of Mexico, the parties selecting the land wherever they desired. All that was necessary was to locate the grant, define its boundaries as near as possible and then petition the Governor for the land. If no other party had petitioned for the same piece of land the Governor usually signed the request. The acres were of no value, as I have stated, and the boundary lines were very indefinite, an extension of a mile or two over the original boundary not making much difference. When the land became valuable, because of the influx of population, then it was different, and the indefinite boundary lines led to squatter troubles, law suits and sometimes murder. A person desiring land in a certain locality would be his own surveyor and measure off the land, making some tree, bush, river, lake and occasionally some mountain peak his boundary line. With a friend, both on horseback, they would measure off the four sides of the grant with a riata or rope. Another way of measuring was the time measurement, the party would ride a horse on a walk a certain distance, keeping the time by his watch, and in this way he would ride around the grant. Is it any surprise that there were so many land fights in California? We will note some of them in San Joaquin, one fight resulting in a most cowardly murder.

Land Grants

        In this county there were four grants, El Pescadero, Campo de los Franceses, Los Moquelemos, and the Thompson rancho. The remaining acres, upland and swamp land, belonged to the state.

        The El Pescadero grant in the southwestern part of the county was given to Pio Pico, twice Governor of Mexican California, by Governor Micheltorena in 1844. Pico presented his claim to the board of United States Commissioners sitting in San Francisco, in 1852. They rejected his claim as not valid. He then appealed to the United States District Court for the northern district of California. They, in April, 1856, declared his claim legal. The claim was approved by President Buchanan in January, 1858. Pico sold the grant to Wm. A. McKee and Frank W. and Hiram Gaines. They in turn sold it to Timothy Paige, a Stockton capitalist. In August, 1858 Paige appeared before Judge Charles M. Creanor of the Fifth Judicial Court and he approving the patent, it was recorded by Timothy Paige in September, 1858. The land is now very valuable as it can be irrigated by the Paradise cut canal, and two railroads run across the middle of the grant.

        El Campo de los Franceses—I have treated of this grant in a former chapter. It is the most valuable grant of land in the county and one of the most valuable in the state. It is difficult to define its boundaries except in surveyor's terms. In general terms, however, it extends north of Stockton two miles, northeast six miles, including Waterloo, to the south four miles including French Camp and to the west one mile.

        The Los Moquelemos grant in the northeastern part of the county, has been the cause of trouble for many years, because of squatter and railroad claims. The grant containing eleven leagues, was granted to Andreas Pico in 1846, by his brother Governor Pio Pico. His claim to the grant was not approved by the commissioners, because of insufficient proof of his claim. The District Court reversed the decision of the commissioners, but the United States Supreme Court sustained the land commissioners, and remanded the case for further evidence. In the meantime farmers began settling on this land in good faith, believing it was government land. Andreas Pico however continued to lay claim to the land and acres were sold over the farmers' heads. On January 18, 1857, these farmers held a meeting in the Henderson schoolhouse and declared that "the selling of Pico lands over their heads was wrong and the settlers' rights should be considered as extending to the limits and bounds as recorded and admitted by his neighbors. Resolved, That the passage of a law declaring all contracts for the sale of lands in the actual possession of a third party absolutely null and void, is imperatively called for by the conditions of land titles in this state." John P. Bradie, attorney in fact for Andreas Pico, two days later replied to the settlers' resolution in a published card, saying, "I agree fully with the resolution adopted that the purchase of Pico titles over the heads of actual settlers is wrong. The plan of Mr. Pico is to allow the settler to purchase a title to his land at a reasonable and moderate rate and I have sold no lands over the heads of settlers, which have been settled on in good faith in the supposition that such land might be the property of the United States." It was a very complicated and tangled problem for twenty years, still further complicated in 1864 by the Western Pacific Railroad laying claim to a part of the grant.

Southern Pacific Railroad

        In 1862 Congress granted to the Western Pacific railroad, later called the Central Pacific and now known as the Southern Pacific, a subsidy of land along their proposed railroad, the odd sections on each side of the road within ten miles. The Moquelemos grant, they claimed, was within the limits of their subsidy, and as the Pico title had not been perfected, they claimed lands occupied by the settlers. A number of the leading farmers denied their rights to the occupied tracts, and a test case known as Newhall versus Sanger, of a quarter section of land, was tried in the courts. Joseph H. Budd was the farmers' attorney. After several years of litigation the Supreme Court of the United States, saying in the conclusion of their decision, "As the premises in controversy were not public lands, either at the date of the grant or of their withdrawal, it follows that they did not pass to the railroad company." Among the settlers there was great rejoicing. And at a celebration at Lodi, J. H. Budd, the orator, said, "The booming of cannon, the waving of flags, the glad sound of music and the immense concourse of people express more forcibly than I can do it, the feelings of the justice of the cause which we are here to celebrate. The history of the long struggle of the people against the avaricious grasp of land monopolists has been a most interesting one. The land monopolist endeavored to wrongfully appropriate the land which the settlers had, by long and patient toil, reclaimed from the barren waste, making the 'wilderness to blossom as the rose.' After settling in their peaceful homes for years they were astonished to see a corps of engineers, marking out the lines of a pretended grant, called the Chabolla grant, covering the homes of hundreds of set­tlers in this county. After a struggle involving years of costly litigation, the fraudulent Chabolla grant was removed and the people congratulated themselves that they would never be troubled again. But alas, there came another. I refer to the grant Los Moquelemos covering this very territory. It received the endorsement of the District Court of San Francisco, but the U. S. Supreme Court, then as now free from corruption, repudiated the false claim, and again the people thought they were free from the land monopolist. But they were again mistaken. In 1862 a road received a grant of land to aid its construction easterly from Sacramento to Dutch Flat and over the Sierras. They had no shadow of right to build a road in this county. A contract was drawn up between Charles McLaughlin, who claimed to be a contractor, with the institution known as the Contract and Finance Company. A company was formed, to which the Central Pacific Railroad Company said, 'Give us the bonds which you expect to steal from the Government and we will give you the land.' The Central Pacific had no more right to give away these lands to McLaughlin than the Devil had when he tried to tempt the Savior, but they got a ratification of the contract and on that McLaughlin obtained a certificate from the General Land Office. It was believed by the settlers that the railroad had no right to the lands and they again determined to buckle on their armor for the vindication of their right. Ross C. Sargent first started the fight . .. and he appealed to the Secretary of the Interior who declared that the railroad company had no right to a foot of land in this county. The settlers thought that finally ended it. They were again mistaken. The power of money is almost omnipotent and it was liberally used in this case. After the case had been fought, after the decision had been rendered, after patents to the land had been issued, Secretary Delano reversed his decision, and said the land belonged to the railroad company. Their men were seen . . . actively at work urging the settlers to settle . . . and they succeeded in getting many people to take their quit-claim deed for lands they never owned. McLaughlin then prepared an agreed case. G. D. Newhall, a nephew of McLaughlin, sued Charles W. Sanger, a brother-in-law and a default was taken. It was appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court in the hope of getting a final decision in the same quiet and secret manner. Judge C. L. Robinson made the discovery of the manner of the proceeding and notified the settlers, who agreed to defend the Newhall case and prevent the wished-for judgment by default. Newhall suddenly found that he had more advocates for his case than he desired, as he was anxious to be defeated, and when the decision came sustaining his title to the land and with it the title of hundreds of settlers now living upon the grant, it was to him like a clap of thunder from a clear sky, filling him with astonishment."

First County Election

        The Legislature in December, '49, passed a law calling for an election April 1, 1850, for the following state and county officers, a clerk of the Supreme Court, a district attorney for each judicial district, a county judge, sheriff, clerk, recorder, assessor, treasurer, and coroner. Although the county had not a dollar in their possession to pay office-holders' salaries, the candidates for office were as numerous as political grafters around a nominee. Ben Williams, John P. Jones and J. P. Brush were aspirants for the judgeship; Dr. Richard P, Ashe, Thomas K. Wilson and William B. Stockton wanted to fill the sheriff's office; Samuel Booker was out for the district attorneyship, and John B. Clements, after whom the town of Clements was named, and C. D. Perkins were after the coroner's office. Perkins had many warm friends, and anxious to have him elected they published the following card in the Times: "The friends of Captain Caleb Durham Perkins (vulgarly called Sikey) announce him as a candidate for coroner . . . At the same time they would call the attention of the public to his distinguished services in the late war with Mexico." Strange to say, the heroes of the Mexican war were no more popular than the heroes of the Allied War and he was defeated by Dr. Clements, ten to one. The precincts in the county were seven in number and we give the vote in each precinct. The figures also show the small number of voters in the county. Athearn and Davis ranch 33, Isbel's ranch 15, Red Tent 13, San Joaquin City 44, French Camp 50, Knights Ferry 44, Stockton 632. The total vote of the county for all of the candidates was as follows: Clerk of the Supreme Court, E. L. Thorp 571, W. G. Morey 235, W. E. Shannon 95; district attorney, Samuel A. Booker 1007; county judge, Ben Williams 509, J. P. Brush 410, J. W. Jones 227, W. B. Sloan 96; county clerk, A. C. Bradford 433, J. A. Patterson 415, J. A. McLellan 102, N. MacEachran 262; county attorney, E. L. B. Brooks 367, Henry A. Crabb 313, J. R. Shaffer 301; sheriff, Dr. R. P. Ashe 436, John Taber 353, Thomas K. Wilson 213, J. E. Nuttman 235, W. B. Stockton 218; assessor, B. F. Whittier 572, Thomas McSpeddon 558; recorder, A. A. Mix 344, W. M. Willowby 287,

M. Robertson 101, J. M. Schofield, 34; treasurer, H. W. Alden 509, C. J. Buffum 505; coroner, Dr. J. B. Clements 985, C. D. Perkins 47; surveyor, Walter Heron 827, A. K. Flint 129.

        The Stockton vote for county officers resulted as follows: District attorney, Samuel A. Booker 632; county judge, Ben Williams 243, J. P. Brush 354, J. W. Jones 198, Wm. B. Sloan 95 ; sheriff, R. P. Ashe 253, John Taber 243, John B. Nuttman 200, T. K. Wilson 181, W. B. Stockton 15; clerk, A. C. Bradford 383, N. MacEachran 231, J. Potter 193, J. A. McLellan 97; attorney, H. A. Crabb 261, E. L. B. Brooks 232, J. R. Shaffer 230; recorder, C. A. Marriner 216, W. M. Willowby 235, A. A. Mix 192, M. Robertson 92; coroner, Dr. J. B. Clements 691, C. D. Perkins 13; assessor, Thomas Mc Speddon 355, B. F. Whittier 414.

        The young pioneers of Stockton were hot­headed and impetuous, even those who in later years became its best and most-honored citizens, and before the county government was completely organized they scored severely the Court of Sessions for doing its duty in accordance with law. At that time the Court of Sessions in each county attended to all county business, whatever its nature. A special law of the legislature passed April 10, 1850, authorized the San Joaquin County court to levy a tax for the building of a court house, and a tax for county revenue. The tax for a revenue licensed about every thing in sight; merchants doing business were taxed $30 for two months and $100 for twelve months, and country peddlers from $10 to $33. Saloons were taxed $75 a year and livery stables $100 for the same time. Butcher shops and draymen were taxed, and even mechanics at their trade; blacksmiths for twelve months were taxed $100, carpenters and tinners $75 and watch makers and shoemakers $50 for the same period of time. The county clerk, A. C. Bradford, in a published notice, June 29, requested all merchants to appear at the treasurer's office for a license to carry on business. Instead of obeying the mandates of the law, by means of placards posted in every section of the town, they called upon all citizens to attend a mass meeting July 18, "on the public square near the Presbyterian Church, to consider the most appropriate means to rid themselves of the present tax of the Court of Sessions." At the time appointed, 8 o'clock, "a large concourse of the inhabitants assembled," says the Stockton Times. The meeting was called to order and Dr. George A. Shurtleff was elected president of the meeting, Hiram Green and H. B. Underhill, vice-presidents, and J. C. Norris, secretary. The president in opening the meeting said, during his remarks, that "the tax was levied on all classes except ministers, doctors and lawyers and that it was an opprobious and unjust tax as it was unequal." The merchant with a large store and an extensive business was taxed $100, the same as a poor trader with a small business. Moreover the laboring mechanic was directly taxed. This was unjust. A committee of five was appointed to report at a subsequent meeting "as to the best means to be adopted in order to obtain relief from this oppressive taxation."

        On the following Tuesday a second mass meeting was held on the square and after the president had called the meeting to order, the committee of five, namely, Hiram Green, Dr. R. P. Ashe, H. W. Wallis, John Grewell and Dr. George A. Shurtleff, offered the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: "Mr. President and Fellow-citizens; your committee after having given the subject due consideration have come to the conclusion that the act of the Legislature giving to the Court of Sessions the power of levying a tax upon the honest industries of the county is an arrogant assumption of power wholly unprecedented in the annals of history. Your committee would also remind you to the fact that California is still a territory and until she is admitted as a state she has not a shadow of right to enact and enforce such laws. Resolved, that a committee of nine be appointed to visit Judge Williams and request him to erase from the records the order of the court levying said tax."

        That was certainly an insolent demand, althought the committee were correct in declaring the Legislature an illegal body;. but listen to this: "Resolved that if the above request is not granted that we, the citizens of Stockton, do solemnly pledge our sacred word of honor to resist the operation of the law even to the shedding of blood." The committee called upon Judge Williams. In reply he said in a lengthy address, "The licenses referred to were the acts of the Court of Sessions and cannot be repealed by that court. Your resolution is addressed to me as an individual; as such I have no discretion in the matter. Had you appealed to me as Judge of the Court of Sessions, I can only say that the request if granted would be one for which any judge would be liable to impeachment, and any legal action in the premises can be had only by the Court of Sessions composed of a county judge and two associate judges at a regular term for holding said court." It was later shown that the clerk had made several mistakes in levying licenses and the matter was smoothed over. In this incident we see the activity, the energy and the spirit of the pioneers in demanding their rights and justice, as they understood it --the men whose history will fill these pages during the next twenty-five years.

Creation of Townships

        Soon after California's admission into the Union, September 9, 1850, the Government sent out surveyors to divide the state into townships and sections. Each township was six miles square and each section one mile square. In locating the east and west base line of the central part of the state the surveyors selected the highest peak of Mt. Diablo as their starting point and this line runs due east through French Camp to Trigo, a small railroad station on the Oakdale line of the Southern Pacific. The Court of Sessions in defining the boundaries of the three townships, O'Neal, Castoria and Elkhorn, created by them, gave no attention to the township area of the Government surveyors. In fact it was not necessary to limit a township to six square miles as outside of the townships named the county was scarcely inhabited.

        O'Neal township, created in 1853, was so named after John O'Neal, a popular southern man and sheriff of that day. The township embraced the whole of the Weber survey, El Campo de los Franceses and nearly all of the swamp and overflowed land to the west. Then it was a vast area of tules and the home of wild game. To-day, much of it reclaimed, it is the richest fruit and vegetable raising land in the state.

        Castoria, a Spanish word, meaning beaver, was also created in 1853. It took in the entire county south of the base line. Its bounds were the San Joaquin River on the west and it extended to Knights Ferry on the east with the Stanislaus River as its southern boundary. At the present time Lathrop and French Camp are within its bounds.

        Elkhorn township was also created by the Court of Sessions, 1853. It was so named because of the large quantity of elk horns found in that locality. The township, like that of Castoria, was exceedingly large.  North of the Weber survey, it extended east from the Mokelumne River to Calaveras County, with Dry Creek its northern and the base line its southern boundary. Lodi and Woodbridge to-day are within its bounds. The township is famous for its wonderful grapes and bounteous supply of fruits.

        Elliott township was established in 1855, the supervisors cutting off the entire eastern half of Elkhorn township to form the new territory. Its bounds were the same as those of Elkhorn, except on the west. The division was made at the request of the settlers in Lockeford, for that town and Woodbridge were rivals for business and township honors. Within the present township are Lockeford and Clements.

        Tulare, probably named because of its immense tule growth, was created in 1856. The reasons for its being set aside as a township I cannot imagine, unless it be that John Westley Van Benscroten was anxious to make Grayson a prominent township village. The township included all of the land within the county west and south of the San Joaquin River. Irrigation of the sandy land and reclamation of the swamp land is now making the section very productive. In this township lies Tracy, Banta, Vernalis and San Joaquin City. The territory in which Grayson is situated was given, in 1860, to Stanislaus county.

        Dent township was created by the supervisors, February 17, 1859. It was named after George W. Dent, a resident of Knights Ferry and a brother-in-law of Captain U. S. Grant. The township was formed by cutting off the east half of Castoria and the south part of Elliott township. This formed a township nearly twelve miles square, with the Stanislaus River as its southern boundary, Calaveras County its eastern and Douglas township—created at the same time—as its northern boundary. The following year, 1860, the legislature, slicing in half Dent township, and taking a part of Douglas township, gave it to Stanislaus County. The division included the town of Knights Ferry, then a prosperous town of over a thousand inhabitants, and the act was one of the many political tricks of that day. Ripon, Burwood and Atlanta are the towns of Dent township.

        Douglas township was named in honor of David F. Douglas, senator from the San Joaquin district. The township was created in 1859. In forming the township the supervisors cut off the southern part of Elliott township. It is bounded on the north by Elliott, east by Stanislaus County, south by the base line and west by the Weber survey. The legislature in giving additional territory to Stanislaus County in 1860 also took a part of Douglas township. Within this district lie the towns of Peters, Linden and Farmington.

        Liberty township was created at the request of many residents in that section in June, 1861. As the territory then was all allotted the new township was carved out of the northern portion of Elliott. The only town is Acampo. There was a town founded and prospered for a season called Liberty, but the establishing of a railroad station at Mokelumne City ruined the after prospects of Liberty.

        Union, the last created township, was formed in May, 1861, from the western part of Elkhorn township. The original territory was largely swamp and overflowed land, but now reclaimed; the passing through of the Western Pacific Railroad made this rich land very valuable. Land is valuable principally for resident or productive purposes and no land can be of value unless given cheap and quick transportations to market.

        Staten Island township comprises one of the soil-richest islands in the state. It lies between the west and south fork of the Mokelumne River, the west fork of that river being the boundary line between Sacramento and San Joaquin County, according to the original Gibbs survey of 1850. Along in the middle '70's Staten Island, having been reclaimed, Sacramento was very anxious to annex the island to that county for as was stated later it contained 7,000 acres and was assessed at $14 per acre. By some political "hocus pocus," as the Independent expressed it, they succeeded in getting the legislature of 1876 to annex the island to Sacramento County. The island by nature and the original county law belonged to San Joaquin County and the residents of the township were quite wrathy over its loss. One reason of their anger was that it compelled the residents on the island to cross the Mokelumne River and travel to Sacramento for all official business. At the following legislature, in 1878, Assemblyman Ross C. Sargent of San Joaquin introduced a bill, which passed, reannexing Staten Island to San Joaquin County. The legislature only performed their duty and corrected a wrong, but some of the citizens of the Capital, peeved at the result, strongly censured Assemblyman Grove L.

Johnson, father of Hiram Johnson, for not preventing the passage of the bill. Johnson in reply said, "I got the bill referred to the Sacramento and San Joaquin delegation and then getting possession of it, I locked it up in my desk and kept it there until Sargent threatened to introduce a resolution demanding me to report it." Johnson by this trick kept the bill secreted for nearly two months and then San Joaquin came into its own.

Effort to Divide County

        Some years previous to the Staten Island affair, an effort was made to dismember the northern part of San Joaquin County and create a county to be known as Mokelumne County. And because of the proverbial slowness of the citizens of Stockton, it came near being successful. The scheme was engineered by John M. Benson, then the owner of Benson's Ferry over the Mokelumne River a short distance below the present town of New Hope. He planned to form a new county and make his land near the ferry the county seat. Benson was very active in the movement and by making the farmers believe that the value of their land would be increased and their taxes decreased, he obtained hundreds of signatures petitioning the legislature "that the south half of Sacramento County and the north half of San Joaquin, embracing 600 square miles and an agricultural population of between two and three thousand be formed into a county known as Mokelumne." It was a splendid scheme on the part of Benson, but unfortunately for him, just one month after the introduction of the bill into the assembly, he was shot and killed February, 1859, by Green Palmer, one of his employees.

        Previous to his tragic death Benson had been assisted in the project by J. E. Sheridan, assemblyman from Sacramento County, who lived in that section of the proposed new county, and he, carrying on the work, introduced many petitions from citizens asking that the new county be created. Their argument was that they were remote from the county seat; which in the winter season was inaccessible because of the bad condition of the roads; and that they were heavily and unjustly taxed for criminal and hospital expense, incident to counties containing a population like that of Stockton, and being exclusively agricultural and containing no cities their taxes would be much lighter than at present.

        In reply, hundreds of the citizens of San Joaquin opposing the new county creation, declared that the most far distant part of San Joaquin County was only thirty-five miles from the county seat, and the new county if formed would be only ten miles from Stockton. Assemblyman George C. Holman of San Joaquin, in speaking against the bill, said, "This project to dismember the county will take one-tenth of her taxable property, and that the most valuable portion; and one-tenth of her entire revenue. We are now in a healthy financial condition, her bonds are at par, something I believe cannot be said of any other county, and we have only a small debt, and I protest in all sincerity against this division." "At this time," said the Sacramento Union, "the citizens of north San Joaquin had awoke from their lethargy, for they had learned that to reach the proposed county seat, they would be compelled to travel within a few miles of Sacramento, because of the many waterways between the plains and the Sacramento River. Nearly every man below the proposed line, as well as those living on Grand Island, have signed the remonstrance." Notwithstanding this fact the pro-division men pushed the bill and March 30 it passed the assembly by the large majority of 42 to 22.

        The day following the passage of the bill was "April Fool's" day, but it was no joke day for San Joaquin, for if they failed to bestir themselves, the Tokay belt would have been segregated from the county. "Early in the morning," says the Republican, "groups of men were seen standing on the street corners earnestly discussing the county division question." After some deliberation as to what course to pursue to prevent the loss of that productive tract they concluded to call a mass meeting that evening in the city hall, "to discuss and take some action on the bill." Circulars were posted about town and that evening the hall was crowded. Madison Walthall called the meeting to order, and Judge A. C. Baine was elected president, H. B. Underhill and George R. Choate, vice-presidents, and V. M. Peyton and S. T. Nye, secretaries. A committee of five was appointed to present resolutions and the committee returning offered the following which were unanimously adopted: "Resolved, that we solemnly protest against the proposed division of our county, and urge not only upon our own immediate representatives, but upon the members of the senate generally, that the interests of the people of this county imperatively demand that they shall resist in every proper measure the division of the county." "Resolved, that we shall consider any member of the legislature who supports the measure now pending to divide the county as hostile to our interest and unworthy of our confidence and support for any office, State or National." A committee comprising Judge A. G. Stakes, Thomas J. Keyes, P. A. Athearn and Wm. Lanius was appointed to visit the Capitol and interview the senators. On the day of their arrival, April 2, the senate received notice that the assembly had passed the bill. Ten days later by a vote of 13 to 9 the bill was indefinitely postponed. Senator Bradley, who voted in the negative changed his vote to yes and moved a reconsideration of the vote. On the following day they refused by a vote of 19 to 14 to reconsider their vote of the previous day. Then again came the vote on indefinite postponement of the bill which carried 16 to 15. It was a close call.

        This was the second attempt to divide the northern part of the county, the first bill to that effect having been introduced in 1857, but met with no response. For the third time a division bill was introduced in 1860, money having been freely expended in order to carry out the scheme. The leader in the movement was Jerry R. Woods, the founder of Woodbridge; he was well supported by his two lieutenants, Assemblymen Campbell of San Joaquin, who superseded the honest assemblyman, G. C. Holman, and Goodman of Sacramento county. So sure were these men that the county bill would become a law during the winter they published in the Sacramento newspapers, "Lots for sale in the proposed new county of Mokelumne," said the Sacramento Standard. During the winter Woods had been industriously engaged in getting the farmers to petition the legislature for the creation of the new county. He made the same argument as did Benson that their taxes would be decreased, and their land increased in value, and again they fell for it. The bill was introduced into the assembly January 26, 1860, by Assemblyman Campbell, petitioning for the formation of the new county, with its boundary line just south of Sacramento County "and seven miles south of the former line." The southern line would have included the towns of Woodbridge, Liberty, Lockeford, Clements, and the present towns of New Hope, Lodi and Acampo.

        Fortunately for this county a sudden change of opinion took place among the farming community, and said the correspondent, "those who formerly favored it now bitterly oppose it. One reason, the people did not clearly understand the proposition, and were made to believe that the taxes would be less, but they have discovered that the argument was fallacious. Another reason is that although the lands would be increased in value by having the county seat there, it would be of no advantage to the farmers, for many of them have no titles because of the Chabolla grant, and would have to pay the increase or be ejected; and thereby lose all the improvements nor will it raise any more grain or raise the price of wheat." Andreas Pico, as we have already noticed, claimed almost this entire section of country.

        There was another setback to Woods' scheme, namely, the claim of William Fugitt, that his town, Liberty, should be the county seat. His friends claimed that it was "the center of the population of the proposed county as well as the natural center. Mr. Fugitt had erected a new hotel, as well as other buildings at considerable expense. Woods, fearing that the bill might be defeated by the strong opposition, had the bill changed and the south line extended three miles, "so as to get additional votes," and the correspondent declared, "at any rate we of Woodbridge have got them." "The bill came up for action in the assembly February 28 with five of the members from San Joaquin and Sacramento counties favoring the bill, with Thomas Laspeyre of San Joaquin opposing it." Already 1,000 names have been sent up," said the Republican, "and 300 more today. The signatures represent $3,000,000 and such interests should not be disregarded by the legislature." John C. White, a farmer who was inside the limits of the new proposed county, strongly opposed the change and said he would give $1,000 to have the bill not pass, as the new county would be burdened at the outset by a debt of $36,000. He, however, had no objection to the bill if his ranch be excluded. Laspeyre declared that "from its origin—in 1859—until the present time, private speculation, political aspirations and office seekers had been the `motor' which had been propelling and advancing this measure." The bill came up for final action in the assembly March 15, and after a long and spirited debate it was indefinitely postponed by a vote of 34 to 23. It was a boomerang to the pro-new county men and Goodman, changing his vote from no to yes, moved a reconsideration of the vote on the morrow. The vote on Goodman's motion stood aye 19, no 34.

Court House Square and Title

        Among the many valuable donations of land given to Stockton and San Joaquin County, none are more valuable than block No. 3, now known as the Court House Square. It is valued at $600,000, some say $1,000,000. Previous to 1885 it was believed, and such was the fact, that the city and county had an equal share in the property. That year, however, the board of supervisors commenced suit against the city for the full possession of the block in order that they might build a new and much larger court house. The two judges of the superior courts, Swinnerton and Patterson, sitting en banc gave a very peculiar decision. It was a fifty-fifty decision that began and ended nowhere. They said in substance that Captain Weber deeded the square to the public for a court house and for public use only, as the fee remained in the Weber heirs.

        "The legislative authority of the City of Stockton is empowered to manage and control the use of said square," "and that the county has a right to a reasonable space for a county court house and other buildings as the legislative authorities of said city shall deem advisable, for public use and benefit. The city also shall have a reasonable space for public buildings." The Ninth section of this remarkable decision reads as follows, "that since the right to manage and control the said block within the scope of the use dedicated rests with the legislative authority of the city and since said officials are not parties to this suit the court cannot adjudicate therein how much of said square said plaintiff is entitled to use for a court house."

        Back of this decision there lies an interesting history. When Captain Weber laid off the site of the present city of Stockton, he, with his usual foresight, designated block No. 3 on the map as a "public square" for the purpose of erecting a court house and other public buildings. In some manner he overlooked or forgot to give the county a deed of the property. "After the first session of the Court of Sessions the attention of the donor was called to the matter and he readily signified his willingness to give the county a title deed to the block," said the grand jury report to Judge Root in 1853. A deed was made but as it was not in legal form it was returned to the grant or together with a blank, legal in form. This blank deed was not filled out so far as known. At that time Captain Weber had no perfect title to his grant and a magistrate of the county, Hariston Amyx, squatted upon the southwest corner of the block, claiming that it was Government land. The Court could not dispossess the squatter, by the law of possessory action as they never had possession. The court, however, employed an attorney, and under Captain Weber's name the squatter was ejected. But no record was made by the court of this action, and they did not perfect the title.

        In August, 1851, Captain Weber deeded the "public square" to the City of Stockton in trust for the county. Why the change was made is not known, but the grantor probably was very much displeased because the county had failed to perfect its title to the block. The Republican editor commenting on this change said in August, 1852, "Thus the city were appointed guardians of this portion of the county property with no limited power and they have shown a determination to hold on to it." Mayor Kenney, in his message to the city council the same year said, "The deed is expressed in such doubtful and vague language that the parties who hereafter are to exercise control have as yet come to no final agreement as to their authority and rights in the matter." The county affairs moved along smoothly, the city and county together erected a court house, and the board of supervisors, appointed in 1855 "learned with surprise that the county had no legal right to the county square." The matter was settled in August, that same year, when the common council passed an ordinance authorizing the conveyance of one-half of the public square to the county. The deed was recorded October 25 of that year. The city and county officials lived in peace and harmony until 1884. Then there was a great need for a new court house, for the old dilapidated building had outworn its usefulness. The board of supervisors, determined to hold possession of the ground, made several propositions to the city council, but they could come to no agreement. The supervisors without any delay commenced suit against the city, claiming ownership of the block since 1851. The city denied their claim, and the trial took place September 4, 1885, before the judges above named. The county was represented by the district attorney, Ansel Smith. and Joseph H. Budd, the city was defended by the city attorney, Frank Smith and W. L. Dudley, and Hall McAllister of San Francisco guarded the rights of the Weber heirs. The judges, October 2, gave that 50-50 decision. The present court house was built, finished in 1891, and by agreement, the city of Stockton officials were to occupy the north half of the first floor for fifteen years, the time dating from February 7, 1891. In February, 1901, the supervisors by resolution notified the city council that their lease expired in 1906 and the supervisors desired to give them sufficient notice so that they could build a city hall or secure suitable rooms. Two years before the expiration of their lease, the common council of the city pleaded for a further ten-year lease of the rooms they were occupying. This request was refused by the board of supervisors. They, however, granted the city an extension lease from year to year. Time went on, however, there was no effort made by the leasors to move and February 4, 1909, the supervisors passed a resolution which they enforced, "Resolved, that the City of Stockton be asked to procure other quarters as soon as possible" for the county was overcrowded for room. Unfortunately for the progress of the city, at that time the Hotel Stockton was being erected, and the city obtained rooms in the annex of that hotel. They are there today paying a heavy rent—an unnecessary expense to the city. This is the exact spot, where in 1860 Captain Weber offered the city the entire block free of cost for a city hall or market place.

Court House and City Hall

        Poverty makes no distinction between the individual and the corporation poor, and as the young county had no money or revenue they were compelled to rent rooms. These rooms were in what was then known as the McNish Building, a large two-story wooden structure on the northwest corner of Hunter and Channel streets. It was occupied by the county officials, the court of sessions, lawyers' offices, sleeping and jail. The prison was in the basement. The expense to the county was heavy, $7,900 a year, this including $290 a month for two watchmen to guard the jail. The grand jury in their December, 1851, report to Judge Stakes said, "the rent money, if applied to the erection of an edifice (court house and jail) would give to the county suitable buildings and relieve the county of one of its heaviest expenses." "The county at the time was heavily in debt, $45,000," said the judge, "and the county securities were almost valueless." We must keep in mind that the court of sessions managed the entire business of the county, and the county was enabled to considerably decrease the debt during the following two years, says the Times, "for the court is disposed to economize in every particular in order that public buildings soon may be erected." The press was strongly partisan and the editor continuing, says, "Albeit Judge Stakes is a Whig, we must do him the justice to say he has exhibited a sincere desire to place the county financially on a stable basis." Necessity  is oft times the mother of action, and the court losing no time, in the spring of 1853, a bill was introduced into the legislature and passed granting them permission to erect a court house and jail. The city council also took action, and in May both agreed to the plans and specification and bids were called for, for a court house and jail. The call was signed by Judge A. G. Stakes for the county, and B. E. Owens, P. E. Jordan, two merchants of the city, and W. W. Stevenson, a pastor of the Christian Church, for the city of Stockton. The contract to erect the court house was signed early in July, the work was rushed along, and in August the foundation was ready for the laying of the cornerstone.    

        This honor was offered to the San Joaquin Lodge of Masons; they refused to accept it because F. E. Corcoran, the architect of the building and a member of the lodge, had not been appointed as constructing supervisor. The invitation was then offered and accepted by the two Odd Fellow lodges, Charity No. 6 and Stockton No. 11. The laying of the cornerstone, August 6, 1853, was a very crude affair. The Odd Fellows, assembling at their Center Street hall at 9 o'clock in the morning, marched to the site of the new building. The articles to be placed in the cornerstone were placed in a glass jar and sealed, the cap of the stone was then cemented in place by Deputy Grand Master Edward W. Colt; an address was delivered by Judge Stakes and an oration by George Ryer, a favorite actor then playing an engagement in the city. This was the only cornerstone laid by the Odd Fellows save their own building in 1867. The Masons cornered all of the subsequent honors.

        The building, of the Doric style of architecture, in size 60x80 feet and about 50 feet in height, was completed late in 1853, and occupied jointly by the city and the county officials. The city occupied the south and the county the north half of the building. There were twelve rooms on the lower, two court and two jury and a city hall on the upper floor, with a single stairway. The building was of brick, walls and foundation faced with Vallejo sandstone. There were two wide halls on the first floor leading to the entrances on the four streets of the square. The city hall was the assembling place of the common council, firemen and military balls, church festivals, political conventions, etc., until the erection of the agricultural hall in 1861 on the east side of the square. In that year the court house clock and bell tower were erected, both of which are now on the Hunter Street engine house. The building is said to have cost about $80,000 and to have been paid for equally by the city and county, but in the court evidence in 1885, S. Williams, a supervisor in 1855, testified that the city paid the principal part of the debt, as no great revenue was derived from the county until 1870 because the land was of so little value.

        For some time no effort was made to improve the square, but in 1858 a chain fence was built by the city and county at a cost of $1,700. It was a curious fence made of posts painted and sanded; in each post four holes were bored, through which one inch link chains were run. It was neither rabbit nor hog proof, but it would have kept out the stray horses and cows, had the gates to the enclosure been put in place. This neglect caused the editor to inquire in 1861, "The cows were in the plaza Sunday afternoon regaling themselves on the flowers, shrubs and trees recently set out. Where are those whirling contrivances to be put upon the posts?" In 1860 there was a complete change in administration, from Democratic to Republican, and Mayor E. S. Holden presented a plan to the council for beautifying the plaza. The council accepted the plan and immediately appropriated fifty dollars for the work. An additional $100 was obtained by subscriptions. The ground was plowed up, sown with Bermuda grass and trees, shrubs and flowers planted from the beautiful home gardens of Dr. E. S. Holden, B. P. Kooser, George West and Captain Charles M. Weber. These improvements remained until the erection of the present court house; then the trees and flowers were all uprooted and the present single terraced blue grass lawn and palm trees planted.

Old Time Dirt Roads

        Traveling today at thirty-five miles an hour, the speed limit of the law, over the 488 miles of good roads in San Joaquin County how many realize the time, trouble and expense it took to bring those highways up to the present standard? The present roads have been in existence less than fifteen years. Previous to that time the roads, with two or three exceptions, were thick with dust during the summer and deep with mud in winter. The winter of 1860-61 seems to have been unusually bad and the reporter said, "At no period have the roads been as bad for many years as this year and the footman in coming into the city is compelled for a half mile at a time to work his way along the fence rails."

        The Legislature of 1850 passed an act concerning roads and highways and under this act the Court of Sessions appointed road overseers, one to each township. So large was the area under their jurisdiction and so few the population, they accomplished nothing, for no roads were laid out or surveyed. The farmers purchasing ranches, laid off roads to suit their own convenience. They wanted the main road to pass their door thus increasing the value of their land. One farmer, Dr. L. C. Chalmers, a Southern man and friendly with the Government officials, persuaded them to drive the Government wagons, en route to Fort Miller, Fresno County, over his road. This made it a Government road and to this day it is a public highway, and known as the Mariposa Road. Chalmers later founded Collegeville, now known as Eight Mile Corners.

        The Court of Sessions in 1852 appointed road commissioners and authorized them to lay off roads 100 feet in width to the ferries, as the population had increased largely and there were well defined lines of travel to the Doak & Bonsell, the Slocum, and the Heath & Emory ferries on the Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers, to French Camp, Knights Ferry and the Woods and Staples ferries on the Mokelumne River. The laying off of the highways compelled the traveler to ride along certain lines, and an old pioneer, complaining of the Lower Sacramento or Woods Ferry Road, declared, "I have traveled this road for the past ten years and hope to see the time when it will not be necessary to box the compass in going a distance of less than two miles on the level plain. The time was when we had graceful curves in the mud to keep on high ground, but since the county has become civilized we are obliged to turn square corners and go through bottomless pits of mud and through neighbors' fields and pay toll." He was also complaining of the location and the crooked condition of the road. If the road were straight and "there are no valuable lands, no improvements such as houses, barns, orchards or trees to prevent the road being run in a straight line it would intercept the northern extremity of El Dorado Street. But in the space of three quarters of a mile there are two obtuse and two right angles which causes the road to end 300 yards west of El Dorado Street." This year, 1921, the city council paid $3,000 for a lot 100 feet front, in order to straighten the roadway and make it safe for the speeding automobiles, probably 3,000 a day passing that point. The old pioneer condemned the road, as "the land for the most part is wet alkaline soil, which it will cost a large sum of money to make passable during the winter. And if the supervisors think such a road will be tolerated just because one or two individuals own the land and want to get their hands into the county pocket for land that is worthless they will soon hear from the public." The land is some of the best in the county and for many years Italian gardeners have been cultivating it. It was at that time a very poor location for a public road and we find that in 1860 the road commissioners, I. V. Leffler and Thomas K. Hook, and Duncan Beaumont, the county surveyor, called for bids for the replanking of nine culverts and the building of a bridge over Mitchell slough, at a cost of $1,600, within a distance of three miles.

        The automobilist finds that almost every road has many unnecessary crooks and turns, and I will give one more reason for the cause. The so-called Sonora Road does not run to this city but connects with the Mariposa Road about two miles out. The road commissioners were desirous of laying a straight road towards Sonora, on what is now called the Copperopolis Road, which extends from Main Street east. But the farmers held them up and demanded exorbitant prices for the right of way. In the meantime Captain Weber and General Conner succeeded in obtaining rights of way for a road leading from the gravel pits two miles from town, directly east. Then Alexander Burkett, James Marsh and others got out an injunction stopping work on the new road. Judge Creanor dissolved the injunction, declaring that the road commissioners had full power to build the road where they deemed it advisable.

Beginning of Good Roads

        There was much trouble, lawsuits, fights and one or two murders over the question of public roads. Happily it ended in the new era, the building of gravel turnpike roads by public-spirited men. Stockton, for over three months during the winter season, was cut off from the interior by the insurmountable sea of mud that surrounded it. If it were possible to reach French Camp, travel from there to the mountain camps over the sandy road was easy. Late in the '50s a movement to build a winter road to that point was unsuccessful. In March, 1867, another move was made to build the road and a number of merchants and farmers met in the office of Simpson & Gray, lumber merchants, for the preliminary organization to build a turnpike from Stockton to the "camp." They again assembled in the Court House, April 22, and effected a permanent organization by electing Edward Moore, president; Herbert E. Hall, secretary; B. W. Bours, treasurer, and Louis M. Hickman, Samuel Fisher and Martin McClelland, directors. The company was organized with a capital stock of $20,000, with 800 shares at $25 each, the corporation to remain in existence twenty years. In the meantime subscription books had been opened and Wm. McKee reported $12,075 had been subscribed. Henry B. Underhill offered a resolution in the meeting, which was adopted, that they proceed to begin work as soon as possible and without any delay. John Wallace, the pioneer surveyor, was ordered to report the cost of three routes to French Camp. He reported that the route on the west side of the race track, now called the Hogan Road, five and a half miles in length, covered with gravel and including culverts, would cost $77,040. The middle or present French Camp route, three and a half miles in length, would cost approximately $42,104, and the present west embankment road, four miles in length, forty feet in width, covered with sand thirty feet in width, twelve inches deep in the middle, would cost $42,104. As the company had nearly enough money subscribed to pay for the last-named road the capital stock was increased to $30,000 and the work was commenced and completed in September, 1867. It was a toll road and so heavy was the travel the road averaged seventy-five dollars a day, the secretary, Andrew W. Simpson, reported, and the first year they paid off $2,000 of the mortgage.

        It has been the great trouble with Stockton that when one party would start a progressive movement, some other element, instead of encouraging and boosting the project, would start a counter movement. This envy on the part of fossil citizens killed the enterprise. In the good roads project the case was different, for the city could not have too many good roads leading to it, but even in this they came near ruining the whole movement by overdoing it, for in 1868 four projects were started and subscriptions requested for several lines of turnpikes.

        In March, 1867, a meeting was held in the city hall for the purpose of building a gravel turnpike to the thriving village of Linden. It was quite a large settlement, and they wanted a winter road into Stockton. Rynerson & Wasley, proprietors of the Linden flour mill, had subscribed $1,000, L. M. Hickman $750, and Dr. Christopher Grattan $5,000 in gravel from his ranch gravel pit at twenty cents a load. The meeting was a complete failure. Alderman C. G. Hubner, an enterprising German, who later founded Hill's Ferry in Stanislaus County, said: "I am ashamed to tell you how many were there, they were so few in number. I went home very much disheartened and discouraged." The success of the French Camp turnpike seems to have given the weak-hearted projectors courage, as a year later the Stockton and Linden Turnpike Company was organized and carried on to completion. The capital stock was placed at $20,000, with 800 shares at $25 each. The time of existence twenty years. Roley E. Wilhoit was elected president, Charles S. Stevens, secretary, and B. Bours, treasurer. Henry Ortman, William Tierney, Charles Moreing, John Wasley and Thomas Corcoran were the directors. A survey was made by Engineer Wallace and a gravel road completed to the home of Henry Ortman, eight miles out. Winter travel was possible from that point into Stockton from Linden, as it is a gravelly soil.

        In April, 1868, the Calaveras Chronicle, having in mind the failure of the Stocktonians to build the Linden turnpike, presented this not overdrawn picture: "On Monday last our town was invaded by a pack-mule train comprising fifty mules owned by Louis Beysser of Stockton. They were loaded with freight of various kinds for our merchants. This means of conveyance was necessary in consequence of the glutinous condition of the black mud of the valley, which being about the consistency of glue, will not allow the passage of teams. Where are the gravel roads of which our Stockton friends have been raving about for years? We would advise our merchants to patronize the Latrobe railroad to Sacramento, over which goods can be obtained any time of year."

        The citizens and farmers were now trying to outdo each other in road building. In March, 1868, a petition was presented to the board of supervisors requesting the grant of a charter to James Gillis, Alexander Burkett, James Marsh and James Smythe to construct a gravel road seven and a half miles out on the Copperopolis road. This was the first traveled Sonora road and, as Copperopolis was a big thriving town because of the discovery of copper, there was heavy travel over that route. The supervisors granted the charter. The company was organized with James Smythe, president; George W. Melone, secretary, and Edward Hickman, treasurer. The capital stock was $30,000, divided into 1,200 shares at twenty-five dollars per share. Twenty years was the time of life.

        Another turnpike projected and constructed at this time was the Cherokee Lane gravel turnpike. John Grattan, the pioneer farmer who lived upon that road, said in speaking of the natural road, "The conditions had become so bad that it was almost impossible to reach Stockton by a rig." One year his family had consumed all of their flour, and Mr. Grattan, going to Stockton on foot through the mud, purchased a fifty-pound sack of flour and packed it home on his back. It is therefore not surprising that he was very enthusiastic over the construction of a gravel road. At this time a gravel road had been constructed a mile in length from East Street of the city to Madame Fisher's. There the road forked, as it does today, the right hand dirt road running to Waterloo, Lockeford and Sutter Creek, and the left hand or Cherokee to Sacramento. In April, 1868, a petition was presented to the supervisors for the construction of this road. The petition was signed by L. U. Shippee, John Grattan, Cornelius Swain, Elias Hildreth, Joseph C. Davis, W. D. Ashley, W. H. Post, George Moshier, John E. Moore, Dan McCoy and Lois M. Cutting. The officers were L. U. Shippee, president ; Henry T. Compton, secretary, J. M. Kelsey, treasurer, and James C. Gage, L. H. Bannock, Cornelius Swain and W. D. Ashley, directors. The estimated cost was $30,000. As many of the city streets were impassable in winter, the company were compelled to start their road on Poplar Street, and running north connect nine miles distant with the sandy soil. The gravel was obtained from the Hildreth gravel pit and the the road was completed in time for the winter travel. The travel over this route was very heavy, as all the mountaineers came into Stockton over that road.

        Another gravel road constructed at this time, June, '69, was the Waterloo gravel turnpike. One might suppose that the farmers would have built the road long before this time. The following item gives the reason why. April 7, 1867—"A gentleman informs us that there are eight wagons stuck fast in the mud on the Waterloo road not much more than a mile from the city. One farmer yesterday had to be hauled out with ropes, and a driver of a light wagon had to pay an Italian two dollars for the privilege of driving over his land." But there were many knockers in that day and when W. H. Fairchilds, W. L. Overheiser and many others petitioned the supervisors for a charter, these knockers protested.  They declared a free public road was an absolute necessity and if the petition be granted there would be no road to Lockeford free of expense. Paying no attention to the silly argument the supervisors granted the charter, fixing the following rate of toll: Man and horse, 12 ½ cents; horse and sulky, 25 cents; horse and buggy, 37 cents; two horses and buggy, 50 cents; two-horse  wagon, 25 cents; six-horse wagon, 75 cents; pack animals, 12½ cents each; loose horses or cattle, 5 cents; sheep or hogs, 3 cents. The toll gate was at the fork of the road.

        Determined to have a good winter road, about seventy farmers assembled in Ripley hall, Waterloo, April 16, '69, to discuss the ways and means of constructing the road. The meeting was called to order by Jonathan H. Dodge, and H. H. Thurston was elected president, and R. P. Heath, secretary. After considerable discussion they decided to obtain the money by taxing those whose property was alongside the road two dollars per acre, and one alongside per acre for those farmers who would be benefited by its construction. In this way they expected to obtain about $15,000. Among those who would be most heavily assessed were W. H. Fairchilds $1,000, W. L. Overheiser $1,600, J. R. Corey $540, Seth Pierson $460. The company was incorporated April 30, 1869, under the laws of California, and W. H. Fairchilds was elected president, Thomas P. Heath, secretary, and John H. Tone, treasurer. The road was surveyed by Engineer Wallace, six and one-half miles, a gravel road, forty feet wide, with a covering of twenty-five feet of gravel, nine inches deep in the center. The estimated cost was $38,731. The road was completed that year and in time became a free road in accordance with the state law of 1868. This law declared that a board of supervisors could purchase a toll or turnpike road at any time; and at the termination of the life of a corporate turnpike it became a free public road.

        San Joaquin County, although conservative regarding many progressive movements, was the leader in California of our present splendid public highways. J. M. Eddy, a newspaper writer of San Joaquin County, is the father of good roads here. For many years he would frequently write editorials on good roads and water conservation, and when, in 1907, the legislature passed the so-called Savage Act concerning highways, Mr. Eddy believed the time had arrived for action. Getting in touch with the Federal Government at Washington, then being secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, he requested the Government to send an expert road builder to Stockton for the purpose of constructing an "object lesson" road; the Government complying with the request sent out R. G. Morton, who arrived in March, 1908, and without any preliminaries began a study of the different kinds of soil over which the road might be built, the quality of rock at hand and the climatic conditions affecting roads.

        Mr. Eddy's next move was to organize a State Good Roads Association. With this end in view Chamber of Commerce letters were sent out to the counties of the state requesting them to send delegates to a state convention, to meet at Stockton June 1, 1908. Over thirty counties responded and sent their delegates. The secretary reported the following as delegates from the Stockton Chamber of Commerce: John M. Perry, M. J. Gardner, James A. Barr, George F. Hudson, J. P. Sargent, D. A. Guernsey, Louis H. Frankheimer and John T. Lewis; from the Good Roads Bureau the delegates were Pliny E. Holt, Frank E. Ellis, Charles L. Neumiller, Frank A. Guernsey, Charles E. Littlehale, George L. Luhrsen, John Brichetto. The Highway Commission also were delegates. They assembled in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce and perfected their organization by electing Charles D. Daggett of Los Angeles, president; Mike L. Tarpey of Fresno, vice-president; W. E. Gerber of Sacramento, second vice-president, and J. M. Eddy, secretary-treasurer. The delegates that evening attended a good roads meeting in Lodi. They were welcomed by Mayor George Lawrence. The following day they visited the object lesson road then under construction, "for the fact that a two-mile strip of road is being constructed under the supervision of the United States Government has attracted the attention of the entire state."

        Several weeks previous to this time much preliminary work, which was required by the Savage Act, had been carried out. A Good Roads Bureau had been organized and they not only began an educational campaign by visiting every precinct in the county, but they obtained over 10,000 of the names of the voters at the previous election. It was a petition to the supervisors, petitioning the board to appoint a Highway Commission to "pave the way for a bond issue." The supervisors granted the petition May 4 and named as commissioners Frank A. West, Burton N. Towne and Stewart P. Elliott. These three young men had accepted a big responsibility and for several months assisted by the Government engineer and George L. Cooley, a road expert, they gave their thought and time to this work. Their only recompense was fifty cents an hour while engaged in road work.

        In locating a strip of road for his object lesson, the Government engineer selected a piece of road some two miles on the Mariposa route, commencing about a half mile east of the race track. He had selected for his experiment "one of the worst stretches of black soil, the most difficult soil on which to construct permanent roadways known to experts." The proposed road was to be covered with macadam then rolled with a heavy roller, and covered with asphalt oil. The supervisors then called for bids for the work. It was something entirely new in contract work and the contractors were afraid to bid. There was only one bid, that of John Perry, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and April 25 the supervisors accepted his offer to do the work for $16,400, "the actual cost of the improvement." The work was commenced May 17 and completed late in the fall of 1908. Although they have learned many things about road building since that time—one that a permanent road must have a concrete foundation—that piece of road was so well constructed it held good for six years of the heaviest of county travel. The money to build this road was subscribed by the Chamber of Commerce, the supervisors and public-spirited citizens.

        In accordance with the state law the highway commission, after several months work, February 11, 1909, reported to the supervisors the result of their labor. They recommended that 288 miles of road be constructed of the best rock macadam and covered with asphalt oil, the highways to be from sixteen to thirty-two feet in width, according to the location and the amount of travel, the main highways to have a sixteen-foot macadam two inches thicker than at the sides. Taking the object road as their estimate of cost they recommended that the supervisors call a special election for the peoples' decision on a bond issue of $1,890,000 to run for forty years. The supervisors granted their recommendation, and called an election for March 16, 1909. The commission recommended the construction of the       

following roads, the numerals indicating the proposed length of each road. The Lower Sacramento Road, 20 to the county line; the Cherokee Lane 14, from Lodi to Lockeford 4, to Woodbridge 2, to New Hope 14, along the Waterloo road 19, along the Linden road 12, along the Copperopolis road 8, to Farmington 13, along the Mariposa road 17, the Hogan road 9, over the French Camp road 13, and over the Roberts Island and the Jacobs Road, each road six miles of macadam. On the West side, 23 miles were to be constructed.

Educational Campaign

        Now came the hardest of all the work, the education of the people, for the progressive men had learned after many years that any progressive movement must be preceded by an educational campaign of the citizens. A campaign was planned, meetings were held and addressed by interesting and sound, logical speakers in every precinct of the county. Questions were asked the speakers from every point of the subject by skeptics, tightwads and unbelievers and every question successfully answered, for the speakers were well fortified with the facts as to the cost, the taxable rate and the beneficial results. The farmer was shown by actual demonstration that on the new road he could haul more tons with two horses and at a less cost than with six animals over the dirt road. He could reach the market with his produce at any season of the year, an impossibility in winter. Commercial, secret and professional associations indorsed the bond issue. The physicians, in indorsing it said, "Many lives have been lost through the inability of the physician to reach the bedside of the patient in time." The experience of Dr. Grattan in the '50s was proof of this fact.  While visiting a patient, several miles in the country on horseback, for the roads were deep in mud, the cholera broke out in Stockton and his wife was attacked with the disease. When the physician returned she was beyond recovery. In telling me of the incident some years ago he said "I could have saved her could I have gotten back in time." Some men who opposed the bonds later saw the error of their ways. One of this number was Augustus Muenter, the extremely frugal capitalist and financier. "I was against the bonds at the start," he said, "but I have changed my mind, a thing I don't often do." Meeting E. E. Thrift, that gentleman told Mr. Muenter he was going to vote for the bonds. The capitalist quickly exclaimed, "Don't you know that Stockton will have to pay two-thirds of the taxes." "Yes," he replied, "but we have been bottled up all winter and I am willing to pay my share of the taxes for good roads and get out of the mud once for all." "That set me to thinking," said Mr. Muenter. His change of base made many votes for the bonds, for the vacillating voters said, "If Muenter approves of spending the county money it surely is all right." Another great help was the indorsement of the bonds by the labor unions. We are all of us guided in our actions to some extent by the opinions of those we believe to be well informed on the subject. Many votes were obtained, especially among the Catholics, by a published indorsement for the bonds, of Father William O'Connor, one of the most progressive men in the county. During the campaign there was scarcely any money expended. There were no fireworks, flags, automobile hire, not even a brass band. It was a heart of heart talk on a vital question, the future progress of San Joaquin. The result was pleasing to everybody, even the knockers. Some men are so constituted they enjoy defeat.

        The total county vote was 6,184; for the bonds 5,449; opposed 1,685. As it required 4,122 votes, the necessary two-thirds majority to carry the election, the majority for the bonds was 377. Stockton voted for the bonds over three to one, the vote being 2,320 for and only 728 no. Four precincts, among them Lodi, gave a small majority against the bonds, and yet when they learned the result of the vote the citizens "paraded up and down Sacramento Street blowing horns and whistles and the bells rung out the joyful news." During the campaign the Chamber of Commerce offered a beautiful silk flag to the precinct giving the greatest pro rata vote for the bonds. Strange to say the flag was won by the small village of Germans living in Bethany, in the extreme southwest part of the county. They cast an unanimous 44 votes for the bonds. The bonds were sold in sections, and as soon as possible work was commenced on the Lower Sacramento Road to the county line. In 1911 a continuous highway had been completed from the middle of the steel bridge over Dry Creek through Stockton to the county line, the middle of the bridge over the Stanislaus River. In that year the Cherokee Lane Road was completed to Lodi. Since the county bond issue 200 miles more of good roads have been constructed. The state, under the $1,800,000 bond issue, has taken over all of the main lines in the county.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler