Sacramento County Biographies

AMOS P. CATLIN

Submitted by: Nancy Pratt Melton.

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

	Since the pioneer days of Sacramento County no name has been more 
closely identified with its history that with which this sketch commences; thus 
it is, that supplementary to the chapter on the bench and bar of the county, 
this article, giving a brief outline of his life and labors, became necessary.  
He was born on Livingston Manor, Dutchess County, New York, at Tivoli, then 
known as Red Hook, January 25, 1823.  The founder of the family in America, 
Thomas Catlin, came from Kent, England, in 1643, and located in Hartford, 
Connecticut; Litchfield, in the same State, finally became the family seat, and 
five generations of family were born there, down to and including the father of 
the subject.  His grandfather, David, was a captain in the Connecticut militia 
during the Revolutionary War, and was at Danbury when General Wooster lost his 
life resisting the attack of the British General Tyron.  He lived to pass his 
ninety-third birthday.  The parents of the subject were Pierce and Annie 
(Winegar) Catlin.  The father was in early life a school-teacher, afterward of 
wagon-maker, and finally a farmer.  In 1826 the family removed to Kingston, New 
York, were A. P. Catlin grew up, and attended the Kingston Academy, where he was 
graduated.  He had also attended school for the time in Litchfield, Connecticut, 
making his home during that time with his grandfather, Captain Catlin.  When in 
his eighteenth year he entered the office of the law firm up composed of Judges 
James C. Forsyth and James O. Linderman, both of whom were in the front rank of 
legal profession of eastern New York. On the 12th of January, 1844 he was 
admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of New York, at Albany, and four days 
later to the Court of Chancery.  He practiced law four years in Ulster County, 
frequently meeting in forensic battle such antagonists as John Currey, afterward 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; William Fullerton, the Judge Fullerton 
afterward distinguished as the council in Beecher trial; and T. R. Westbrook, 
later one of the judges of the Supreme Court of New York. While practicing in 
Ulster County, he successfully conducted an important litigation in such he had 
before his client the Spanish Consul, resident in New York.  He pleaded the 
consular privilege of answering only in a federal court, a privilege which was 
vigorously disputed, but he succeeded ousting the State court of jurisdiction.  
In 1848 he removed to New York city, and formed a partnership with his cousin, 
George Catlin, with office at No. 14 Pine street.  On the 8th day of January, 
1849, he sailed in the brig David Henshaw for San Francisco, arriving at the 
port on the 8th of the following July.  He had brought with him a costly outfit 
of mining machinery, and after a month at San Francisco, proceeded to Mormon 
Island, where he was soon engaged in mining.  He passed the winter at that 
occupation, also practicing law before the alcalde of that district.  In May, 
1850, he formed a partnership with John Currey and opened an office in 
Sacramento.  They were associated but a short time, Mr. Currey being compelled 
to retire to San Francisco on acconnt of his health. Mr. Catlin was a witness to 
the squatter riots, and took a deep interest in the matters then in controversy. 
 In the fall of 1850 he closed his Sacramento office and went again to Mormon 
Island to attend to his own mining interests, and to settle up the affairs of 
the Connecticut Mining and Trading Company, successors to Samuel Brannan.  While 
there, William L. Goggin, agent of the Post Office department for the coast, 
visited Mormon Island for the purpose of establishing a post office, and Mr. 
Catlin was requested by him to furnish a name.  He suggested Natoma, the name he 
had already given to the mining company he had organized and signifying 
"clearwater."  Goggin adopted the name and that section of Sacramento County was 
officially named "Natoma Township."  In 1851 he was nominated by the Whigs for 
the Assembly, but was, with the whole ticket, defeated.  In the following year 
he was nominated for State Senator, and was elected on the ticket when General 
Scott was a candidate for President.  He served in that capacity for two years, 
in the sessions at Vallejo, Benicia1, and Sacramento.  He was the author of the 
homestead bill, the same as that afterward adopted, but defeated at the time by 
the casting vote of the lieutenant-governor.  The location of this seat of 
government as Sacramento was accomplished by Mr. Catlin, after that result had 
been given up by all the others, by a remarkable piece of parliamentary 
strategy, invented by himself and referred to more fully in the proper chapter 
of this work.  During this session of 1853 he rendered important service to the 
city of San Francisco, in contributing largely to the defeat of the scheme to 
extend the water-front of that city 600 feet further into the bay.  He wrote the 
report of the select committee having the matter in charge in such a forcible 
manner as to virtually kill all chance of the project.  This powerful argument 
is to be found in the published journals of the fourth session of the 
Legislature.  He had meantime continued his mining operations, and on Christmas 
day, 1851, located a mining canal, starting two and a half miles above Salmon 
Falls, and carrying the water of the south fork of the American River to Mormon 
Island and Folsom.  This undertaking was completed early in 1853.  It was then a 
very important work, as indeed it is now, though used for a different 
purpose--that of irrigation.  He continued mining until 1865, when he 
permanently moved to Sacramento.  During the interim, however, he had taken an 
important part in other affairs than those of mining.  In 1854 he was tendered 
the nomination for Congress on the Whig ticket, but declined.  During the height 
of this success of the Know-Nothing movement, in 1855-'56, he was practically 
retired from politics.  In the summer of 1856 he and Robert C. Clarke (afterward 
county judge and later superior judge) were nominated by a convention of some 
forty persons, composed of old-line Whigs and Know-Nothings, as candidates for 
the Legislature, and having been prevailed upon to run against apparently strong 
odds, both were elected.  John H. McKune was also elected at the same time on 
the Democratic ticket.  That session of the the Legislature, which commenced 
January 1, 1857, was a very important one.  During this session Henry Bates, 
State Treasurer, was impeached, and it was thought Mr. Catlin that this result 
was brought about, and the gigantic raids upon the treasury of the State were 
brought to light.  In March, 1872, Mr. Catlin was appointed one of three members 
of the State Board of Equalization, and served as such until April, 1876.  The 
most effective powers conferred on the board by the Legislature were, after a 
long contest, declared unconstitutional by three of the five judges of the 
Supreme Court, and this led to the abolition of the board.  In 1875 he was 
brought forward as a candidate for governor before the Independent State, 
Convention, but was defeated by the combined votes of the supporters of John 
Bidwell and M. M. Estee, which on the final ballot were cast for General 
Bidwell.  In 1878 he was nominated by the joint convention of Republicans and 
Democrats of Sacramento as delicate to the constitutional convention, but 
declined.  In 1879 he was one of the nominees of the Republican Party for one of 
the seven judgeships of the re-organized Supreme Court, but was defeated with 
all but one on his ticket.  Mr. Catlin has had an extensive and varied practice 
in United States Circuit and District Courts in the State, in the courts of San 
Francisco, in Sacramento and other counties, and in the Supreme Court of 
California.  He was also, in times past, for considerable periods, at intervals, 
editor of the old Sacramento Union.  He was thus employed from September, 1864, 
at the commencement of the Lincoln' s second campaign, until April 1865.  His 
political articles were generally recognized as fair by the opponents of the 
war, against whom they were aimed.  His editorial on the execution of 
Maximilian, headed "The End of a Tyrant," attracted wide attention and was 
copied in Spanish in the leading Mexican papers.  During ten years he 
successfully defended the Union in eight different actions for libel.  His 
successful prosecution of the celebrated Leidesdorff ranch case, was one of his 
most brilliantly legal victories.  When the government eventually appealed the 
case to the highest legal tribunal in the land, it came up for argument before 
the United States Supreme Court, in December, 1863, Mr. Catlin proceeded to 
Washington and was admitted to the Supreme Court on motion of Judge Jere. Black. 
 He was heard for the greater part of two days, and his argument won six of the 
nine judges, and carried the case.  His further connection with events and 
Sacramento County is omitted here to avoid repetition of matters elsewhere 
mentioned in this volume.  His partners of law practice since John Currey, have 
been: Judge T. B.  McFarland, David A. Hamburger, Lincoln White and his present 
associate Judge George A. Blanchard.  Mr. Catlin was married me 1,1860, to Miss 
Ruth press A.  C.  Donaldson, a native of Iowa. She died in February, 1878, 
leaving for children, viz: Alexander Donaldson, John C., Ruth B., and Harry C.  
Mr. Catlin is a member of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers, of the 
San Francisco Historical Society, and of the Bar Association of San Francisco.  
No man who has figured in history of Sacramento has a more honorable record then 
has Mr. Catlin.
 
Source: An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California.  By Hon. Win. J 
Davis. Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 249-251.
 
AMOS P. CATLIN
 
    In the review of the history of Sacramento, it will be found that this 
gentleman figured prominently in connection with the legal and judicial 
interests of central California, and that he was an active factor in the 
upbuilding and progress of the city.  He left an indelible impress upon its 
public life.  No resident of the community has ever been more respected and has 
ever fully enjoyed the confidence of the people or more richly deserved the 
esteem in which he is held.  His fellow townsmen, recognizing his merits, 
rejoiced in his advancement and in the honors  which he attained. Honorable in 
business, loyal in citizenship, charitable in thought, true to every trust 
confided in his care, his life was of the highest type of American manhood. 

    Mr. Catlin was a native of the Empire state, his birth having occurred in 
Red Hook, Dutchess county, on the 25th of January, 1823.  The first of the name 
Catlin of which we have record was Thomas Catlin, who came up this country from 
the county of Kent, England, in 1646 and took up his abode in Hartford, 
Connecticut.  His posterity for five generations were born in Connecticut, the 
date of their births and deaths being as follows: Samuel Catlin born November 4, 
1673, died in the year 1768; John Catlin born October 20, 1703, died in 1768, 
David Catlin born April 6, 1747, died October 13, 1839; and Percy Catlin born 
September 3, 1789, died July 31, 1872.  David Catlin, the grandfather of our 
subject, was a captain in the Connecticut militia, and served in the action in 
which General Wooster was killed--an attack made by the British general Tyron in 
the town of Danbury.  He died at the age of ninety-two years. His son, Percy 
Catlin, was a schoolteacher and also, incidentally, a farmer, owning a large 
carriage factory in Kingston, New York and lived to the age of eighty-four 
years.

   On the maternal side, the subject of this review was of German lineage, the 
Winegar family, the original American ancestors leaving the fatherland in the 
year 1700, and taking up their abode in Dutchess county, New York.

  Judge Catlin spent his boyhood days in the Empire state, and was graduated in 
Kingston Academy, in Ulster county, in 1840.  Determining to make the practice 
of law his life work, he began study under the preceptorship of the law firm of 
Forsythe & Linderman, both of whom were distinguished attorneys of eastern New 
York.  When he had mastered many of the principles of jurisprudence, Judge 
Catlin passed an examination before the supreme court of his native state, and 
was admitted to the bar on the 12th of January, 1844.   He practiced some four 
years in Ulster county, and then removed to New York city, where he formed a 
partnership with George Catlin, a connection that was maintained for about a 
year.  The wide field of California, offering excellent opportunities to young 
men, attracted him, and on the 8th of January, 1849, he took passage on the bark 
David Hinshaw, commanded by Captain David Pinkham, and sailed around Cape Horn, 
arriving at San Francisco on the 8th of July, following. 

      After a month spent in that city, Mr. Catlin, like many of the early 
pioneers, sought a fortune through mining and also practiced law in Sacramento 
county, near Mormon Island. After spending the winter of 1849 in that locality 
he returned to Sacramento city, where he entered into partnership with John 
Currey, which connection was continued but a short time, however, when Mr. 
Currey returned to San Francisco owing to ill health.  The practice of the judge 
steadily increased, and his extensive clientage brought him into connection with 
much of the important litigation tried in the circuit and district courts of San 
Francisco and Sacramento, the supreme court of California and the United States 
courts.  Excellent success attended his efforts and his marked ability won him 
prestige among representatives of the profession.

    He also possessed superior literary ability, and at different times was the 
editor of the Sacramento Union.  His political editorials were chiefly 
recognized as fair and impartial, and his editorials written at the time of the 
execution of Maximillian and headed "The End of the Tyrant," attracted wide 
notice and were copied by the leading Spanish papers of Mexico.

    In 1891 he was elected judge of the superior court of California, and served 
on the bench for six years.  His course there won him the highest commendation, 
and his decisions were regarded as models of judicial soundness.  His legal 
learning and analytical mind and readiness with which to grasp a point in an 
argument all combined to make him one of the most capable jurists that have ever 
graced a bench of the superior court and his colleagues in the profession 
acknowledge him as a peer of anyone who had ever occupied that position. 

     On the 1st of May, 1860, Mr. Catlin was united in marriage to Miss Ruth 
A.C. Donaldson, a native of Iowa.  The Donaldsons on the maternal side trace 
their lineage to the well known Butler family, whose advent on this continent 
antedates the Revolutionary period.  Her mother, Phoebe Butler, became the wife 
of A.C. Donaldson.  She was daughter of Lord Butler, a son of Zebulon Butler of 
Revolutionary fame, who served as a colonel under Washington in the war for 
independence and commanded the right wing of the American forces in the battle 
of Wyoming.  Mrs. Catlin, a lady of culture and refined qualities, died on the 
17th  of February, 1878, and her loss was deeply mourned by her many friends 
throughout the community. She left four children: Alexander Donaldson, John 
Conynghame, Ruth Butler and Harry Crispell.

     The Judge has never identified with any secret societies, but was an 
esteemed member of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers, the California 
Historical Society, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the Sons of the 
American Revolution.

     As a practitioner he was remarkable among lawyers for his wide research and 
provident care with which he prepared his cases.  At no time had his reading 
ever been confined to the limitation of the questions at issue; had gone beyond 
and encompassed every contingency to provide not alone for the expected, but for 
the unexpected, which happens quite as frequently in the courts as out of them.  
In public life he was an active factor in promoting the welfare of the city.  He 
was largely instrumental in securing the permanent establishment of the capitol 
at this place, and at all times his influence was given to reform, progress and 
advancement along social, material and educational lines.

      For two years just preceding his death his health failed greatly, while 
his patient endurance and persistent vitality blinded the public to the fact.  
Even while he appeared much as usual and attended to the duties of the firm of 
which he was the senior member, his family suffered much anxiety on his account. 
 He suffered greatly at intervals.  About the beginning of October, 1900, he was 
taken with a most severe attack of his malady, and though not confined to his 
bed, and often well enough to spend an afternoon at his office, he gradually 
succumbed to the weakness resulting from his intense suffering.  On Sunday 
November 4th, he suffered greatly and through the night following.  Early on the 
morning of November 5 he fell asleep quietly, and some time about 9:30 o'clock 
passed peacefully away while sleeping.  He was buried in the city cemetery of 
Sacramento on the afternoon of November 8, 1900. 

Source: �A Volume Of Memoirs And Genealogy of Representative Citizens Of 
Northern California� Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. Chicago. 1901. Pages 
104-106.
Submitted by: Betty Tartas.