San Joaquin County, CA History

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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History of San Joaquin County, California with Biographical Sketches - Historic 
Record Company, Los Angeles, CA - 1923
 
CHAPTER VII
COMMERCIAL EVENTS UP TO 1869
 
        NO PERSON can forecast the trend of trade. And as we have observed as 
early as 1852, it began moving eastward, as all teaming traveled out Main Street 
and Weber Avenue. Two years previous, many business men, believing that French 
Camp would become an important trading point during the winter months, made an 
effort to boost South Stockton, on Mormon Channel. Emile Junge, an enterprising 
Frenchman, advertised in June, 1950, "Store-ship Susanna, Mormon Channel, 
general merchandise and produce dealer. Lots for sale in the most improving 
location of the town." Several other promoters removed their vessels loaded with 
goods to Mormon Channel and attempted to establish a run of trade. Spending good 
money, they asserted through the newspaper that "the channel was the place to 
carry on business as the land was high and dry and vessels drawing ten feet of 
water could anchor at Center Street, and it was the nearest point to French 
Camp." The levee on Weber Avenue was a sea of mud in winter, as the banks sloped 
to the water's edge, and all goods from the steamers were landed in the mud. The 
city, however, built a wharf in 1852. In order to attract purchasers of lots and 
goods, Captain Young, one of the promoters, refused an offer of $6,500 for his 
brig, as he intended "to give it to the town gratis, on condition that it be 
used as a court house." The city at the time were paying $300 per month for a 
small room in the McNish Building. The scheme of these speculators caused quite 
an excitement for a time, and lots along Center Street were quickly bought up. 
In a few days over 700 lots were sold at prices running from $4,000 to $6,000 
each. Regarding business locations, Captain Weber's idea was neither Mormon 
Channel nor block No. 1, but the Peninsula, where ships could land goods within 
100 feet of the front of the store, or at their rear door, sailing up Miner 
Channel. Today a fish market is doing that very thing. Block No. 1 became the 
business center through an accident or a misunderstanding. Weber, in erecting 
his general merchandising store in 1848, directed the captain to land the lumber 
on the north side of the channel, but misunderstanding the command he unloaded 
the lumber on the south side. Some pioneers said that the captain ran aground on 
the south side, and, being unable to float his vessel, was compelled to unload. 
As there was no immediate way of transporting the material to the opposite side 
of the channel, the building was erected on the bank. There the settlers located 
so as to be near their source of supplies. Naturally, the incoming gold seekers, 
seeing the settlers' tents, landed on the south side.
 
The Pioneer Steamer
        For seventy years and more, steamers have been landing freight and 
passengers at the Stockton wharf. The first vessel in the freight-carrying 
business was the little sloop Maria, which was purchased in Portland, Ore., by 
Captain Weber. This was in June, 1848. The little pioneer sailer was 38 feet in 
length, 9 feet 11 inches breadth of beam, and 3 feet 2 inches in depth; she 
carried 13 tons and cost $4,000. The first passengers from the east arrived in 
whale boats and engaged San Francisco sailors to row them up to Tuleburg. This 
was followed in September, 1849, by the arrival of the "Captain Sutter," a small 
side-wheel steamer, under the command of Captain Warren, who at different times 
was in command of seven different steamers running on the San Joaquin route. The 
arrival of the steamer created great excitement in the settlement, as she 
unexpectedly sailed up the channel with flags and streamers flying; the crowd 
rushed to the water's edge, and, throwing their hats in the air, cheer after 
cheer greeted the Sutter. It was a great day for the town and it is not 
surprising that the citizens went "wild," for they were no longer cut off from 
the outside world. The steamer was run daily on the Stockton route until June, 
1850, when she was withdrawn and run on the Sacramento, her owners, it is 
stated, having made $300,000.
        These steamers might aptly be called speculative death-traps, for they 
were all run on a speculation to either make or break their owners. They were 
all hastily and cheaply constructed and any kind of an engine was installed, for 
at that time there were no boiler or hull inspectors in the state. The steamers 
were usually a partnership affair between several persons, each person taking 
some part of the work. Racing on the river was almost of daily occurrence, and 
boiler explosions, with a terrible loss of life, were frequent. The Captain 
Sutter was succeeded on the Stockton route by the El Dorado, Captain Warren in 
command. As steamboating was a big paying proposition, Warren, in partnership 
with others, concluded to build the finest steamer on the river. Visiting the 
Eastern States he purchased steam engines and fixtures, and shipping them to San 
Francisco, the steamer Santa Clara was constructed. Arriving at Stockton on the 
evening of February 3, 1851, Captain Warren invited the merchants and cit�izens 
on board, and in bumpers of champagne they drank "long life to the Santa Clara." 
Her life was short, for a month later she caught fire on San Francisco Bay and 
was a total loss. In March, 1852, Warren came into port in the neat little craft 
Jenny Lind, named after the Swedish nightingale. The steamer made the trip of 
about 140 miles at that time, in seven hours, a record not surpassed. Six months 
later, while lying at the wharf in San Francisco, ready to start for Stockton, 
her drum�head blew out and some ten or fifteen passengers were killed and many 
more badly scalded by the escaping steam that filled the cabin. One of the worst 
of explosions was that of the steamer Sagamore, November, 1, 1851. She had just 
left the San Francisco wharf heavily loaded with merchandise and crowded with 
passengers, bound for Stockton and the way port, Benicia, when her boiler 
exploded. Fifty persons were killed and many badly scalded.
 
Explosion of Steamer Stockton
        In October, 1853, two accidents took place unparalleled in the history 
of the state, two steamers, the American Eagle and the Stockton, exploding their 
boilers on the same river not over fifteen miles apart and within eighteen 
hours' time. The Stockton left her berth at San Francisco at the usual time, 
October 19, 1853, and at about 5 o'clock, when approaching the mouth of the San 
Joaquin River, the entire top of her firebox blew off. The hot water and steam 
escaped through the furnace doors and through the flues in the rear of the 
boiler, "shivering the cabin to atoms." The force of the steam tore her deck 
into a thousand pieces, but a few persons standing in front of the boiler were 
the only ones scalded. Standing above the boiler were several men, women and 
children, and although badly frightened none were injured. Two persons were 
thrown into the water by the force of the explosion, but they saved themselves 
by means of floating planks. One of these persons, V. M. Peyton, a merchant, was 
standing by the side of the captain, and although badly scalded by the escaping 
steam his sudden bath in the cold water saved his life. Fortunate it was for 
Stockton that his life was saved, for we shall hear much of him in the earlier 
years of our history. The steamer, H. T. Clay, soon arrived, and, taking on 
board the seven badly scalded passengers and those not injured, brought them to 
their destination.
 
American Eagle on Fire
        The American Eagle, noticeable because of a gilded eagle perched on top 
of her pilot house, was speeding her way over the tortuous San Joaquin and when 
about twenty-five miles from this city her starboard boiler blew out, tearing 
away completely all of the boat forward of the wheelhouse. There were 
fifty-three passengers on board, but only two of the passengers were scalded. 
Eight of the crew of the steamer were scalded and five of them died. Joshua P. 
Havens, druggist, in partnership with E. S. Holden, was returning from San 
Francisco with a large quantity of drugs and oil, and freely he gave of the oil 
to bind upon the blistered bodies of the scalded. In his recital of the accident 
he says it occurred at exactly 3:15 o'clock p.m. and that at the dreadful moment 
he thought creation had broken loose for such a noise of the crashing of 
timbers, smashing of glass and crockery and of the explosion itself he had never 
heard before. There was on board a large quantity of exposed gunpowder and 
several large barrels of brandy. The concussion broke open the barrels, the 
liquor caught fire and quickly the steamer was in flames. Colonel "Jack" Hayes, 
the famous Texas Ranger, was on board, and immediately rushed to extinguish the 
flames. As he did so a very excited individual shouted, "Look out for the 
gunpowder." "Gunpowder be damned !" Hayes replied, "We might as well be blown up 
as burned up !" and continuing the work of throwing overboard the powder 
probably saved the lives of the passengers. The first news received of the 
accident was by Thomas Moseley, Wells Fargo express agent, who probably arrived 
from the accident in a rowboat. Immediately steam was raised in the boilers of 
the steamer Sophie and with Drs. William Norcom, Samuel Langdon, William R. Ryer 
and Richard P. Ashe on board she speedily went to the scene, and passengers and 
wounded were brought to Stockton.
 
The Mosquito Fleet
        These little steamers were about seventy-five feet in length, round 
bottom, side-wheelers, with a carrying capacity of between forty and fifty tons. 
The steamers were run independent of each other and there was at times 
considerable competition and cutting of rates. A combination of steamers would 
decrease the cost and larger steamers would greatly improve the service, so a 
company of San Francisco men concluded to combine and learn if the San Joaquin 
River was navigable for large steamers as far as Stockton. They knew that large 
steamer navigation was possible, for the steamer Senator had been sailing up the 
Sacramento River to Sacramento since 1850. To learn the possibilities of the San 
Joaquin River, the large ocean-sailing steamer Thomas Hunt was selected to 
pioneer the way up to the tortuous San Joaquin Channel to Stockton. She was of 
413 tons carrying capacity and in command of Captain Van Pelt, who had formerly 
run on the Sacramento, landed at the Stockton wharf March 13, 1853. The citizens 
were not only astonished but delighted to see such a large, nicely-fitted-up 
steamer at the wharf, and they predicted great things for Stockton. The steamer 
made the run in eight hours, much faster than they now travel, although the 
bends of the river are now all eliminated, and the captain stated that he had no 
difficulty in making the run, and at a very small expense the river could be so 
improved as to accommodate such ocean-going boats as the Senator and Confidence, 
then running on the Sacramento route.
 
First Class Steamers
        In the meantime Charles Minturn, a San Francisco steamboat man who had a 
ferry line running to Oakland, concluded to send to New York and purchase or 
build the finest and fastest steamer on the inland waters. He delegated Captain 
Enoch Conklin, who had been running the steamer H. T. Clay on the Stockton 
route, to go east and make the purchase. He left California in June, 1853, and 
returned in November with one of the handsomest and fastest boats ever seen on 
San Francisco Bay. The steamer was 134 feet in length, breadth of beam 28 feet, 
and 9 feet in depth. She had compound condensing engines and was fitted up in 
first class style, with a ladies' cabin and berths astern and a ladies' maid to 
wait upon the women passengers. The steamer was named Cornelia, in honor of the 
captain's daughter. She made the run to Stockton in seven and a half hours, and 
with a crew, captain, pilots, engineers and mates, that for fifteen years were 
very popular with the merchants and citizens. The following year, January 9, 
another big steamer, the Helen Hensley, Captain James Whitney, appeared at the 
wharf. The Hensley and the John Bragdon, which came on later, were an exact type 
of the Mississippi steamers in the days of Mark Twain. They had two long 
smokestacks and two steampipes, and to see the smoke in heavy volume rolling 
from the stack and a big cloud of steam puffing from the pipes at every stroke 
of the engine, was indeed a majestic sight. The Hensley for a time had a half 
crew of colored men, and they would assemble on the upper deck, just before the 
time of sailing and sing old-fashioned plantation songs for the entertainment of 
the crowd that lined the wharf. The Hensley was unfortunate, for after running 
only three months her boiler exploded as she was leaving the San Francisco 
Jackson Street wharf, demolishing the entire front of the cabin. Several 
passengers were several scalded by hot water and steam. A negro, blown thirty 
feet into the air, fell into the bay and was rescued unhurt. A passenger lying 
in his berth on the steamer was thrown to the wharf, mattress and all. Arising, 
he exclaimed, "I believe I will not go to Benicia," and going on board the boat 
he got his baggage and tramped it up the street.
        The John Bragdon was one of the largest steamers ever put upon the 
Stockton route, being 240 feet in length, 33 feet breadth of beam and 9 feet in 
depth, with two sidewheels, each 33 feet in diameter, with buckets 11 feet in 
length. Although larger than the J. D. Peters, the largest boat at present on 
the river, the Bragdon could not carry near the amount of freight as the Peters, 
because a stern�wheeler has a much larger deck surface. The Peters is 204 feet 
in length, 38 feet wide and 9 feet deep with a 780-ton capacity. A few months 
after the arrival of the Bragdon, the California Steam Navigation Company was 
incorporated March 1, 1854, and until the building of the Central Pacific 
railroad, they held the inland freighting and passenger traffic in the hollow of 
their hand. The company was capitalized for $2,000,000, and buying up or buying 
off every steamer in the state, none could dispute their right to rule.
 
Steamboat Combination
        We will now write of an event that has been a continual source of 
contention for the past half-century, namely, monopolies and freight and fares. 
Although the citizens were pleased in some measure because of the combination of 
steamers, as they said, "We will have no more racing on the river and loss of 
life," they were greatly displeased because the California Steam Navigation 
Company raised the rate of passengers and freight, this although the combination 
gave them a much better service than ever before, new, clean fast boats, quick 
daily reliable transportation, and a polite and gentlemanly crew. In their 
complaints they declared, "We have too long submitted to the onerous yoke of the 
soulless combination," and "ever since the combination was entered into we have 
been crippled and circumscribed." They complained that  passengers were carried 
much cheaper from San Francisco to the Northern mines than they were transported 
to Stockton. This was true, but the merchants of Sacramento themselves were 
conducting passenger cheap-fare steamers. They realized the fact that 
immigration to the Northern
mines meant progress and growth to Sacramento. And the progress in an editorial, 
said, "All that Stockton requires to give prosperity to every branch of business 
is a population in the interior," and then asks, "How are we to gain it while 
there is such a marked difference afforded to immigrants in pursuing their 
journey to the mines."
 
Merchants' Steamboat Company
        The merchants and citizens were up in arms against the combination and 
their fancied injustice to Stockton and, proclaiming war, their slogan was, 
"Down with the combination." The American method of showing their indignation at 
any supposed injustice is by listening to considerable hot air talk and passing 
resolutions. And a mass meeting signed by sixty-five merchants was called to 
meet in the city hall December 30, 1854, for the purpose of consultation in 
regard to the purchase of a steamer. "As the objects to be obtained include the 
welfare and prosperity of the entire San Joaquin district and every branch of 
industry therein we trust there will be a general attendance." It was a wildly 
enthusiastic meeting. The meeting was called to order by Enoch Gove; B. W. Owens 
was elected president, and Fletcher C. Andrews, secretary. David S. Terry, 
throughout his life an anti-monopolist; was called upon for a few remarks and on 
motion of A. C. Baine, a committee of five was appointed to canvass for 
subscriptions for stock at fifty dollars per share. They were given full power 
to open subscription books in Stockton and the mountain camps. At this or a 
subsequent meeting directors were elected as follows E. S. Holden, druggist; J. 
M. Buffington, V. M. Peyton, Emile Hestres and H. T. Compton, grocers; Austin 
Sperry, founder of the flour mill; D. S. Terry, attorney; William Montgomery, 
farmer, and B. W. Bours, banker. At the directors' meeting, January 16, 1855, 
they selected as the name of the company, "The Southern Miners' Steamboat 
Association. In the meantime the subscription committee reported that $40,000 
worth of stock had been signed up, and the directors levied an assessment of ten 
per cent on each share payable at the banking house of T. Robinson Bours on 
Center Street. Dr. E. S. Holden, David S. Terry and William Montgomery were then 
appointed to go to San Francisco and purchase, charter or have built a steamer 
for the Stockton trade.
        The directors, considering the amount of subscriptions and knowing from 
the statement of a practical steamboat man that a steamer the size of the 
Cornelia would cost at least $80,000 in New York, concluded that the safest plan 
would be to arrange with some steamboat proprietor to put his steamer on the 
Stockton route with a guarantee that those sixty-five anti-monopoly merchants 
would give him their fullest support. Arrangements were made with the owner of 
the steamer Willamette, who had been running on the Oregon River of that name. 
And then the editor rejoiced for "At an early hour yesterday  morning, January 
24, 1851, the ringing of bells and the booming of cannon announced the arrival 
of our opposition steamer. The peal of bells and cannon found an echo in every 
citizens' heart." As the time approached for the sailing of the two steamers 
there assembled "the largest crowd on the levee for many a day." There was 
considerable excitement and expressed indignation for the merchants had had 
arrested a runner who came up on the combination line to drum up customers. He 
was charged with a violation of the city ordinance, which required a runner to 
take out a city license. Here was seen for the first time the shrewd work of 
corporations. As soon as they found that the merchants meant business they 
advertised in the newspaper January 1, 1855, "that on and after this date the 
passage by the steamers Urilda and Cornelia will be reduced to cabin fare six 
dollars, deck passengers three dollars. On the day of their departure with the 
opposition, the combination lowered their cabin fare to two dollars, deck fifty 
cents. The Willamette's price was three dollars cabin; deck, one dollar. It is 
almost a waste of space to record the result, for human nature is ever the same 
in every age. The general public, indifferent to the desires of the merchants, 
patronized the steamer  having the cheapest passage. The merchants themselves 
began shipping large quantities of goods from San Francisco over the combination 
line under the cheap freight schedule. The combination boats sailed, crowded 
with passengers, while the Willamette had only a few staunch supporters. In 
three months the opposition was withdrawn, and never again did the merchants, in 
a body, attempt to lower freights and fares.
        It was the custom of many of the merchants, in order to create good 
fellowship, make new friends and advertise their new store, to have what they 
called a "house warming." Southworth & Greeley, in 1852, had one of these house 
warmings on the occasion of their removal to their new brick store on Center 
Street. "All the citizens were there and the wines and liquors flowed like rain. 
Punches and ices of every description were spread and a most generous dessert." 
We can readily believe the reporter's statement that the liquor flowed like 
rain. Candidly admitting that he became intoxicated, he said, "We take this 
opportunity of thanking them for the brick brought home in our hat from their 
brick building."
        Hewlett & Collins in November, 1854, completed their two-story brick 
building on the corner of Main and Hunter Street, now an annex of the Bank of 
Italy. "At the opening of the store an old-fashioned house-warming took place 
and the table was loaded with every variety of choice viands. This firm was one 
of the most progressive in the town, and their schooner, the "Far West," in 
November, 1855, direct from New York to Stockton, brought in her cargo the first 
lot of Cumberland coal ever imported to California. H. Hewlett later became one 
of California's financiers, president of the First National Bank.
        The custom of house-warming was not alone confined to the merchants, and 
in 1853 J. P. D. Wilkins and his brother, James W. leased and on June 22, 
reopened the Crescent City Hotel on Sutter Street, now the site of the 
Hippodrome Theatre, and they announced that "the lessees would be happy to see 
their friends and the public generally at lunch from 10 to 1 o'clock p.m." The 
previous evening a cotillion party was given in the dining room of the hotel 
under the direction of twenty-two of the leading citizens. The tickets were five 
dollars for gentleman and lady, if he could find one, for women were at a 
premium. The hotel was a tragedy, for within a year John P. D. Wilkins' wife 
died, and also his brother James, and in July, 1854, by order of the Probate 
Court he advertised everything for sale. James W. Wilkins' widow and daughter 
are still living in this city.
        J. P. D. Wilkins had, previous to this time, purchased a restaurant on 
the Levee from John Andrews. "Uncle John," as he was familiarly called, had, in 
1850, an eating place in a tent at the corner of Main and San Joaquin streets, 
now the site of the Native Sons' hall. Later keeping a restaurant on the Levee, 
he was burned out in the fire of 1855, and again on El Dorado Street in 1858, 
when the Massachsetts bakery was destroyed, A very popular man, he was again 
keeping a hotel in 1861, and his friends declared, "Uncle John knows how to keep 
a hotel; in fact, two hotels, for he now conducts his old stand on Center Street 
and the Magnolia, a Southern style of building adjoining on the west the McNish 
Building on Channel, corner of Hunter. Yesterday evening his Center Street 
boarders formed a procession and, led by a band of music, marched the streets to 
the Magnolia where they paid their respects to the landlord, who, taken by 
surprise, apologized for not having made any arrangements to receive them. There 
were about 100 men in the procession and they were served with refreshments."
        Today the merchant visits the Eastern states or even Europe and it is an 
incident of little note, for it would be something unusual if he did not safely 
return, such is the progress of travel in 1922. But in the earlier days it was a 
hazardous adventure, for an Eastern trip was full of danger from shipwreck, fire 
and disease, and the traveler might never return. The steamer Independence, in 
1853, struck a sunken rock off the Lower California coast and over 200 were 
lost; some years later the Golden Gate caught fire off the Mexican coast and 
although the steamer was beached over fifty were drowned. The Atlantic steamer, 
George Law, foundered off the coast of South Carolina, and only a few were 
saved. Jacob Bonsall, one of the builders of Stockton's first hotel, went East 
and died in New York of cholera, having contracted the disease on his journey. 
Joshua W. Carlisle, 28 years old, city councilman and of the firm of Dudley, 
Sanderson & Carlisle, visited the East in 1854, and, returning, died in San 
Francisco of Panama fever, which was epidemic on the Isthmus when he crossed 
over it. And so when B. M. Sexitas, a popular merchant of Stockton, announced 
his purpose to return East, his friends, thinking perhaps that they would never 
again see him, tendered him a complimentary supper. In their letter we find 
something of the character of the man for, "A few of your friends and those who 
have marked your enterprising course in Stockton, and whom oft-times have been 
under obligations to you for the many fine vegetables and other delicacies 
furnished by you, thus giving us some of the comforts and luxuries of home, 
desire to invite you to partake of a supper before your departure." He accepted 
the invitation, and in his speech refuted the insinuation that Stockton was a 
one-horse town. "Where is the two-horse town," he inquired, "that has a more 
benevolent, go-ahead population than Stockton? Look back three years and we only 
find tents, and now we defy the world against brick walls. I wish you all 
happiness and prosperity and I now propose the following toast:
 
'The dear ones of Stockton,
The loved ones at home,
Short may the time be�
That from them we roam.' "
 
State Telegraph Established
        The telegraph, which was of great assistance to the business man before 
the introduction of the telephone some twenty years ago, was established early 
in the history of the state. The legislature of 1852, passed a bill giving to 
Allen & Burnam the exclusive right to construct a telegraph line from San 
Francisco to Marysville by the way of San Jose, Stockton and Sacramento. 
Subscription books for the sale of stock were opened at the T. Robinson Bours' 
Bank at $100 per share, 1,500 shares only being on sale in Stockton. Here was 
the opportunity for citizens to get in on the ground floor, for as the reporter 
said, "This will prove one of the most profitable enterprises ever undertaken in 
California." The company rushed the work along and in December, their agent, H. 
B. Platt, advertised for 1,000 telegraph poles. The line was ready for business 
October 24, 1853, and on the evening of that day the Stockton Republican editor 
was greatly pleased, as he declared he could receive news from the three 
connecting cities twenty-four hours ahead of their newspapers. "Traders from the 
mines will now stay in this city and transact their business through their San 
Francisco agents." A telegraph office was opened January 1, 1854, on the corner 
of Main and El Dorado streets, and the telegraphic rates from Stockton to San 
Francisco, first ten words two dollars, every additional word seventy-five cents 
to Marysville, first ten words $1.50, each additional five words fifty cents, 
and to Sacramento and San Jose, first ten words one dollar, and each additional 
word forty cents.
        The first Stockton boy to learn to manipulate the keys was Charles 
Blake. When the Central Pacific erected their depot in Stockton he took a 
position with them as telegraph operator and ticket seller. He remained with 
them for seven years and suddenly taken sick and died two days later of the 
Asiatic small�pox. Because of the malignant character of the disease, it proving 
fatal in every case, he was quickly placed in a coffin and buried at midnight, 
August 2, 1876, in Rural Cemetery without a prayer, hymn or funeral service. 
There is no similar case on record. How he caught the disease is a mystery, as 
there was no case similar to it and the only way they could account for it was 
handling the money of some Chinese or foreign ticket buyers. P. B. Fraser, who 
later became a bank president, was in the Western Pacific office during Blake's 
time and in October, 1868, he married Nettie Parker, the oldest daughter of R. 
B. Parker. Two other Stockton boys learned telegraphy in that office, James H. 
Sharon, who now has been sending messages over the wires for forty-eight years, 
and his brother John P. Sharon, who has been employed for the past thirty-seven 
years. When young Blake learned the business, the telegraph office was in the 
Weber House. Subsequently it was removed to the south side of Main Street 
between Main and Hunter, then to Van Valear's store on El Dorado, near the 
Levee, then back to Main Street, adjoining the Stockton Savings & Loan Bank, a 
few doors east of its former Main Street location. On the evening of May 8, 
1903, the telegraph office was completely demolished by an explosion of gas 
beneath the cement sidewalk in front of the Gerlach & Morach shoe store. It was 
the evening of the Eagles' carnival.
        A great telegraphic enterprise was the extension overland of the 
telegraph lines from Sacramento to Chicago and on to New York. The line was 
completed October 21, 1861, and the first news that came over the wire was the 
death of Edward D. Baker, a California general, at Ball's Bluff, and the 
peaceful death of Thomas Wildey, the founder on April 26, 1819, of American Odd 
Fellowship. The newspapers of the state were more than delighted because they 
could get daily news from the seat of the Civil War. The editor of the San 
Joaquin Republican, who was a Southern-born man and at heart a strong 
secessionist, was also glad because of the completion of the overland telegraph. 
He secretly rejoiced because of the death of General Baker and the defeat of the 
Union arms at Ball's Bluff, and in a camouflaged article he penned these lines, 
"Glory Hallelujah ! The telegraph line is now completed to our old home. We can 
telegraph to our mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, cousins, anywhere, even in 
Dixieland after the Confederate row is stopped. A little over three years ago we 
celebrated the completion of a line that was a fizzle. But this is no fizzle. 
Why not have a celebration in honor of the event?" There was no celebration for 
the government, city and county, was in the hands of the Union men, and they 
were sorely depressed because of the news of the Union defeat.
 
Atlantic Cable Celebration
        We read in the daily press the news of yesterday from all parts of the 
world. Time and space have been annihilated and yet we give not a moment's 
thought to the two men who made this event possible, Samuel F. B. Morse, who in 
1844 invented the telegraph, and Cyrus W. Field, who in 1854 made the bold 
attempt to lay an Atlantic cable from Newfoundland to Ireland. He succeeded, and 
in September, 1858, the first  message was sent over the cable. It was a 
wonderful event and celebrated throughout the United States; it was also 
celebrated in San Francisco September 26 of that year. The citizens of Stockton, 
at first had no idea of celebrating the event, but it has ever been famous for 
its impromptu last-minute celebrations, and at a late hour on Sunday it was 
determined by the firemen to celebrate the laying of the cable. In the meantime 
the Stockton Blues, the band, and many firemen had gone to San Francisco to take 
part in the celebration in that city. When the roar of the cannon was heard the 
lower part of the city suddenly became a blaze of light. The illumination was 
effected then and for many years later, by means of rows of tallow candles set 
the one above the other in the glass windows. All of the hotel  engine house and 
many private residences were illuminated, and the tall flagpole of the Weber 
engine company was strung with lanterns from the ground to the pole top. At 7:30 
a procession was formed, composed principally of firemen, and with torches and 
many transparencies they marched over the principal streets. Returning to Hunter 
Street they halted and calls were made for a speech from Henry B. Underhill. He 
responded in a glowing account of the possibilities of the Atlantic cable. There 
were defects in the Atlantic cable which were remedied in course of time and 
since 1866 the cable has been in constant service.
 
Advertisements and Boycotting
        Wonderful advancement has been made at the present time along the 
advertising line, and experts are engaged by the leading business houses to 
present their advertisements in an attractive and selling manner. Thousands of 
dollars are annually expended by the merchants for printer's ink and in 1921 one 
firm alone made a contract with the Record for $25,000 worth of space. This was 
a larger amount than was spent in one year by all of the merchants in Stockton 
during the '50s and early '60s. Now it is nothing unusual to see an entire 
newspaper page, sometimes two pages, devoted to the advertisement of a single 
firm. Ads, as a rule, were then single column, not over six inches in length, 
and some of them would seem quite peculiar today. A hatter advertising his 
business in doggerel said:
 
"Lives there a man with soul so dead.
Who never to himself hath said,
This hat of mine is shocking bad,
Another one must soon be had;
If such there be.
Ah; let him come
To Everett's Emporium
No hat of theirs is four years old,
Which in New York could not be sold, 
Adorn my shelves; but in this stock,
Are new ones fit for Royal heads."
 
        The boycotting of a merchant or firm is nothing new as it was put into 
practice long before we knew of Labor Leagues or Federated Trades by the 
Stockton merchants. It was a time of great excitement; the Vigilance Committee 
of San Francisco had arrested James P. Casey for the shooting of James King of 
William, proprietor and editor of the San Francisco Bulletin. An indignation 
meeting was held May 20, 1856, in the city hall "to give give an expression of 
their opinion in regard to the recent attempted assassination of James King of 
William." B. W. Bours was elected president; John M. Buffington, vice-president, 
and Enoch Gove, secretary. The meeting passed a series of resolutions and 
denounced the shooting as "one of the most unwarranted outrages ever committed 
in the annals of crime; the work of an unprincipled assassin who is unworthy 
longer to pollute the face of the earth." Casey was a friend of the editor of 
the Republican, but that paper did not say a word regarding the affair. The 
Stockton Argus boldly denounced the crime. The unpopular policy of the 
Republican angered many of the merchants, and over thirty of them withdrew their 
patronage from that paper, which, considering the small number of advertisements 
it received, caused a heavy loss.
        While the resolutions were being read, news was received by wire that 
James King of William was dead. Immediately all business houses closed their 
doors, the bells were tolled, flags hung at halfmast and the grand jury 
adjourned. The following day all of the business houses were draped in mourning, 
and May 22 a memorial service was held. In the line were the city and county 
officers, the two secret organizations, the firemen and the Sons of Temperance, 
and led by the cornet band playing a dirge they marched up Main Street to Grant, 
then to the theatre, where a funeral oration was delivered by the Reverend 
Orlando Fisher, pastor of the Methodist Church, South.
 
Early Auctioneers
        Among the leading merchants of the early day were the auctioneers, and 
although easily counted, they made up in noise what they lacked in number. They 
had on sale at auction, at different times, everything on earth�consignments of 
books, furniture, crockery, clothing, groceries, etc, At one time M. J. Burnard 
& Co., Levee Street next door to the El Dorado, advertised that he would sell 
January 4, 1851, 20 barrels of crushed sugar, 40 bags of coffee, 25 boxes of 
champagne, 50 boxes cider, 20 barrels of English ale, 4 barrels dried peaches 
and apples, 10 chests of green tea, 100 boxes of sperm candles, 20 boxes 
assorted pickles, 20 barrels corn meal, 75 kegs of lard, 100 kegs of nails, 50 
sacks of sweet, and 100 sacks Irish potatoes, also an invoice of clothing, 
blankets, boots, shoes, etc."
        M. Marks, was one of the popular auctioneers of the day. His place of 
business at one time was in a sheet-iron-walled building on the southwest corner 
of the Court House Square and was rented to him by the city. It was the custom 
in my boyhood days for Marks and other auctioneers to advertise an auction sale 
on the city streets. An old negro would go along the streets ringing a bell, and 
at every street corner he would stop and cry out, "Oyez, Oyez, I am pleased to 
inform you that M. Marks will sell at auction this day." Sometimes the boys 
would throw stones at him, some times mimic him, but for several years he was 
the auctioneer bell-ringer of the town. On one or more occasions he traveled 
slowly over the streets at night announcing and giving a description of a lost 
child who had wandered from home. The negro just previous to the commencement of 
the sale would walk up and down in front of the place of auction continuously 
ringing his bell. This so got on the nerves of an editor whose sanctum was near 
the auction house, that in 1859 he penned the following item, "We hope that our 
citizens will turn out en masse and buy every book that Sargent & Adams have on 
sale, from John Rodger's poems to the Bible, at their auction on Main Street 
below El Dorado, if it will stop the infernal racket of the zealous and frenzied 
bell ringer." And we all remember the bell ringing of the Hunter Street auction 
house of George S. Melone as late as 1900, the pioneer auction days ending at 
his death.
        M. Marks was the favored seller of the wild horses that were annually 
brought to Stockton every summer and sold at auction. These horses were driven 
here from Monterey and other points, in bands of perhaps fifty or sixty to a 
band, and sold to individuals and farmers. They made splendid saddle horses when 
properly broke, for, tough and wiry, they could travel all day and required but 
little care. They were small in size, not weighing much over 700 pounds, but 
were not good as work animals. Hundreds of blooded horses were brought in 
overland by immigrant parties, but they were few in number in comparison with 
the animals in service, for every means of transportation was by horse, mule or 
ox power. The place of sale was in a corral adjoining the Charles Dallas livery 
stable, southeast corner of Weber Avenue and San Joaquin Street. The mustangs, 
not even halter-broke, usually sold at prices varying from fifteen dollars to 
sixty dollars, according to size, form and color. Many a time has the writer sat 
on the fence and watched the proceedings which, although barbarous, were 
unavoidable. After the sale each buyer was given possession of his wild 
snorting, plunging "broncho." The Mexican vaqueros would lasso the animal amidst 
a cloud of thick dust, throw him to the earth, and place a strong leather halter 
over his head. The halter, with about seventy-five feet of strong rope, was 
provided by the purchaser. The animal, permitted to regain his feet, would stand 
for a moment trembling with fear. Then he would try to escape, but he would be 
held by the rope in the hands of several men. Then with fear at being thus held, 
he would plunge and strike out with his front feet and sometimes fall heavily to 
the earth, When the gate was opened he would make a run for freedom, only to be 
again caught up by the rope. One day an animal ran through the gate, but set 
back too quickly, fell end over end and broke his neck. Sometimes as many as 
half a dozen men could be seen upon the streets, endeavoring to lead or drive 
home their future work horses. Sometimes a man would desire to have his mustang 
ridden. Then would come more fun, for the boys and "idle men, dogs and 
greasers," as the reporter styled them. The owner would pay a Mexican ten 
dollars to ride his horse. They would catch him and throw him, put on a 
hackamore, a halter with reins, and a blinder and kicking the animal would cause 
him to spring to his feet. Then they would saddle the animal and the Mexican 
would mount his fiery steed. The blinders would be lifted and the frightened 
animal would run, plunge and buck in trying to get rid of his rider. Then 
completely tired out by his fright and exertions he would be conquered for that 
day. When thoroughly broken to the saddle and not abused, he became as gentle as 
a kitten. But when abused his eyes would flash and he would kick, strike with 
his front feet or even bit the man at the first opportunity. These were common 
street scenes in the days before the railroad.
 
The Drayman on Duty
        An occupation peculiar to itself was that of the draymen and upon him 
was the merchant dependent for the delivery of his goods. Between fifty or sixty 
in number, they were a self-reliant body of men, full of life and activity and 
ever ready for a fight or a fire. They used a one-horse high-framed dray with 
two long skids behind, almost touching the ground, for they were compelled for a 
time to handle their freight from the ground and roll the heavy barrels and 
hogsheads weighing a half ton each up the skids on to the dray. The frame and 
wheels of the dray were high, because in winter they sometimes were compelled to 
transport their goods through two feet of mud. In time wharves were built and 
streets improved, and the skids were removed. Then more street improvements and 
in 1859 the first four-wheeled dray appeared on the streets, built in San 
Francisco.
        The draymen, as a rule, were a good-natured body of fellows, but it 
sorely tried their patience when the city council and enterprising citizens 
began laying street cross-walks for the benefit of footmen in muddy winter. The 
cross-walks were made of three-inch Oregon pine with no incline approaches on 
either side. The draymen would often stall their drays in attempting to cross, 
or the bump on the opposite side would throw their boxes into the mud. A 
cross-walk on El Dorado Street, mid�way between Main and Levee was particularly 
exasperating and one day a drayman took an ax and chopped the cross-walk into 
pieces and threw it to one side. It was a lawless act, but nothing was done to 
punish the offender, for the draymen were a big pull in politics. They were 
overflowing with fun and ready at any time for a lark. The town, in June, 1854, 
was overrun with loose stock, and especially with hogs and dogs, and the common 
council passed an ordinance prohibiting the running of stock at large. There was 
a large number of swine running loose near the steamboat landing, and one day 
when the steamer was belated the draymen concluded they would have some fun. 
Getting a number of ropes they lassooed the hogs, tied and threw them on their 
drays, one hog to each dray, and to the music of the squealing of the hogs they 
marched single file to the city pound. Each man received twenty-five cents for 
his capture.            -