Newspaper Notes - 1850s (NN-18.5)(1850s) (336 pages)

Rows. ~~ NEVADA CITY. 1853. aa rot NEVADA CITY, as shown in this early sketch of 1853, was still a raucous gold camp of shacks and tents when Bill Siewart served there as county district attorney. From simple beginning there, Stewart went on to become California attorney-general, first senator from Nevada, and one of the most influential figures in the Senate——{skeich taken from Thompson and West History of Nevada County) : rene By ROSS HERMANN Stewart's First Days in Court not Happy Ones . Within two years after Bill, Stewart arrived in Nevada City) in 1850 as a sick and almost, penniless prospector, he was ap-; pointed Nevada County district; attorney and subsequently elect-. ed to that office by an over-, whelming vote. j ~The people who voted for him, knew him as a man of justice who on various occasions had . fought or drew his gun in de-. fense of the wrongly-accused and) in the apprehension of outlaws. . From his position as local district attorney, which he dis. patched sometimes with courtesy, and other times with violence as it served the purpose of justice, Bill Stewart rose to become California attorney-general, the’ first senator from the state of} Nevada, the author ‘ot important mining legislation and one of the most influential and dominant personalities in the Senate. First Court Experience Bill Stewart’s first taste of court experience came in the fall of 1851 when he was called as a juror to help decide ten divorce cases. Tem divorce cases at once in 1851? This was typical of life in the gold camps as wagon trains carrying you ng women began coming across the mountains. esrsl The immigrants of the early 1850’s were often young couples whose only honeymoon was a trip by covered wagon across the plains and mountains, filled with hardship and poverty. Usually by the time they reached California, the men. were rough in appearance and manner, lacking whatever had attracted the: women to them in the first place. The women were still young . despite the hardships. of their journey, and once they washed their faces and put on clean dresses, they looked mighty good to the bachelor miners of the all-male gold camps. The miners, most of them having made some money, cleaned up, bought new clothes, and tried to woo the married women of the wagon trains. Often they were successful. Then a fight usually ensued between the enraged _ husband and the sociable miner, and if the husband were beaten, the young wile would go off with the victor. But in order for the miner to marry his newly-won prize, a divorce would have to be obtained, and grounds would have to be found to justify it. So it be) came the practice in such cases’ for the woman to file a complaint of ‘‘extreme cruelty” against her husband, a fact to which the miner was always a " yeady witness. Reaction Typical Bill Stewart was about to leave Nevada City to take supplies to fhe men constructing Grizzly Ditch when he was summoned to be a juror by Judge Barber to hear ten such cases. His reaction was typical. He visited. the judge, and begged to be relieved. But! the judge told him that the miat-. ter was urgent jind the cases had to be disposed: of that day,’ lest the anxious couples not bother_to get a divorce. Unable to get off, Stewart resigned him-. self to duty and prepared the jury room by bringing in a demi-, john of whiskey, a bucket of wa-. ter, and several tin dippers. -As expected, the plea in each ease was “extreme cruelty,” which the suitor gladly confirmed, After the first case, the jury! retired and elected Stewart to) serve as foreman. Under the cir-. cumstances he did the wisest . ADF.

Rows. ~~ NEVADA CITY. 1853. aa rot NEVADA CITY, as shown in this early sketch of 1853, was still a raucous gold camp of shacks and tents when Bill Siewart served there as county district attorney. From simple beginning there, Stewart went on to become California attorney-general, first senator from Nevada, and one of the most influential figures in the Senate——{skeich taken from Thompson and West History of Nevada County) : rene By ROSS HERMANN Stewart's First Days in Court not Happy Ones . Within two years after Bill, Stewart arrived in Nevada City) in 1850 as a sick and almost, penniless prospector, he was ap-; pointed Nevada County district; attorney and subsequently elect-. ed to that office by an over-, whelming vote. j ~The people who voted for him, knew him as a man of justice who on various occasions had . fought or drew his gun in de-. fense of the wrongly-accused and) in the apprehension of outlaws. . From his position as local district attorney, which he dis. patched sometimes with courtesy, and other times with violence as it served the purpose of justice, Bill Stewart rose to become California attorney-general, the’ first senator from the state of} Nevada, the author ‘ot important mining legislation and one of the most influential and dominant personalities in the Senate. First Court Experience Bill Stewart’s first taste of court experience came in the fall of 1851 when he was called as a juror to help decide ten divorce cases. Tem divorce cases at once in 1851? This was typical of life in the gold camps as wagon trains carrying you ng women began coming across the mountains. esrsl The immigrants of the early 1850’s were often young couples whose only honeymoon was a trip by covered wagon across the plains and mountains, filled with hardship and poverty. Usually by the time they reached California, the men. were rough in appearance and manner, lacking whatever had attracted the:

women to them in the first place. The women were still young . despite the hardships. of their journey, and once they washed their faces and put on clean dresses, they looked mighty good to the bachelor miners of the all-male gold camps. The miners, most of them having made some money, cleaned up, bought new clothes, and tried to woo the married women of the wagon trains. Often they were successful. Then a fight usually ensued between the enraged _ husband and the sociable miner, and if the husband were beaten, the young wile would go off with the victor. But in order for the miner to marry his newly-won prize, a divorce would have to be obtained, and grounds would have to be found to justify it. So it be) came the practice in such cases’ for the woman to file a complaint of ‘‘extreme cruelty” against her husband, a fact to which the miner was always a " yeady witness. Reaction Typical Bill Stewart was about to leave Nevada City to take supplies to fhe men constructing Grizzly Ditch when he was summoned to be a juror by Judge Barber to hear ten such cases. His reaction was typical. He visited. the judge, and begged to be relieved. But! the judge told him that the miat-. ter was urgent jind the cases had to be disposed: of that day,’ lest the anxious couples not bother_to get a divorce. Unable to get off, Stewart resigned him-. self to duty and prepared the jury room by bringing in a demi-, john of whiskey, a bucket of wa-. ter, and several tin dippers. -As expected, the plea in each ease was “extreme cruelty,” which the suitor gladly confirmed, After the first case, the jury! retired and elected Stewart to) serve as foreman. Under the cir-. cumstances he did the wisest . ADF.