Volume 047-1 - January 1993 (10 pages)

taught school in the county and was County Superintendent of Schools at the time of his joining the Transcript. He edited the paper for three years and always was a staunch supporter of the railroad. * Wells, op. cit., p. 212. 23 Grass Valley Daily Union, April 1, 1874. This was the first time this name appeared for the railroad. 26 Union, April 1. » Nevada County Historical Bulletin, Vol. 23; Nr. 8; begin 1950. 2* Grass Valley Union, March 28, 1874, from Local Brevities, ‘‘The very Chinamen in Nevada City subscribed for railroad stock. Let John no longer be called anti-progressive, and let some men with white skins imitate the illustrious example of the Chinamen?’ Chinese were Hong Hi Chung, Quong Hi Kee, He Lee, and Kwong Tuck. Union, April 29. When the names of several Chinamen were read. Wm. Watt made an objection. On a motion by N.P. Brown the names of the Chinese were stricken from the list, their money was to be returned. » As quoted, in the Transcript, July 18, 1874. %° Transcript, July 19. . Wells, op. cit. 32 Union of Thurs. Aug. 13, gave a complete and lengthy report of Bates’ survey. ” Transcript, Aug. 26, 1874. * Transcript, Dec. 6, 1874. BIBLIOGRAPHY Department of Natural Resources, State of California, Division of Mines, Geology Guidebook, Bulletin 141. The Mother Lode Country; History of Placer Mining for Gold in California, by Charles V. Averill, 1948. Gold Mines and Mining in California. San Francisco; George Spaulding and Company Publishers; 1885. Kneiss, Gilbert H., Bonanza Railroads. 3rd ed. Stanford, California University Press; 1946. 170 pp. Langley, Henry C., comp. Pacific Coast Business Directory. San Francisco; Towne and Bacon; Excelsior Steam Presses; 1867. Lardner, W.B. an M.J. Brock. History of Placer and Nevada Counties. Los Angeles, California; Historic Record Company; 1924. 1255 pp. Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Chicago; The Lewis Publishing Company; 1891. Ninth Census. Volume I. The Statistics of the Population of the United States, by Francis A. Walker. Washington; Government Printing Office; 1872. Poingdestre, J.F. Nevada City Mining and Business Directory. Oakland, California; Pacific Publishing Company; 1895. Wells, Harry Laurenz. History of Nevada County. Oakland, California; Thompson and West; 1880. 234 pp. Weston, Otheto, Mother Lode Album. Stanford, California; University Press; 1948. pp. 160-171. Nevada City Nugget; 1951. 136 pp. NEWSPAPERS Grass Valley Daily Union, Jan. 21, 1874 Dec. 9, 1874. Nevada City Daily Transcript, Jan. 20, 1874Feb, 12, 1875. The NGRR is Taken to Court On August 1884, Dudley Hoyt filed a suit against the NGRR for damages to furniture, stored by the Raiiroad Company. The jury awarded Hoyt $2,100 — minus the cost of transporting the furniture, versus $4000 — asked by Hoyt. Not satisfied by this verdict, Hoyt brought the case before the Supreme Court of the State of California. On 22 November 1884, the Supreme Court awarded Hoyt $2,212.87, only a trifle more than the award of the Nevada County Court. In order to give the Superior Court judge a chance to evaluate the merit of the case, a transcript of the suit before the Nevada County Court had to be provided. It was probably a rare event in those days that the proceedings of a lawsuit were transcribed from the shorthand notes of the court clerk. In those days, there were not yet xerox machines or other means of multiplying such matter; if several copies were required, the text had to be printed. And to this circumstance we owe a complete transcript of a Nevada County Lawsuit. While reading the transcript, many questions arise and I would have been happy to have provided a discussion of the suit. However, lam unfamiliar with the law, certainly as it was more than 100 years ago and I did not find a competent person to analyze the transcript. Perhaps this article will entice some qualified person to step forward. Michel Janicot has written the following story on the background of the event with many particulars, Michel is adapt to unearth. — The Editor 6 BY MICHEL JANICOT THE early morning hours of August 24, 1882, two fires occurred in Nevada City, the first in a wooden frame building opposite the Union Hotel on Main Street, and a second at the foot of Broad Street between a livery stable and a blacksmith shop. No sooner were the flames extinguished than a third fire engulfed a barn belonging to Miss Jane Smith on Sacramento Street in which the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad (NCNGRR) had _ stored household furniture belonging to Dudley Hoyt. Hoyt’s loss was placed at $1,500 by the Nevada City Daily Transcript while the Grass Valley Union estimated the goods to have been worth “in the neighborhood of $3,500.’’ The Transcript of Aug. 25 speculated that all three fires were ‘‘undoubtedly the work of incendiarists;’ and that Marshall Baldridge believed they were started by ‘‘victims of the late local anti-mongolian legislation which resulted in the Chinese laundrymen paying a largely increased license or else removing from the city limits?? Four additional nightwatchmen were appointed the following day and a $1,500 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of those who had started the fires. Hoyt had shipped his furniture to Nevada City from San Mateo on June Ist, consigned to Mrs. Hoyt who was in the process of locating a house to move in. The goods were received and carried from Colfax by the NCNGRR on June 7, where the railroad company notified Mrs. Hoyt of the arrival of the furniture by a letter deposited at the post office, and requiring her to pick the furniture up within 24 hours. On Aug. Ist, after Mrs. Hoyt had failed to respond, the furniture was moved from the overfilled depot and stored in a barn 272 feet away belonging to Miss Jane Smith. John A. Seeley, former North San Juan postmaster and agent for the railroad, carried the key of the locked barn and was accustomed to visit it every two or three days to ensure that all was secure. On Aug. 22, 1884, two years after the fire, Hoyt filed a suit in the Superior Court of Nevada County to recover damages for the loss of his furniture and household goods in the amount of $4,000. Hoyt was represented by Charles W. Cross and Preston F. Simonds. Cross had served in the State Constitutional Convention of 1878-79, had been nominated for Attorney General, and was later elected State Senator. Simonds was “‘a brilliant attorney’’ according to the Union who was later defeated in his bid for the office of Superior Court Judge. The railroad company’s defense rested in the formidable team of Niles Searls and his son Fred, whose credentials have become legendary in Nevada County, A third attorney, Alfred B. Dibble of Grass Valley, was the company’s legal representative since the railroad’s inception. Niles Searls and Dibble were also stockholders and directors of the NCNGRR. On Nov. 22, 1884, after three days of examination, Superior Court Judge John Caldwell ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding Hoyt $2,212.87 in damages to be paid by the NCNGRR. The railroad company refused to reimburse Hoyt for the loss of his furniture, claiming it ‘chad taken reasonable precautions in (~~

taught school in the county and was County Superintendent of Schools at the time of his joining the Transcript. He edited the paper for three years and always was a staunch supporter of the railroad. * Wells, op. cit., p. 212. 23 Grass Valley Daily Union, April 1, 1874. This was the first time this name appeared for the railroad. 26 Union, April 1. » Nevada County Historical Bulletin, Vol. 23; Nr. 8; begin 1950. 2* Grass Valley Union, March 28, 1874, from Local Brevities, ‘‘The very Chinamen in Nevada City subscribed for railroad stock. Let John no longer be called anti-progressive, and let some men with white skins imitate the illustrious example of the Chinamen?’ Chinese were Hong Hi Chung, Quong Hi Kee, He Lee, and Kwong Tuck. Union, April 29. When the names of several Chinamen were read. Wm. Watt made an objection. On a motion by N.P. Brown the names of the Chinese were stricken from the list, their money was to be returned. » As quoted, in the Transcript, July 18, 1874. %° Transcript, July 19. . Wells, op. cit. 32 Union of Thurs. Aug. 13, gave a complete and lengthy report of Bates’ survey. ” Transcript, Aug. 26, 1874. * Transcript, Dec. 6, 1874. BIBLIOGRAPHY Department of Natural Resources, State of California, Division of Mines, Geology Guidebook, Bulletin 141. The Mother Lode Country; History of Placer Mining for Gold in California, by Charles V. Averill, 1948. Gold Mines and Mining in California. San Francisco; George Spaulding and Company Publishers; 1885. Kneiss, Gilbert H., Bonanza Railroads. 3rd ed. Stanford, California University Press; 1946. 170 pp. Langley, Henry C., comp. Pacific Coast Business Directory. San Francisco; Towne and Bacon; Excelsior Steam Presses; 1867. Lardner, W.B. an M.J. Brock. History of Placer and Nevada Counties. Los Angeles, California; Historic Record Company; 1924. 1255 pp. Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Chicago; The Lewis Publishing Company; 1891. Ninth Census. Volume I. The Statistics of the Population of the United States, by Francis A. Walker. Washington; Government Printing Office; 1872. Poingdestre, J.F. Nevada City Mining and Business Directory. Oakland, California; Pacific Publishing Company; 1895. Wells, Harry Laurenz. History of Nevada County. Oakland, California; Thompson and West; 1880. 234 pp. Weston, Otheto, Mother Lode Album. Stanford, California; University Press; 1948. pp. 160-171. Nevada City Nugget; 1951. 136 pp. NEWSPAPERS Grass Valley Daily Union, Jan. 21, 1874 Dec. 9, 1874. Nevada City Daily Transcript, Jan. 20, 1874Feb, 12, 1875. The NGRR is Taken to Court On August 1884, Dudley Hoyt filed a suit against the NGRR for damages to furniture, stored by the Raiiroad Company. The jury awarded Hoyt $2,100 — minus the cost of transporting the furniture, versus $4000 — asked by Hoyt. Not satisfied by this verdict, Hoyt brought the case before the Supreme Court of the State of California. On 22 November 1884, the Supreme Court awarded Hoyt $2,212.87, only a trifle more than the award of the Nevada County Court. In order to give the Superior Court judge a chance to evaluate the merit of the case, a transcript of the suit before the Nevada County Court had to be provided. It was probably a rare event in those days that the proceedings of a lawsuit were transcribed from the shorthand notes of the court clerk. In those days, there were

not yet xerox machines or other means of multiplying such matter; if several copies were required, the text had to be printed. And to this circumstance we owe a complete transcript of a Nevada County Lawsuit. While reading the transcript, many questions arise and I would have been happy to have provided a discussion of the suit. However, lam unfamiliar with the law, certainly as it was more than 100 years ago and I did not find a competent person to analyze the transcript. Perhaps this article will entice some qualified person to step forward. Michel Janicot has written the following story on the background of the event with many particulars, Michel is adapt to unearth. — The Editor 6 BY MICHEL JANICOT THE early morning hours of August 24, 1882, two fires occurred in Nevada City, the first in a wooden frame building opposite the Union Hotel on Main Street, and a second at the foot of Broad Street between a livery stable and a blacksmith shop. No sooner were the flames extinguished than a third fire engulfed a barn belonging to Miss Jane Smith on Sacramento Street in which the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad (NCNGRR) had _ stored household furniture belonging to Dudley Hoyt. Hoyt’s loss was placed at $1,500 by the Nevada City Daily Transcript while the Grass Valley Union estimated the goods to have been worth “in the neighborhood of $3,500.’’ The Transcript of Aug. 25 speculated that all three fires were ‘‘undoubtedly the work of incendiarists;’ and that Marshall Baldridge believed they were started by ‘‘victims of the late local anti-mongolian legislation which resulted in the Chinese laundrymen paying a largely increased license or else removing from the city limits?? Four additional nightwatchmen were appointed the following day and a $1,500 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of those who had started the fires. Hoyt had shipped his furniture to Nevada City from San Mateo on June Ist, consigned to Mrs. Hoyt who was in the process of locating a house to move in. The goods were received and carried from Colfax by the NCNGRR on June 7, where the railroad company notified Mrs. Hoyt of the arrival of the furniture by a letter deposited at the post office, and requiring her to pick the furniture up within 24 hours. On Aug. Ist, after Mrs. Hoyt had failed to respond, the furniture was moved from the overfilled depot and stored in a barn 272 feet away belonging to Miss Jane Smith. John A. Seeley, former North San Juan postmaster and agent for the railroad, carried the key of the locked barn and was accustomed to visit it every two or three days to ensure that all was secure. On Aug. 22, 1884, two years after the fire, Hoyt filed a suit in the Superior Court of Nevada County to recover damages for the loss of his furniture and household goods in the amount of $4,000. Hoyt was represented by Charles W. Cross and Preston F. Simonds. Cross had served in the State Constitutional Convention of 1878-79, had been nominated for Attorney General, and was later elected State Senator. Simonds was “‘a brilliant attorney’’ according to the Union who was later defeated in his bid for the office of Superior Court Judge. The railroad company’s defense rested in the formidable team of Niles Searls and his son Fred, whose credentials have become legendary in Nevada County, A third attorney, Alfred B. Dibble of Grass Valley, was the company’s legal representative since the railroad’s inception. Niles Searls and Dibble were also stockholders and directors of the NCNGRR. On Nov. 22, 1884, after three days of examination, Superior Court Judge John Caldwell ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding Hoyt $2,212.87 in damages to be paid by the NCNGRR. The railroad company refused to reimburse Hoyt for the loss of his furniture, claiming it ‘chad taken reasonable precautions in (~~