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Volume 068-3 - July 2014 (8 pages)
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Page: of 8
Judge O. P. Stidger of North San Juan
by David A. Comstock
T IS HARD TODAY TO APPRECIATE THE PREVAILING
mindset of Americans who took part in the California
Gold Rush. Raised in a nation that had fought and won
three wars against older and more experienced countries, the average young man was cocky and quick to
take risks, particularly when challenged. Contempt for
foreigners or those with differing attitudes was widespread and often resulted in dangerous confrontations.
The U.S. Constitution states that “No title of nobility
shall be granted by the United States,’ but Americans
developed their own strategies for distinguishing themselves. It became the norm for men with military or
elective titles to appropriate them for a lifetime, even
when bestowed temporarily. America was full of men
addressed as “Colonel,” “Captain,” “Judge,” “Sheriff,”
“Governor” or “Senator” long after they ceased to function as such.
Oliver Perry Stidger, born March 23, 1814, at Canton,
Ohio, was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, who two
months earlier had received the Congressional Gold
Medal for defeating British forces on Lake Erie. After
Stidger crossed the plains to California and was elected
Justice of the Peace at Foster’s Bar in 1851 he was known
to one and all as “Judge” Stidger.
When Stidger’s brother-in-law was mining along the
Yuba River he was called “General” James Allen, having
been mustered out of the Mexican War as a major general for meritorious service. (His actual rank during those
two years had been Captain of the Ohio Volunteers.)
On the other hand, Charles S. Fairfax, a youth whose
path often crossed that of Stidger and Allen, was pre‘Nevada County Historical soticty
NUMBER 3 Loe 68 JULY 2014 )
vented from using the Scottish title “Lord Fairfax of
Cameron” he inherited in Virginia at age 17. But, having
also inherited wealth and excellent political connections,
he was content to be called “Charlie” after being elected
Speaker of the California Assembly at the age of 25.
All these men decided mining for gold was laborious and dull, and quickly abandoned physical exercise
in favor of more interesting pursuits. Marysville became
their home base because it was the seat of Yuba County, a
very large entity that for a short time included all of what
became the County of Nevada in 1851.
In those days every county was governed by a Court
of Sessions, consisting of the county judge plus two associate justices chosen by the several justices of the peace
of that county. Judge O. P. Stidger became an associate
justice on the Yuba Court of Sessions in November 1850.
Stidger was a delegate from Foster’s Bar to the county
and state conventions of the Whig party in May 1851.
Later in the year he went back to Ohio to spend a winter
with his wife and three sons. The oldest boy, James Allen
(named for his uncle, the general), was fourteen; Oliver
Hahn was eight, and George L. was four years old.
Judge Stidger returned to Marysville in the summer of
1852; Gen. Allen began editing the Marysville Herald in
December. Stidger bought shares in the Herald in May
a A
Whanj DOT Zs
1853 and became a reporter and acting
editor of the paper in June. Which was
when the trouble began.
A Duel with Colonel Rust
It’s unclear why Richard Pearst Rust
bore the title of “Colonel,” because he
seems not to have served in a military
unit. Some writers assumed he was a
Southerner because of his association
with some Southern Democrats who
traveled West to ensure that California
would cast its Congressional and
Senatorial votes with the slave states.
Yuba and Nevada counties in early 1850s. (No. San Juan is below Nye’s Crossing.)
1
However, both Rust and his wife were
natives of Vermont.