Collection: Books and Periodicals

About This Item:

Title: A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Publisher: Lewis Publishing Company Published: 1891 Copyright: In the public domain or published before 1925 Source(s): Google Books # of Pages: 713 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-07-22 00:25:09 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:11:29 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 06:30:36

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 713  

£04 HISTURY OF NORTHELKN CALIFCRNIA. gether under a broad-spreading ouk at the foot of I street. The report, which was then officially submitted and which was duly accepted by the sovereignr assembled, provided the following officers of a jurisdiction extending from the Coast Range tu the Sierra Nevada, and throughout the length of the Sacramento Valley, to-wit: One alecalde and a sheriff. H. A. Schoolcraft was then elected alcalde and A. M. Turner, sheriff. This constituted the judiciary of Northern California up to the time that those changes took place in very rapid succession after the immigration of 1849 began to concentrate at Sacramento. The first attempt to establish a civil government under American ideas of government was made on April 30, 1849, when a mass meeting of the then residents of Sacramento City and other portions of Sacramento District was held at the Embarcadero to devise means for the government of the city and district. At this meeting Henry A. Schoolcraft presided, Peter Slater was vice-president and James King of William and E. J. Brooke, secretaries. Samuel Brannan explained the object of the meeting, and it was resolved that a Legislature of eleven members should be elected, “ with full powers to enact laws for the government of the city and district.” It was also determined to hold the election forthwith, and Henry Bates, M. D., M. T. McClellan, Mark Stewart, Ed. H. Von Pfister and Eugene F. Gillespie were appointed judges. The vote resulted in the election of John McDougal, Peter Slater, Bartén Lee, John S. Fowler, J. S. Robb, Wm. Pettit, Wm. M. Carpenter, M. D., Chas. G. Southard, M. M. McCarver, James King of William and Samuel Brannan, but upon the announcement of the result Robb declined to accept, and Henry Cheever was chosen to fill the vacancy. [Whether the list given by Morse or this one is correct we cannot decide.] The eleven were iminediately sworn in, and some time afterward adopted a code that no laws were wanted and that ail the otticers necessary for “the District of Sacramento, bounded on the north and west by the Sacramento River, on the east by the Sierra Nevadas, and on the south by the Cosumnes River, were one alcalde and one sheriff.” They hen eulmitted the cede te the peope for edcption or rejection, and aseked them at the same time to vote for«flicers. The code was adopted. Nothirg further towaid forming a local povernment was attempted until after the proclamation of General Riley (the military Governor) was issued at Monterey on June 3. In fact nothing seemed neceseary, if theft was, by common consent, punished, as the Times says, “ by giving the offender thirty or forty rawhide lashes, and then ordering him off, not to return under penalty of death.” General B. Riley, the military Governor of Califcrnia, issued a proclamation fur an election to be held August 1, 1849, to elect delegates to a general convention and for filling several necessary offices. On July 5, a meeting was held and a committee was appointed to organize the district into precincts, apportion the representation, and nominate the candidates to be voted tor. The committee consisted of P. B. Cornwall, C. E. Pickett, William M. Carpenter, Samuel Brannan, John McDougal, W. Blackburn, J. S. Robb, Samuel J. Hensley, Mark Stewart, M. M. McCarver, John S. Fowler and A. M. Winn. On the 14th the committee reported, recominending the places for polls, ete. The delegates elected to the Constitutional Convention were: Jacob R. Snyder, John A. Sutter, John Bidwell, W. E. Shannon, L. W. Hastings, W. S. Sherwood, M. M. McCarver, John S. Fowler, John McDougal, Charles E. Pickett, W. Blackburn, E. O. Crosby, R. M. Jones, W. Lacey, James Queen. For local oftices—William Stout, Henry E. Robinson, P. B. Cornwall, Eugene F. Gillespie, T. L. Chapman, Berryman Jennings, John P. Rodgers, A. M. Winn and M. T. McClellan were elected a City Council without opposition, and by an average vote of 424. James S. Thomas was elected First Magistrate by 393 votes, against twenty-two for S. S. White, and five for J. S. Fowler. J. CO. Zabriskie was elected Second Magistrate; H