Personal Reminiscences of Early Days in California with Other Sketches; To Which Is Added the Story of His Attempted Assassination by a Former Associate on the Supreme Bench of the State by Stephen Field; George C. Gorham

S >> Stephen Field; George C. Gorham >> Personal Reminiscences of Early Days in California with Other Sketches; To Which Is Added the Story of His Attempted Assassination by a Former Associate on the Supreme Bench of the State

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PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS IN CALIFORNIA, WITH OTHER SKETCHES.

BY

STEPHEN J. FIELD.

TO WHICH IS ADDED THE STORY OF HIS ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION BY A FORMER
ASSOCIATE ON THE SUPREME BENCH OF THE STATE.

BY

HON. GEORGE C. GORHAM.

PRINTED FOR A FEW FRIENDS.

NOT PUBLISHED.

Copyright, 1893, by STEPHEN J. FIELD.

* * * * *

The following sketches were taken down by a stenographer in the summer
of 1877, at San Francisco, from the narrative of Judge Field. They are
printed at the request of a few friends, to whom they have an interest
which they could not excite in others.

* * * * *

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS IN CALIFORNIA, WITH OTHER SKETCHES.

INDEX.

Why and how I came to California.

First experiences in San Francisco.--Visit to Marysville, and
elected First Alcalde of that District.

Experiences as Alcalde.

The Turner Controversy.

Running for the Legislature.

The Turner Controversy continued.

Life in the Legislature.

Friendship for David C. Broderick.

Legislation secured and beginning a new life.

The Barbour Difficulty.

Removal from Marysville.--Life on the Supreme Bench.--End
of Judge Turner.

Career on the Supreme Bench of California, as described by
Judge Baldwin.

THE ANNOYANCES OF MY JUDICIAL LIFE.

Rosy views of judicial life gradually vanishing.--Unsettled land
titles of the State.--Asserted ownership by the State of
gold and silver found in the soil.--Present of a Torpedo.

Hostility to the Supreme Court after the Civil War.--The Scofield
Resolution.

The Moulin Vexation.

The Hastings Malignity.

APPENDIX.

Ex. A.--Notice of departure from New York for California, November
13, 1849.

Ex. B.--Aid at election of Alcalde by Wm. H. Parks.--A sketch
of my opponent.

Ex. C.--Oath of office as Alcalde.

Ex. D.--Order of District Court imprisoning and fining me for alleged
contempt of court; also Order expelling Messrs. Goodwin and
Mulford and myself from the Bar; and Order imprisoning and
fining Judge Haun for releasing me from imprisonment upon a
writ of habeas corpus, and directing that the order to
imprison me be enforced.

Ex. E.--Record of Proceedings in the Court of Sessions, when attempt
was made to arrest its presiding Judge; and the testimony of
the Clerk of the District Court in reference to its
proceedings relating to myself and Judge Haun.

Ex. F.--Petition of Citizens of Marysville to the Governor to suspend
Judge Turner from office 249.

Ex. G.--Letters of Ira A. Eaton and A.M. Winn.

Ex. H, No. I.--Letters from Surviving Members of the Legislature
of 1851, who voted to indefinitely postpone the proceedings
for the impeachment of Judge Turner.

Ex. H, No. II.--Letter of Judge Mott on the difficulty with Judge
Barbour.

Ex. I.--Letter of L. Martin, the friend of Judge Barbour in his
street attack.

Ex. J.--Sections 4, 5, and 7 of the act of July 1, 1864, to expedite
the settlement of titles to lands in California; and the act
of March 8, 1866, to quiet the title to certain lands in San
Francisco.

Ex. K.--Letter of Judge Lake giving an account of the Torpedo.

Ex. L.--Extract from the Report of the Register and Receiver of the
Land-Office in the matter of the contests for lands on the
Soscol Ranch

* * * * *

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF MR. JUSTICE FIELD

INDEX.

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF JUSTICE FIELD BY A FORMER ASSOCIATE ON
THE STATE SUPREME BENCH

CHAPTER I The Sharon-Hill-Terry Litigation.

CHAPTER II Proceedings in the Superior Court of the State.

CHAPTER III Proceedings in the United States Circuit Court.

[Transcriber's note: there is no Chapter IV]

CHAPTER V Decision of the Case in the Federal Court.

CHAPTER VI The Marriage of Terry and Miss Hill.

CHAPTER VII The Bill of Revivor.

CHAPTER VIII The Terrys Imprisoned for Contempt.

CHAPTER IX Terry's Petition to the Circuit Court for a
Release--Its Refusal--He Appeals to the Supreme
Court--Unanimous Decision against Him there.

CHAPTER X President Cleveland refuses to Pardon Terry--False
Statements of Terry Refuted.

CHAPTER XI Terry's continued Threats to Kill Justice Field--Return
of the Latter to California in 1889.

CHAPTER XII Further Proceedings in the State Court.--Judge
Sullivan's Decision Reversed.

CHAPTER XIII Attempted Assassination of Justice Field, Resulting in
Terry's own Death at the Hands of a Deputy United
States Marshal.

CHAPTER XIV Sarah Althea Terry Charges Justice Field and Deputy
Marshal Neagle with Murder.

CHAPTER XV Justice Field's Arrest and Petition for Release on
Habeas Corpus.

CHAPTER XVI Judge Terry's Funeral--Refusal of the Supreme Court
of California to Adjourn on the Occasion.

CHAPTER XVII Habeas Corpus Proceedings in Justice Field's Case.

CHAPTER XVIII Habeas Corpus Proceedings in Neagle's Case.

CHAPTER XIX Expressions of Public Opinion.

CHAPTER XX The Appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States,
and the Second Trial of Sarah Althea's Divorce Case.

CHAPTER XXI Concluding Observations.

* * * * *

WHY AND HOW I CAME TO CALIFORNIA.

Some months previous to the Mexican War, my brother David Dudley
Field, of New York City, wrote two articles for the Democratic Review
upon the subject of the Northwestern Boundary between the territory of
the United States and the British Possessions. One of these appeared
in the June, and the other in the November number of the Review for
1845.[1] While writing these articles he had occasion to examine
several works on Oregon and California, and, among others, that of
Greenhow, then recently published, and thus became familiar with the
geography and political history of the Pacific Coast. The next Spring,
and soon after the war broke out, in the course of a conversation upon
its probable results, he remarked, that if he were a young man, he
would go to San Francisco; that he was satisfied peace would never be
concluded without our acquiring the harbor upon which it was situated;
that there was no other good harbor on the coast, and that, in his
opinion, that town would, at no distant day, become a great city. He
also remarked that if I would go he would furnish the means, not only
for the journey, but also for the purchase of land at San Francisco
and in its vicinity. This conversation was the first germ of my
project of coming to California.

Some months afterwards, and while Col. Stevenson's regiment was
preparing to start from New York for California, my brother again
referred to the same subject and suggested the idea of my going out
with the regiment. We had at that time a clerk in the office by the
name of Sluyter, for whom I had great regard. With him I talked the
matter over, it being my intention, if I should go at all, to induce
him if possible to accompany me. But he wished to get married, and
I wished to go to Europe. The result of our conference was, that the
California project was deferred, with the understanding, however, that
after my return from Europe we should give it further consideration.
But the idea of going to California thus suggested, made a powerful
impression upon my mind. It pleased me. There was a smack of adventure
in it. The going to a country comparatively unknown and taking a
part in fashioning its institutions, was an attractive subject of
contemplation. I had always thought that the most desirable fame a man
could acquire was that of being the founder of a State, or of exerting
a powerful influence for good upon its destinies; and the more I
thought of the new territory about to fall into our hands beyond the
Sierra Nevada, the more I was fascinated with the idea of settling
there and growing up with it.

But I was anxious first to visit, or rather to revisit, Europe. I was
not able, however, to make the necessary arrangements to do so until
the Summer of 1848. On the first of May of that year, I dissolved
partnership with my brother, and in June started for Europe. In the
following December, while at Galignani's News Room in Paris, I read
in the New York Herald the message of President Polk, which confirmed
previous reports, that gold had been discovered in California, then
recently acquired. It is difficult to describe the effect which
that message produced upon my mind. I read and re-read it, and the
suggestion of my brother to go to that country recurred to me, and
I felt some regret that I had not followed it. I remained in
Europe, however, and carried out my original plan of seeing its
most interesting cities, and returned to the United States in 1849,
arriving at New York on the 1st of October of that year.

There was already at that early period a steamer leaving that city
once or twice every month for Chagres. It went crowded every trip.
The impulse which had been started in me by my brother in 1846,
strengthened by the message of President Polk, had now become
irresistible. I joined the throng, and on November 13th, 1849, took
passage on the "Crescent City;" and in about a week's time, in company
with many others, I found myself at the little old Spanish-American
town of Chagres, on the Isthmus of Panama. There we took small boats
and were poled up the river by Indians to Cruces, at which place we
mounted mules and rode over the mountain to Panama. There I found a
crowd of persons in every degree of excitement, waiting for passage
to California. There were thousands of them. Those who came on the
"Crescent City" had engaged passage on the Pacific side also; but
such was the demand among the multitude at Panama for the means
of transportation, that some of the steerage passengers sold their
tickets from that place to San Francisco for $750 apiece and took
their chances of getting on cheaper. These sales, notwithstanding they
appeared at the time to be great bargains, proved, in most cases, to
be very unfortunate transactions; for the poor fellows who thus sold
their tickets, besides losing their time, exposed themselves to
the malaria of an unhealthy coast. There was in fact a good deal
of sickness already among those on the Isthmus, and many deaths
afterwards occurred; and among those who survived there was much
suffering before they could get away.

The vessel that conveyed us, and by "us" I mean the passengers of
the "Crescent City," and as many others as could by any possibility
procure passage from Panama to San Francisco was the old steamer
"California." She was about one thousand tons burden; but probably no
ship of two thousand ever carried a greater number of passengers on a
long voyage. When we came to get under way, there did not seem to be
any spare space from stem to stern. There were over twelve hundred
persons on board, as I was informed.[2] Unfortunately many of them
carried with them the seeds of disease. The infection contracted under
a tropical sun, being aggravated by hardships, insufficient food,
and the crowded condition of the steamer, developed as the voyage
proceeded. Panama fever in its worst form broke out; and it was not
long before the main deck was literally covered with the sick. There
was a physician attached to the ship; but unfortunately he was also
prostrated. The condition of things was very sad and painful.

Among the passengers taken sick were two by the name of Gregory Yale
and Stephen Smith; and I turned myself into a nurse and took care of
them. Mr. Yale, a gentleman of high attainments, and who afterwards
occupied a prominent place at the bar of the State, was for a portion
of the time dangerously ill, and I believe that but for my attentions
he would have died. He himself was of this opinion, and afterwards
expressed his appreciation of my attention in every way he could. In
the many years I knew him he never failed to do me a kindness whenever
an opportunity presented. Finally, on the evening of December 28,
1849, after a passage of twenty-two days from Panama, we reached San
Francisco, and landed between eight and nine o'clock that night.

[1] The first article was entitled "The Oregon Question," and the
second "The Edinburgh and Foreign Quarterly on the Oregon
Question."

[2] NOTE.--The number of passengers reported to the journals of
San Francisco on the arrival of the steamer was much less
than this, probably to avoid drawing attention to the
violation of the statute which restricted the number.

FIRST EXPERIENCES IN SAN FRANCISCO.

Upon landing from the steamer, my baggage consisted of two trunks, and
I had only the sum of ten dollars in my pocket. I might, perhaps, have
carried one trunk, but I could not manage two; so I was compelled to
pay out seven of my ten dollars to have them taken to a room in an
old adobe building on the west side of what is now known as Portsmouth
Square. This room was about ten feet long by eight feet wide, and had
a bed in it. For its occupation the sum of $35 a week was charged. Two
of my fellow-passengers and myself engaged it. They took the bed, and
I took the floor. I do not think they had much the advantage on the
score of comfort.

The next morning I started out early with three dollars in my pocket.
I hunted, up a restaurant and ordered the cheapest breakfast I could
get. It cost me two dollars. A solitary dollar was, therefore, all the
money in the world I had left, but I was in no respect despondent over
my financial condition. It was a beautiful day, much like an Indian
Summer day in the East, but finer. There was something exhilarating
and exciting in the atmosphere which made everybody cheerful and
buoyant. As I walked along the streets, I met a great many persons
I had known in New York, and they all seemed to be in the highest
spirits. Every one in greeting me, said "It is a glorious country,"
or "Isn't it a glorious country?" or "Did you ever see a more
glorious country?" or something to that effect. In every case the word
"glorious" was sure to come out. There was something infectious in the
use of the word, or rather in the feeling, which made its use natural.
I had not been out many hours that morning before I caught the
infection; and though I had but a single dollar in my pocket and no
business whatever, and did not know where I was to get the next meal,
I found myself saying to everybody I met, "It is a glorious country."
The city presented an appearance which, to me, who had witnessed some
curious scenes in the course of my travels, was singularly strange
and wild. The Bay then washed what is now the east side of Montgomery
street, between Jackson and Sacramento streets; and the sides of
the hills sloping back from the water were covered with buildings of
various kinds, some just begun, a few completed,--all, however, of
the rudest sort, the greater number being merely canvas sheds. The
locality then called Happy Valley, where Mission and Howard streets
now are, between Market and Folsom streets, was occupied in a similar
way. The streets were filled with people, it seemed to me, from every
nation under Heaven, all wearing their peculiar costumes. The majority
of them were from the States; and each State had furnished specimens
of every type within its borders. Every country of Europe had its
representatives; and wanderers without a country were there in
great numbers. There were also Chilians, Sonorians, Kanakas from the
Sandwich Islands, and Chinese from Canton and Hong Kong. All seemed,
in hurrying to and fro, to be busily occupied and in a state of
pleasurable excitement. Everything needed for their wants; food,
clothing, and lodging-quarters, and everything required for
transportation and mining, were in urgent demand and obtained
extravagant prices. Yet no one seemed to complain of the charges made.
There was an apparent disdain of all attempts to cheapen articles
and reduce prices. News from the East was eagerly sought from all new
comers. Newspapers from New York were sold at a dollar apiece. I had a
bundle of them, and seeing the price paid for such papers, I gave them
to a fellow-passenger, telling him he might have half he could get for
them. There were sixty-four numbers, if I recollect aright, and
the third day after our arrival, to my astonishment he handed me
thirty-two dollars, stating that he had sold them all at a dollar
apiece. Nearly everything else brought a similarly extravagant price.
And this reminds me of an experience of my own with some chamois
skins. Before I left New York, I purchased a lot of stationery and the
usual accompaniments of a writing-table, as I intended to practise
my profession in California. The stationer, learning from some remark
made by my brother Cyrus, who was with me at the time, that I intended
to go to California, said that I ought to buy some chamois skins in
which to wrap the stationery, as they would be needed there to make
bags for carrying gold-dust. Upon this suggestion, I bought a dozen
skins for ten dollars. On unpacking my trunk, in Marysville, these
chamois skins were of course exposed, and a gentleman calling at the
tent, which I then occupied, asked me what I would take for them. I
answered by inquiring what he would give for them. He replied at once,
an ounce apiece. My astonishment nearly choked me, for an ounce was
taken for sixteen dollars; at the mint, it often yielded eighteen or
nineteen dollars in coin. I, of course, let the skins go, and blessed
the hunter who brought the chamois down. The purchaser made bags
of the skins, and the profit to him from their sale amounted to two
ounces on each skin. From this transaction, the story arose that I
had sold porte-monnaies in Marysville before practising law, which is
reported in the interesting book of Messrs. Barry and Patten, entitled
"Men and Memories of San Francisco in the Spring of 1850." The story
has no other foundation.

But I am digressing from the narrative of my first experience in San
Francisco. After taking my breakfast, as already stated, the first
thing I noticed was a small building in the Plaza, near which a crowd
was gathered. Upon inquiry, I was told it was the court-house. I at
once started for the building, and on entering it, found that Judge
Almond, of the San Francisco District, was holding what was known
as the Court of First Instance, and that a case was on trial. To my
astonishment I saw two of my fellow-passengers, who had landed the
night before, sitting on the jury. This seemed so strange that I
waited till the case was over, and then inquired how it happened they
were there. They said that they had been attracted to the building
by the crowd, just as I had been, and that while looking on the
proceedings of the court the sheriff had summoned them. They replied
to the summons, that they had only just arrived in the country. But
he said that fact made no difference; nobody had been in the country
three months. They added that they had received eight dollars each for
their services. At this piece of news I thought of my solitary dollar,
and wondered if similar good fortune might not happen to me. So I
lingered in the court-room, placing myself near the sheriff in the
hope that on another jury he might summon me. But it was not my good
luck. So I left the temple of justice and strolled around the busy
city, enjoying myself with the novelty of everything. Passing down
Clay street, and near Kearney street, my attention was attracted by
a sign in large letters, "Jonathan D. Stevenson, Gold Dust Bought and
Sold Here." As I saw this inscription I exclaimed, "Hallo, here is
good luck," for I suddenly recollected that when I left New York my
brother Dudley had handed me a note against Stevenson for $350 or
$400; stating that he understood the Colonel had become rich in
California, and telling me, that if such were the case, to ask him
to pay the note. I had put the paper in my pocket-book and thought no
more of it until the sight of the sign brought it to my recollection,
and also reminded me of my solitary dollar. Of course I immediately
entered the office to see the Colonel. He had known me very well in
New York, and was apparently delighted to see me, for he gave me a
most cordial greeting. After some inquiries about friends in New York,
he commenced talking about the country. "Ah," he continued, "it is a
glorious country. I have made two hundred thousand dollars." This was
more than I could stand. I had already given him a long shake of
the hand but I could not resist the impulse to shake his hand again,
thinking all the time of my financial condition. So I seized his hand
again and shook it vigorously, assuring him that I was delighted to
hear of his good luck. We talked over the matter, and in my enthusiasm
I shook his hand a third time, expressing my satisfaction at his good
fortune. We passed a long time together, he dilating all the while
upon the fine country it was in which to make money. At length I
pulled out the note and presented it to him. I shall never forget the
sudden change, from wreaths of smiles to an elongation of physiognomy,
expressive of mingled surprise and disgust, which came over his
features on seeing that note. He took it in his hands and examined it
carefully; he turned it over and looked at its back, and then at its
face again, and then, as it were, at both sides at once. At last he
said in a sharp tone, "That's my signature," and began to calculate
the interest; that ascertained, he paid me the full amount due. If I
remember rightly he paid me $440 in Spanish doubloons, but some of
it may have been in gold dust. If it had not been for this lucky
incident, I should have been penniless before night.

The good fortune which the Colonel then enjoyed has not always
attended him since. The greater part of his property he lost
some years afterwards, but he has always retained, and now in his
seventy-eighth year[1] still retains, great energy and vigor of
mind, and a manly independence of character, which have made him
warm friends. In all the changes of my life his name is pleasantly
associated with the payment of the note, and the timely assistance
which he thus gave me. His career as commander of the well-known
regiment of New York volunteers which arrived in California in March,
1847, and subsequently in the State, are matters of public history.

As soon as I found myself in funds I hired a room as an office at the
corner of Montgomery and Clay streets for one month for $300, payable
in advance. It was a small room, about fifteen feet by twenty. I then
put out my shingle as attorney and counsellor-at-law, and waited for
clients; but none came. One day a fellow-passenger requested me to
draw a deed, for which I charged him an ounce. He thought that too
much, so I compromised and took half an ounce. For two weeks this was
the only call I had upon my professional abilities. But I was in no
way discouraged. To tell the truth I was hardly fit for business. I
was too much excited by the stirring life around me. There was so much
to hear and see that I spent half my time in the streets and saloons
talking with people from the mines, in which I was greatly interested.
I felt sure that there would soon be occasion in that quarter for my
services.

Whilst I was excited over the news which was daily brought from the
mines in the interior of the State, and particularly from the northern
part, an incident occurred which determined my future career
in California. I had brought from New York several letters of
introduction to persons who had preceded me to the new country, and
among them one to the mercantile firm of Simmons, Hutchinson & Co.,
of San Francisco, upon whom I called. They received me cordially, and
inquired particularly of my intentions as to residence and business.
They stated that there was a town at the head of river navigation,
at the junction of Sacramento and Feather Rivers, which offered
inducements to a young lawyer. They called it Vernon, and said they
owned some lots in it which they would sell to me. I replied that I
had no money. That made no difference, they said; they would let me
have them on credit; they desired to build up the town and would let
the lots go cheap to encourage its settlement. They added that they
owned the steamer "McKim," going the next day to Sacramento, and they
offered me a ticket in her for that place, which they represented to
be not far from Vernon. Accordingly I took the ticket, and on January
12th, 1850, left for Sacramento, where I arrived the next morning.
It was the time of the great flood of that year, and the entire upper
country seemed to be under water. Upon reaching the landing place at
Sacramento, we took a small boat and rowed to the hotel. There I found
a great crowd of earnest and enthusiastic people, all talking about
California, and in the highest spirits. In fact I did not meet
with any one who did not speak in glowing terms of the country and
anticipate a sudden acquisition of fortune. I had already caught the
infection myself, and these new crowds and their enthusiasm increased
my excitement. The exuberance of my spirits was marvelous. The next
day I took the little steamer "Lawrence," for Vernon, which was so
heavily laden as to be only eighteen inches out of water; and the
passengers, who amounted to a large number, were requested not to move
about the deck, but to keep as quiet as possible. In three or four
hours after leaving Sacramento, the Captain suddenly cried out with
great energy, "Stop her! stop her!"; and with some difficulty the boat
escaped running into what seemed to be a solitary house standing in
a vast lake of water. I asked what place that was, and was answered,
"Vernon,"--the town where I had been advised to settle as affording a
good opening for a young lawyer. I turned to the Captain and said, I
believed I would not put out my shingle at Vernon just yet, but would
go further on. The next place we stopped at was Nicolaus, and the
following day we arrived at a place called Nye's Ranch, near the
junction of Feather and Yuba Rivers.

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