Contra Costa County CA Archives History - Books .....Political History 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 18, 2005, 8:48 pm Book Title: History Of Contra Costa County, California POLITICAL HISTORY.—We now come to the second branch of the Legislative History of Contra Costa, namely, that which has been termed the Political History of the county. This, it is to be feared, however, may be considered a misnomer, as in the rest of this chapter much will be found which in itself has no political significance, while a considerable amount may be recognized as purely political. All our information has been garnered from the particularly well kept records of the Court of Sessions and Boards of Supervisors, who, though exercising political functions, still have authority over affairs non-political; therefore the remarks made below may be said to relate more to the government of the county than to its politics. MEXICAN GOVERNMENT.—Prior to the year 1839 not much is known of the political divisions of California; on February 26th of that year Governor Alvarado dubbed it a Department, and partitioned it into three districts. In the second of these was Contra Costa county. The government was vested in a Governor and a Departmental Assembly, from which was constituted the Legislative Assembly that held its sessions in Monterey, the then capital. In order of precedence, the political officers next to the Governor were the Prefects, having jurisdiction over districts; Sub-Prefects, Ayuntamientos or Town Councils, Alcaldes, and Justices of the Peace. We are informed, on reliable authority, the Mexican law contemplated the formation of a Superior Tribunal for each Department, and that provision for the establishment of such a Court, with two lesser ones for California, had been made. The tribunal was to be composed of four Judges and one Attorney-General, the senior three of the former to sit upon the first, and the junior one on the second bench. This latter, known as the Court of Second Instance, heard appeals from the Court of First Instance and had original jurisdiction in certain cases. The senior courts sat at the capital of the Department, while that of the First Instance held its sessions at the chief town in a district, where it exercised a general jurisdiction and attended to cases involving more than one hundred dollars, those for a less sum being tried by the Alcalde and Justice of the Peace. There is no record of a Superior Tribunal ever having been established in California under the Mexican government, and no Court of First Instance in San Jose, the chief town of the district to which the county now under consideration belonged, until 1849, when they were commissioned by the authority of the United States. The first Alcalde to be thus installed was that honored pioneer Hon. Elam Brown, N. B. Smith being the Sub-Prefect of the district. The law was administered then in a peculiarly lax manner; fortunately, or unhappily, as the case may be, lawyers had not yet penetrated into the supposed wilds of the Pacific slope. The Alcalde's word was the supremest effort of legal wisdom; his silver-headed cane a badge of office which the most captious must respect, and could not gainsay, while, there being no prisons, it was usual to sentence the Indian to be flogged and others to be fined. MILITARY GOVERNMENT.—Between the years 1846 and 1849 the country remained under the control of the United States military. In regard to law it was utterly at sea. A military commander controlled affairs, but there was no government. As long as the war lasted it was only natural to expect that such would be the case, and the people were content, but after peace had been attained, and the succession of military governors remained unabated, a people who had been brought up to govern themselves under the same flag and the same constitution, chafed that a simple change of longitude should deprive them of their inalienable rights. With these views General Riley, who succeeded General Persefer F. Smith, April 13, 1849, entirely sympathized. When it was found that Congress had adjourned without effecting anything for California, he issued a proclamation, June 3d, which was at once a call for a convention, and an official exposition of the administration's ^ theory of the anomalous relations of California and the Union. He strove to rectify the dominant impression that California was ruled by the military. That had ceased with the termination of hostilities, and what remained was the civil government, which was vested in a Governor appointed by the Supreme Government, or, in default of such appointment, the office was vested in the commanding military officer of the Department, a Secretary, a Departmental or Territorial Legislature, a Superior Court with four Judges, a Prefect and Sub-Prefect, and a Judge of the First Instance for each district, Alcaldes, Justices of the Peace, and Town Councils. General Riley, moreover, recommended the election, at the same time, of delegates to a Convention to adopt either a State or Territorial Constitution, which, if acquiesced in by the people, would be submitted to Congress. The proclamation stated the number of delegates which each district should elect, and also announced that appointments to the judiciary offices would be made after being voted for. The delegates from the district of which we then formed a portion to the Convention were Joseph Aram, Kimball H. Dimmick, J. D. Hoppe, Antonio M. Pico, Elam Brown, Julian Hanks, and Pedro Sainsevain. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.—On September 1, 1849, the Convention met at Monterey, Robert Semple, of Benicia, one of the delegates from the District of Sonoma, being chosen President. The session lasted six weeks, and, notwithstanding an awkward scarcity of books of reference and other necessary aids, much labor was performed, while the debates exhibited a marked degree of ability. In framing the original Constitution of California, slavery was forever prohibited within the jurisdiction of the State; the boundary question between Mexico and the United States was set at rest; provision for the morals and education of the people was made; a Seal of State was adopted, with the motto EUREKA, and many other subjects discussed. The Constitution was duly framed, submitted to the people, and at the election held on the 13th November, ratified by them, and adopted by a vote of twelve thousand and sixty-four for, and eleven against it; there being, besides, over twelve hundred ballots that were treated as blanks, because of an informality in the printing. The vote of the District of San Jose on the occasion was five hundred and sixty-seven votes for, and none against its adoption, while five hundred and seventeen votes were cast for Peter H. Burnett, as Governor. In Contra Costa county on that occasion one hundred and seven votes were polled at the three precincts then established; Governor Burnett received seventy-four votes; Lieutenant-Governor John McDougal thirty-one, and F. J. Lippett sixty-four, while W. R. Bascom, of San Jose, was elected Senator, and Elam Brown, of Lafayette, Joseph Aram, Dr. Ben. Cory and J. H. Mathews were sent to the Lower House of the State Legislature, Edward Gilbert and George W. Wright being sent to Congress. We here reproduce, as curiosities, two of the tickets which were voted at the time, and distributed in and around Sacramento and the upper portion of the State: PEOPLE'S TICKET. | PEOPLE'S TICKET. | FOR THE CONSTITUTION. | FOR THE CONSTITUTION. | FOR GOVERNOR. | FOR GOVERNOR. John A. Sutter. | Peter H. Burnett. | FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, | FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, John McDougal. | John McDougal. | FOR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, | FOR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, William E. Shannon, | Edward Gilbert, Pet. Halsted. | George W. Wright. | FOR STATE SENATORS, | John Bidwell, Upper Sacramento, | John Bidwell, Upper Sacramento, Murray Morrison, Sacramento City, | Murray Morrison, Sacramento City, Harding Bigelow, Sacramento City, | Harding Bigelow, Sacramento City, Gilbert A. Grant, Vernon. | Gilbert A. Grant, Vernon. | FOR ASSEMBLY, | FOR ASSEMBLY, H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, | H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, | P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, | John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, J. Sherwood, | H. S. Lord, Upper Sacramento, Elisha W. McKinstry, | Madison Waltham, Coloma, | Madison Waltham, Coloma, W. B. Dickenson, Yuba, | W. B. Dickenson, Yuba, James Queen, South Fork, | James Queen, South Fork, W. L. Jenkin, Weaverville. | Arba K. Berry, Weaverville. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION; TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE; ALSO, Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN; AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC. ILLUSTRATED. SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCUM & CO., PUBLISHERS 1882. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/contracosta/history/1882/historyo/politica3nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 10.4 Kb