San Francisco County CA Archives Obituaries.....Crittenden, Alexander Parker November 5, 1870
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Daily Alta California, November 6, 1870
Daily Alta California, November 6, 1870.  Page 4, Column 4.
“DIED. In this city, November 5th, Alexander Parker Crittenden, aged 55 years.

The funeral will take place from Trinity Church, corner of Post and Powell 
streets, on Monday, the 7th inst, at 2 o’clock P.M.  Friends and acquaintances 
are respectfully invited to attend.” END

AND

Daily Alta California, November 6, 1870.  Page 1, Column 1.
“Death of Hon. A. P. Crittenden. 

At six o'clock last evening, Hon. Alex[ander] Parker Crittenden, who was 
assassinated Thursday evening on the Oakland boat El Capitan, by Mrs. Laurance 
Fair, breathed his last. The mortal wound inflicted by the bullet caused the 
most intense agony and suffering, and the patient, during the forty-eight hours 
of excruciating pain, was most of the time in a state of consciousness. At 
intervals he would revive, and utter a few words. He recognized, up to the 
moment he expired, the members of his family and intimate friends. All that 
surgical aid, a loving family, and dear friends could possibly do, was rendered 
to alleviate his pains and make him comfortable, and, if possible, save his 
life. But the shot from the pistol of the assassin was a fatal one, and Mr. 
Crittenden died in terrible agony, surrounded by his family, intimate friends 
and the clergy. 

Mr. Crittenden was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on the 14th of January, 1816. 
He was the son of Hon. Thos. T. Crittenden, the distinguished lawyer, who was 
appointed Chancellor of the Chancery Court, created for the city of Louisville 
by the State Legislature in 1825-6, and served for several years with 
distinction. He was also a nephew of the celebrated statesman John J. 
Crittenden. During the Presidential campaign of 1829, Mr. Crittenden, then a 
youth, was an Andrew Jackson boy, while all the other members of his family 
were Whigs. Soon after Jackson was inducted into office, he learned that 
Crittenden, then a boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age, had been loud in his 
exclamations for him, and for this mark of esteem young Crittenden received an 
appointment as cadet to West Point. He was an exemplary scholar, and graduated 
with high honors in the class with Sherman, McDowell. Beauregard, and others. 
He remained in the army for several years, being attached to the Engineers' 
Corps. At the age of twenty-two he was married in the State of Virginia. From 
there he went to Texas, and studied law with Judge Robinson, and after a 
successful examination was admitted to the Bar. He next went to Frankfort, 
Kentucky, where he remained a year or two, and in 1849 he came to California, 
settling at Los Angeles. He was elected from that county to the first session 
of the Legislature of California, and was selected as the Chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee. He occupied a prominent position as a member of that body, 
and was remarkable for his industry and talents, and compiled most of the law 
enacted during that session. Next he went to San Jose and in 1852 he settled in 
San Francisco, and has since resided here most of the time. In 1852 he 
associated himself with Tod Robinson [his brother-in-law], and in 1854 he 
formed a partnership with Col. S. W. Inge, then District Attorney. After that 
he became a member of the firm of Crockett & Baldwin, and on the latter 
gentleman being elected to the Supreme Bench the firm was changed to Crockett & 
Crittenden. 

In 1863 Mr. Crittenden went to Virginia City, Nevada, and remained there till 
1865. During the mining excitement, raging at that time, he was engaged in a 
number of large mining suits involving thousands of dollars. He returned to 
this city, and in 1866-7, associated himself with S. M. Wilson, Esq. He 
remained a member of the firm up to the day he was assassinated. This firm has 
done one of the most lucrative businesses of any engaged in the practice of the 
law. They were the legal advisers of several banking, insurance, and other 
wealthy corporations. 

Mr. Crittenden in politics has always been a staunch Democrat. He possessed 
high legal and literary attainments, and was considered one of the ablest 
members of the Bar on this coast, and was looked upon as one of its shining 
lights. Genial and social in his intercourse, true as a friend, he gained the 
respect and confidence of all who came in contact with him. He was honored and 
respected by the judiciary for his learning and manly deportment, by the Bar 
for the friendly manner in which he conducted himself in trying causes, always 
cool and deliberate, and by his clients for the careful firmness with which he 
watched their interests. Nothing could sway him from his path of duty, and what 
he conceived to be the right. He leaves a family, consisting of a wife and 
seven children— four sons and three daughters— the oldest son a practicing 
[sic] lawyer in New York. 

The funeral will take place on Monday, at ten o'clock, from Trinity Church.” END


Additional Comments:
See also the following articles about his murder:
Daily Alta California, November 4, 1870 (Friday).  Page 1, Column 1.
“A Horrid Tragedy. Hon. A. P. Crittenden Assassinated on the Oakland Boat by a 
Mrs. Fair."

 
Sacramento Daily Union, November 5, 1870 (Saturday). Page 5, Column 4.
“THE LATE TRAGEDY.  The San Francisco Bulletin of November 4th gives the 
following particulars of this affair."




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