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Mr. President and Gentlemen
of the Scotch-Irish Society: From the shores of the Western sea, the land
of the vine and the olive, the orange groves of the lowlands, and the pine
and cedar forests of the Sierra Nevada, the broad wheat fields and the
boundless pastures of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys—the " Golden
State," the glorious State of California—we come to greet you, our
brethren, at this beautiful city of Louisville, at this our third annual
Congress, to tell you what great things God has done for us, and what,
with his divine assistance, the Scotch-Irish race have done for
themselves.
The treaty of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo resulted in the cession of Utah. Colorado, Nevada, and
California to the United States. This action of the Mexican Government was
supplemented by the Gadsden purchase December 30, 1853, whereupon, upon
payment of $10,000,000, that part of Arizona and New Mexico lying south of
the Gila River was also added to the United States. Of this magnificent
territory, California alone has 189,000 square miles, about 121,000,000
acres. Remember that this immense region was, at the period of which I
speak, but sparsely populated. The few Spaniards, Mexicans, semi-civilized
Indians of the old. Spanish Missions, a few wandering Americans, hunters,
trappers, and explorers, besides runaway sailors, with the wild Indian
tribes, who were neither fierce nor dangerous, comprised the population.
Soon after its
acquisition—namely, on the 19th day of May, 1848, at Sutter's Mill, on the
lands of John A. Sutter, near what is now the town of Coloma, El Dorado
County—gold was discovered by James W. Marshall, a native of New Jersey.
This discovery was soon verified. Its immediate effect was that every one
in the country, in order to be on hand to reap the golden harvest, started
for the "diggins." The ships in the Bay of San Francisco, which came laden
with the merchandise of the East and of Europe to exchange for the hides
and tallow (then about the only products of the western coast), were left
rotting at anchor, deserted by both crews and officers; the trader left
his store, the mechanic his shop, and the ranchero his flocks and herds,
and right well was the venture repaid. From the days when King Solomon got
his gold from the land of Ophir, down through the ages to the days of '49,
history has not recorded that gold has over been found in such abundance.
The news spread abroad that the rivers, creeks, canyons, and gulches of
California abounded in the precious metals, and the courageous and
enterprising men of all nations started for California, and by every known
route. Some, chartering such craft as they could make available, came by
Cape Horn; some, braving the tropical heat and deadly fevers of Panama,
came by way of the Isthmus; and others, and by far the greatest number, by
the overland route. Starting from St. Joseph, Mo., Council Bluffs, or Fort
Leavenworth, and braving all the dangers and surmounting all the
difficulties of a trip of two thousand miles through a region of country
uninhabited, save by the roaming bands of savages and often hostile
Indians, toward the setting sun, the land of gold on the shores of the
Pacific, came the Argonauts.
It was no holiday excursion for weaklings, the
pampered darlings of social life; but for men of brawn and brains, such
men as in other times and under other conditions conquered and founded
empires. It is true that the Argonauts founded an empire on the shore of
the sunset sea; but they enslaved no people when they founded a sovereign
State, which was soon admitted into the Union, but gave to the people they
found there a larger measure of liberty and full protection to life and
property, and guaranteed to all the inhabitants all that was or had been
granted to them by the government which had formerly controlled the
country. Foremost
among the daring spirits first to arrive at the gold diggings, whether by
land or by sea, came the Scotch-Irish and their descendants—the men who
colonized Pennsylvania in part, who migrated thence to Maryland, to
Virginia, the mother of States and statesmen; through Kentucky (the
gallant child of such a noble mother), North Carolina, Tennessee; across
the "Father of Waters" into Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri; still crowding
the Indians to the West. The discovery of gold gave such an impetus that
by one gigantic bound civilization left the Indian race behind, and
planted its banner on the confines of the Pacific, and at the " Golden
Gate " founded a commercial metropolis which is, and will be, on the
Pacific what New York is on the Atlantic: peerless and incomparable.
Our people came not as they did in the
plantation of Ulster—to reap the reward of conquest with sword and spear,
and the power of a monarch pledged to sustain them in their newly acquired
possessions—but as peaceful settlers, intending no wrong and making no
enemies, their purpose being to advance their own interests and build up
the State as their forefathers of American birth had done on their march
from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and beyond. In those early days the
palace sleeping-cars and the express trains, such as we see to-day, were
unknown; oxen, mules, and horses having to be depended upon for
transportation of freight and passengers. What a contrast from to-day!
That the emigrants of '49 and '50 had indeed a
hard journey to encounter from the time they left the last white
settlement on the Missouri and entered the Indian country until they
crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains and entered the summer land by the
sea, let the dreadful fate of the Donner party, and the lonely and
desecrated graves by the California trail, bear witness. The early
emigrants were unprovided with the things which experience taught were
necessary, and had to contend with every thing—insufficient food, scant
feed or pasture for animals, streams to be forded or ferried, mountains to
be crossed, constant vigilance to be observed to prevent surprise in the
Indian country; and, superadded to all this, that dread scourge cholera
followed the moving trains, and claimed many a victim. I have seen many an
open grave where the evidence showed that the efforts of the living to
preserve the dead from the ravages of the prairie wolves had been all in
vain. No wonder that many became discouraged, and succumbed to fatigue and
hardship; but I have seen no instance where a Scotch-Irishman, either by
birth or descent, became discouraged or demoralized. Without expressly
giving utterance to the war-cry which has immortalized the men of Derry,
they seemed to be imbued by the sentiment of "no surrender," and on they
marched until the goal was reached. Whilst the original purpose of the
emigrants was doubtless the pursuit of gold, true to the characteristics
and purposes of the race, which has ever led in the founding of States and
settlement of communities, and has adopted for its motto "Liberty and
Law," the Scotch-Irish, whilst obtaining their full share of the gold
which was to be had for the digging, did not forget that the establishment
of government and protection of the law was the sole and only means to
secure to the people the enjoyment of the prosperity and wealth they came
so far and endured such hardships to win.
We road in the legal disquisitions of the
learned of ancient and well-established nations of the primary
introduction and organization of law, yet they seem to be very much in
doubt as to the beginning of the various forms of government which we now
see. These writers allow but three forms of government: the first where
the sovereign power is lodged in an aggregate assembly, consisting of all
the members of a community: this is a democracy; the second where it is
lodged in a council composed of select members: this is styled an
aristocracy; the last, where it is lodged in a single person: then it
takes the name of a monarchy.
When the Scotch-Irish and their colleagues
arrived in California, free and untrammeled, the race so fully imbued with
republicanism that they repudiated at the same time kingship in the State
and episcopacy in the Church, what government, think you, did they
espouse, and what was their primary action to establish it? Arriving as
strangers in a strange land, all the members of society were naturally
equal; and the United States Government, exercising the minimum of
interference or control of territorial communities, wisely leaves such to
their own resources for organization. Municipal law is defined to be "A
rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power of a State;" but
where, may be asked, was the then supreme or sovereign power readily
accessible and promptly available to protect the weak and restrain the
strong? This the early Californian readily answered "In the people, and we
are the people, the source of power." As each member of the community was
equally interested in the preservation of the best interests of all, they
soon came to the determination that all should have a voice and influence
commensurate with the virtue and ability of each individual in whatever
action might be taken for the general welfare.
Thus when the discovery of rich mining ground
was known, it naturally attracted a rush of people to the placer or "diggins,"
as it was called; when, if no restraint was imposed, the powerful and
selfish would hold all, and the weak or modest would get nothing; but a
meeting of the miners would be called by two or more of them, for a time
and place certain, at which there was sure to be a full attendance. A
Chairman and Secretary would then bo elected, and the meeting duly
organized; whereat the boundaries of the district would be defined, and
rules adopted for its government, specifying the amount of mining ground
allotted to each—so much for discovery and so much for location; rules for
working the same adopted, and demanding also that each claim be worked
within certain specified times, under penalty of forfeiture. Then, if
considered necessary, a peace officer would be elected, and a mining
recorder for the district: and, by the consent of each and support of all.
such officers were sustained in the discharge of the duties for which they
were elected. I will further add here that the mining regulations so
established have since been incorporated into the statute books of the
several States of the Pacific slope, and passed upon and affirmed by our
Supreme Courts. It
has been the proud boast of Englishmen that their common law has been
founded upon customs and usages so ancient "That, the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary." But it has been my blessed privilege to see
in California the origin of law—the origin and making of a State, not by
the Anglo-Saxon alone, but by the Celt and the Saxon, the Teuton and the
Gaul, the Scandinavian and the Castilian, the combination which goes to
make up the American people, of which, thank God, the Scotch-Irish is not
the least important element.
From the mining camp or district so formed
grow the county, with its boundaries defined; from the counties the State;
and the State by admission became part and parcel of the family of
sovereign States comprising the United States, the great republic.
And now, having traced California to its
statehood, wo will endeavor to show the influence of the Scotch-Irish race
on California, and the achievements of our people therein, by recording
the biographical sketches of the most notable characters of the race who
have come under our notice, or of whom wo have procured authentic
information. These sketches are given because biography is the handmaid of
history, portrait painting for posterity; and the memory of our pioneer
fathers is passing away, and will soon be forgotten unless some attempt be
made to rescue it from impending oblivion. Cicero eloquently remarks: "The
life of the dead is retained in the memory of the living, but a lethean
wave will soon obliterate the memory of the living and the dead without
the biographer's pen." We will, therefore, endeavor to come within the
scope of Lord Macaulay's remark, that, "A people who take no pride in
remote ancestors will never achieve any thing worthy to be remembered with
pride by remote descendants."
It is well-known to all what influence the
path-finder, John C. Fremont, had upon the early history of California;
but it is not perhaps equally well-known that to his wife, Jessie Benton,
daughter of the illustrious Senator, Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, and
descendant of the Scotch-Irishman, John Preston, Gen. Fremont owed much of
his success and reputation. He, though of French extraction, and
possessing undoubted merit, is known to have profited much by the
assistance and advice of his able father-in-law; and was sustained and
encouraged by his most amiable, able, and accomplished wife. His discovery
of a railroad route to the Pacific brought him into prominence; and after
the acquisition of California, in which he bore a conspicuous part, he was
one of the first United States Senators from the new State, serving from
1849 to 1851; was in 1856 the first Republican nominee for the Presidency,
but was defeated by Buchanan. In 1861-62 he served in the Union army. He
was appointed Governor of Arizona Territory June 12, 1878; and died last
year full of years and honors, leaving his accomplished wife behind him.
Of the same illustrious stock, we find that
Miss Taylor, a descendant of the same John Preston, by his son William,
married John B. Weller, who was a Democratic member of Congress from Ohio
in 1839-43; was lieutenant-colonel in Morgan's Ohio regiment in the
Mexican War, and became its commander after the death of Col. Morgan at
the battle of Monterey; was the first Commissioner to' Mexico under the
treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848; in 1849 settled in California; was
United States Senator, 1851-57; Governor of California, 1858-60; Minister
to Mexico, 1860-61; and delegate to the National Democratic Convention at
Chicago, 1864; died at Now Orleans, August 17, 1875. His son, Charles L.
Weller, is a prominent young lawyer in San Francisco; received the
Democratic nomination last year (1890) for City and County Attorney, but,
with his party, sustained defeat, although running almost at the head of
his ticket. He still lives in San Francisco, honored and respected.
A descendant from the same stock, Mary
Crittenden, through Mary Preston, fifth child of John Preston, of Ireland,
married Tod Robinson, of Scotch-Irish extraction, an early Californian, an
able and eloquent lawyer, and most courteous gentleman. He was Supreme
Court Reporter before the war. He afterward received nominations for
several high offices; but being Democratic in politics, he suffered
defeat. When Col. E. D. Baker, who fell in the Union ranks at Balls's
Bluff, was in his prime, both physically and mentally, his eloquence was a
marvel in a State when eloquence was any thing but rare. Tod Robinson was
his most dreaded antagonist, possessing as he did the same qualities of
eloquence in an eminent degree. Ho loft eight children in San Francisco
worthy of the stock from which they sprung.
A. P. Crittenden, also descended from Mary
Preston, was a lawyer of the first-class, practiced in Virginia City in
the flush times of the State of Nevada, and subsequently in San Francisco,
where he was murdered by Laura De Fair in 1870.
Edward C. Marshall, the great-grandson of Ann
Preston, the fourth daughter of John Preston, of Ireland, was member of
Congress from 1851 to 1853. He married Miss Chalfont, of Ohio, and had
three children. He held the office of Attorney-general for California from
1882 to 1886, under the administration of Gen. Stoneman.
John A. McDougal, another gifted son of the
same race, was born in Now York State; became a lawyer of Pike County,
Ill.; Attorney-general of that State in 1842-44; was a civil engineer;
went out on an exploring expedition to California, by way of the Rio
Grande and the Gila Rivers, in 1849; became Attorney-general of California
in 1850; Democratic member of Congress, 1853-55; and United States
Senator, 1861-67; died at Albany, N. Y., September 3, 1867.
William Irwin, country editor in Wravrrville,
Trinity County; State Senator from 1869 to 1873, and Governor of the State
from 187- to 18—; and afterward Harbor Commissioner in San Francisco,
where he died in 188- during all of which time his character in public
life merited the approbation of all, friends and political opponents
alike. Enemies, he had none.
Prior to his time, H. H. Haight was selected
by the Democratic party on account of his standing as a man and his
ability as a lawyer, and elected Governor by the highest majority over
received by any Governor of the State, with the single exception of Milton
S. Latham, who received 20,000.
In the law we have had such men as Samuel Bell
McKee, Scotch-Irish by birth, a lawyer and jurist of the first-class; E.
W. McKinstry, now serving his second term as Justice of the Supreme Court;
Judge Samuel Dwinelle, of Contra Costa County, and later of San Francisco,
whore he practiced law until his death, which occurred a few years ago.
And in the galaxy of able men, distinguished
for their learning and integrity, Hall McAllister of San Francisco, now
deceased, stood pre-eminent: a man who for a quarter of a century stood at
the head of the San Francisco bar; a man who could, had he so desired,
have filled the highest offices in the State; but who was so wedded to his
profession that he declined all political preferment, and whilst receiving
the highest fees in his profession, died a few years since in quite
moderate circumstances; having always preferred forensic triumphs, when
pitted against the intellectual giants of his profession, to the mere
accumulation of money.
In the early history of the State, Henry
Edgerton and Harry I. Thornton, both of Scotch-Irish extraction, the
former representing the Northern and the latter the Southern views of the
Kansas-Nebraska Resolutions, both eminently able and eloquent, and both
State Senators, and Mr. Thornton then (1850) the youngest member of that
body, were selected by their respective parties to discuss the then vital
question of Squatter Sovereignty. I was the guest on the floor of the
Senate of John A. Eagan, a native of Virginia, also of Scotch-Irish
descent, who represented Amador and Calaveras, and to the debate, which
lasted two days, I carefully listened, and it has never been my fortune to
hear any public-question so ably and eloquently presented. Mr. Edgerton
opened the debate, and I thought as I listened to his burning eloquence
that such a speech was unanswerable; as I turned to Mr. Thornton to note
the effect on him, I saw a most youthful and boyish figure, blonde and
beardless, attentive but impassive. I hoard his reply, and I considered
then, and my ripened judgment to-day prompts me to declare, that he was
not only the peer of his eloquent opponent, but had, what I at first
judged to be impossible, the merits of the question and the best of the
argument. Mr.
Edgerton practiced law in Sacramento until his death, which occurred a few
years ago. Mr. Thornton, about the breaking out of the war, returned to
the South, joined the Confederacy, and rose to the rank of major. He did
not die in the last ditch, but literally fought in the last ditch, for he
was fighting in an intrenched position in Alabama three weeks after the
surrender of Lee and the collapse of the Confederacy, it being that long
before the news reached them. He again returned to the Pacific coast in
18G5, and resumed the practice of his profession, where I met him at
Austin, Nev., the same modest, courteous gentleman. He is now in the
practice of his. profession in San Francisco, and in independent
circumstances, the reward of an honorable and useful life.
John W. Armstrong, the son of Scotch-Irish
parents, studied law whilst working at his trade of blacksmithing; after
admission to the bar practiced law at Jackson, Amador County;
subsequently, about 1870, moved to Sacramento; was soon after appointed
Superior Judge, and afterward elected to the same position, which he
filled with honor. He still resides at Sacramento.
In mining, the great industry of the State,
the Scotch-Irish took prominent place. The whole world has heard of the
fame of the great bonanza firm of Mackay and Fair, Flood and O'Brien—all
Irish or of Irish origin; the first two of undoubted Scotch-Irish descent.
John W. Mackay, the ablest and wealthiest of the firm, although a native
of Dublin, judging from his name and characteristics, most certainly
belongs to the indomitable race. He was born in 1825, and came to America
when quite young. We find ho was employed in Henry Wells's ship-building
office, New York; came to California in 1852, and went to mining in Sierra
County. Ho next went to Virginia City and took up a claim, but his small
capital was soon spent, so he went to work in the Mexican mine at $4 per
day. He never despaired, but persistently declared that he would make
$25,000 and make his mother happy. He little dreamed what an immense
fortune he would make later. In 1863 ho went in partnership with J. W
Walker in the mining business, when fortune first smiled upon him. In 1868
Flood and O'Brien joined the company. Soon after Walker retired and James
G. Fair came in. Their first success was in the Hale and Norcross. They
soon got possession of the Con-Virginia, and other claims on the great
Corn-stock lode at a cost of $65,000, but what millions they have obtained
from those mines none can toll. Suffice it to say that the fabled wealth
of Monte Christo is a bagatelle to the fortune of any one of the bonanza
firm. Mr. Mackay married a daughter of Col. Hungerford. His daughter
married a Roman nobleman, the Prince Colona. His wife lives abroad, and
takes a high place in society, but Mr. Mackay prefers to attend in person
to his great interests and investments in America, and seldom presents
himself in the realms of fashion and luxury. He is a man of great
liberality, and is always willing to assist the distressed and destitute.
James G. Fair was born in Clogher, County
Tyrone, Ireland, in 1831. He came to Now York with his parents in 1843,
and of course got his education in the United States. From New York ho
came to Illinois, and settled near Chicago. When the California fever
broke out, he joined a party of emigrants and reached California by way of
Oregon in 1849, when he commenced mining on the Feather River, Butte
County, from which he moved to Virginia City. In 1855 he became
superintendent of the Ophir, and subsequently, in 1857, he filled the same
office for the Hale and Norcross Company. It was while acting in this
capacity that he and James Flood secured the control of the White and
Murphy and Kenny ground and claims for a comparatively small sum. This was
the famous mine of California and Consolidated Virginia. The firm
established the Nevada Bank of San Francisco with a capital stock of
$10,000,000, which is still in successful operation. Flood and O'Brien
have since died, but the remaining Scotch-Irish partners are still alive
and attending to their business interests with youthful vigor. What they
are worth to-day would be hard to say; they are extremely wealthy, and
besides their many business interests they own real estate in San
Francisco worth millions.
Another conspicuous figure of the early days
of California was Archie Borland, who died in Oakland January 31, 1890. He
was born in Coleraino, County Derry, Ireland, and came to this country
when seventeen years old. Attracted by the mining excitement, he came to
California in 1852, where he followed the mining business with varied
success. In 1862 he went to Virginia City, where he built up his
reputation and made his fortune side by side with such men as Sharon,
Mackay, and Fair. At the time of the discovery of the big bonanza, he was
perhaps the largest outside holder of its stock, and by that and other
fortunate investments ho made a large fortune. He could have cleaned up at
one time with about $5,000,000, but held on too long. He was a daring
operator. In one day he lost $1,000,000; two weeks after ho dropped
$1,200,000, when ho thought it time to sell out, and he did. He was in
several large mining ventures later with varying success. In company with
George W. Grayson he bought a vast cattle ranche, forty miles square, in
Sierra County, N. M., which is well stocked, and is a most valuable
property. Ho owned a fine residence in Oakland, and other valuable
property. In farming
and stock raising we have had such men as Dr. H. J. Glenn, of Colusa
County, an American by birth, but Scotch-Irish by descent. He came to
California from Howard County, Mo., and entered into stock raising on a
largo scale. After some years he came to the conclusion that wheat-growing
on his land on the bank of the Sacramento River would pay better, so he
moved his immense herds of cattle to Oregon and Nevada, where he had
secured land to sustain them. Ho devoted his home ranch of 52,000 acres to
the growing of wheat, and became one of the largest producers of the
United States, if not of the world. Later on ho saw that vineyards and the
production of wine were fast becoming a leading industry, so he planted
1,000 acres in vines, which had scarcely commenced bearing when his useful
and honorable career was cut short by assassination. He was foully
murdered by a man whom he had twice or thrice started in business, because
he could not become a perpetual pensioner on his bounty. Dr. Glenn was an
enterprising man, a worthy citizen, and his untimely death was most
disastrous to the best interests of the Upper Sacramento Valley.
Thomas Fowler, a native of County Down,
Ireland, came to America in 1847; crossed the plains to California in
1852. He early engaged in the stock business, and making Visalia, in
Tulare County, his home, he soon supplied beef cattle to the mining
counties of Amador and Calaveras. As success crowned his efforts, he
extended his enterprise to include Carson and Virginia City. In fact, at
one time he controlled and personally supplied almost all the butchering
business of the State of Nevada. He had at this time a ranche of 40,000
acres well stocked, when he was taken up, and, as he was extremely
popular, was elected State Senator to represent the district comprising
the counties of Fresno, Kern, and Tulare, and earned for himself the
sobriquet of "Honest" Tom Fowler. Eminently successful as he was as
ranchero, stockman, and statesman, he thought the measure of his happiness
would be complete if he could figure as a successful miner, and be a
Mackay or a Fair, but here his luck failed him. He forgot that it takes a
mine to work a mine. The venture was unsuccessful. "Tom" made an
assignment, all his debts were paid, and he found that he had a handsome
fortune left. So eager was ho after his settlement and release to tell his
young wife that he was once more independent, that he stopped off a moving
train, and got a hurt from which he soon died. Peace to his ashes. He loft
few as good and none better behind him.
Among the many Scotch-Irish citizens of
California who, if not famous, are true representatives of the race, make
estimable members of society and command the respect of all who have known
them, I will mention a few of those who are personally known to me, or
whose lives and characters have been known to me from reliable
information. James
Nelson, born in Belfast, came to California in 1851; was employed in
banking in Orovillo and Marysville from 1852 to 1873, when he died.
Ex-Gov. George C. Perkins administered on his estate, amounting to
$40,000, which he sent to his relatives in Ireland.
Thomas McDermott, a native of County Down,
came to Marysville early in the fifties; resided there for many years; was
a bachelor: died in 1872, leaving an estate of $100,000, most of which he
left to his worthy friend, John Nash.
William Murdock came across the plains from
Arkansas in 1857, moved to Colusa County and settled near Willows. He is a
bachelor, and owns about 20,000 acres of land, upon which ho employs one
hundred head of the best work horses and mules. He raises grain, cattle,
and sheep, and aims to keep on hand enough hay and barley to feed his
stock two years in case of a dry season. Glenn County has just been formed
out of Colusa, the bill having passed the Legislature, in March, 1891,
with Willows the county seat, so that "Uncle Billie" is in town, or the
next thing to it, that is as ho can get and live on a ranch of that size.
The Irvine brothers, some four or five in
number, resided for some years in San Francisco. James died a few years
ago, leaving a large estate, a portion of which was 110,000 acres of land
in Los Angeles County, upon which he had a largo band of sheep. His
brother, George, who is now living on the land, was formerly a member of
Irvine, Marshall & Haight, of San Francisco. William was formerly of the
firm of Irvine, Harker & Co., of San Francisco, where he still lives.
Thomas Clements, the founder of the pretty
little village of Clements, on the San Joaquin and Sierra Nevada railway,
in San Joaquin County, was born at Glenview farm, County Armagh, Ireland,
in 1837; came to California in 1857, locating in Ione, Amador County,
where he was engaged in farming. In 1872 he came to the place where he now
resides, which he had purchased the year before from the late Judge David
S. Terry. He owns 1,500 acres of land at Clements, and has a half-interest
in 7,500 acres in Tulare, and is one of the most successful farmers in the
county in which he lives.
I will now introduce to you an American from
away back, but one in whose veins the Scotch-Irish blood runs in a pure
stream, and who, after generations born on American soil, shows all the
better attributes of the race from which he sprung. Thomas McConnell was
born in Rutland, Vt., which was the native place of his father also. His
ancestors are traced back to the battle of the Boyne, July 1st, 1690,
between William III., Prince of Orange, and James II. His
great-great-grandfather emigrated to America some time in the seventeenth
century, and settled in New Hampshire. His grandfather, Samuel McConnell,
served in both the wars against England, the Revolution and that of 1812,
and settled in Rutland, Vt. He came to California in 1850, and carried on
a mercantile business for many years, besides a largo lumbering business
in company with his brother Samuel. In 1856 ho returned East, got married,
and brought back the first importation of American Spanish Merino sheep
that ever came to the Pacific Coast. The freight amounted to $85 per head.
It proved a valuable addition to the sheep industry of the State. He still
continues in business in the State of Nevada with his brother Charles.
Last year (1890) they sheared 16,000 head. He was a member of the
Constitutional Convention of 1879, from Sacramento County.
James Moore, one of the Directors of the
Scotch-Irish Society of California, born at Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland,
in 1827; sailed from Liverpool to America in 1849; reached Cincinnati in
April of the same year, from which place he came to California in 1852 via
Nicaragua, arriving at San Francisco September 6, 1852. He went to the
American River mines, but sickness prevented his following up the
business. From Auburn he went to Marysville, where he engaged in business,
and lived seventeen years, and became aquainted with most of the early
settlers, including Gen. John Bidwell, Gen. John A. Sutter, and others. In
1869 he moved to San Francisco, where ho still resides and carries on the
grain commission business, and is successful and prosperous.
Andrew Crawford, a native of Glenann, County
Antrim, Ireland, and Second Vice-president of the Scotch-Irish Society of
California, was born in 1829. He came to California in 1852, and wont to
work at his trade as sail-maker, which he followed for sixteen years. This
led him into the ship-chandlery line, which he has carried on ever since.
True to the instinct of his race, he takes no step backward.. His house
has developed a trade with the South Sea Islands, which has grown to largo
proportions. He owns a fleet of vessels employed in his trade, among thorn
the "Maggie Johnson," the "Margaret Crocker," the "Staghound," the "Grayhound,"
and the "Tropic Bird." They average about 150 tons each, and are worth
from $14,000 to $20,000 each. He has established eight stores among the
islands, there being one at Tahiti, another at Taiohae, Marquesas, one at
Jaluit, Marshall Islands; and one in the Gilbert group. That there is a
large capital invested in the business is evident. That the business is
remunerative and prosperous, no one who looks upon Mr. Crawford's smiling
face, ruddy cheeks, sparkling eyes, faultless attire, and courteous manner
can entertain a doubt.
Thomas Breeze was born at Killileagh, County
Down, Ireland. He received a good classical and scientific education at
Dr. Bryce's academical institution in Belfast; came to the United States
in 1837; left St. Louis in 1848, and arrived in San Francisco in the
spring of 1849; was employed first in the banking house of Page, Bacon &
Co., and afterward in the house of Eugene Kelly & Co., and soon became a
partner. On the retirement of Mr. Kelly and Mr. Donohoe, some years before
the civil war, the remaining partners, Daniel Murphy, Adam Grant, and
Thomas Breeze, organized the firm of Murphy, Grant & Co., which was then
and is now the greatest wholesale dry goods house on the Pacific coast.
Mr. Breeze fell into ill health, retired from the firm, and died at San
Francisco April 6, 1874. He was a member and trustee of St. John's
Presbyterian Church, where an eloquent funeral sermon was preached by the
Rev. Dr. Scott, of San Francisco.
Eobert J. Creighton, a native of Londonderry,
First Vice-president of the Scotch-Irish Society of California, was
trained on the Irish and English press. He emigrated to New Zealand in
18G1. He soon after established the Daily Southern Cross in Auckland,
which at once gained large circulation and commanding influence. He also
established the Weekly News, was elected member of the New Zealand House
of Representatives in 1865, and continued in Parliament until 1876. He was
concurrently member of the Auckland Provincial Legislature, and Provincial
or Chief Secretary. After leaving the Colony in 1876, ho came to the
Pacific Coast, and for nine years engaged in active journalism in San
Francisco, at the same time representing the New Zealand Government as its
resident agent, which position ho still holds, and in which ho has been
mainly instrumental in continuing direct mail communication with
Australia, and developing American trade with the South Pacific colonies
of England. For three years Mr. Creighton resided in Honolulu, where he
was for a short period Minister of Foreign Affairs, resigning when he
could not check the extravagant loan projects of the king. Mr. Creighton
returned to San Francisco and engaged in commercial pursuits, resuming his
official connection with New Zealand.
But why multiply examples, which crowd upon
the mind, of men of Scotch-Irish birth and extraction, who are illustrious
examples of the inherent qualities of the race? The men of Ulster—Dr. J.
S. Macintosh told you last year what they were, and how made; and I tell
you the work was well done and eloquently described by the learned and
reverend Doctor. In California we have only to name the professions,
pursuits, or trades and the connection of the Scotch-Irish race therewith,
and to us it is a Valhalla wherein the spirits of the mighty dead pass in
review before us. I say mighty, for I consider the greatest man the one
who, passing away, leaves behind him a record of an honest life and duty
well performed. And where can you find in the pages of history a people
who present such a record? I have been a resident of the State of
California for thirty-seven years, and during that time I have no
recollection of a Scotch-Irishman, either by birth or descent, being
either a criminal or a pauper; or as Vice-president Creighton truthfully
stated in an address to the California Society, " Scotch-Irishmen do not
fill jails and penitentiaries, and Scotch-Irishwomen do not spice the
daily dish of social garbage served by the press to a nauseated and
suffering public. Reformatory institutions might be closed if their sole
occupants were to be boys and girls of pure Scotch-Irish stock."
And now, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,
as you have borne so long and patiently the tedious recitals of the lives
and achievements of men unknown to you, but who are only a few among the
many selected almost at random from the Scotch-Irish race of California to
illustrate their character and achievements, I will crave your indulgence
whilst I present only one more portrait, and regret that the hand that
attempts the drawing is so incapable of doing justice in transcribing the
original, and fear that the coarse picture so drawn will present to you
something greatly different to that upon which my mind rests so lovingly:
a man born in humble circumstances, and who by the exigencies of life was
deprived of an early education; a man who, struggling with poverty in
youth and surmounting every obstacle, has become the peer of the highest
and best in the land; a man who, appreciating the value of education,
without the adventitious aid of the schools, has by the force of his will,
supplemented by his genius, educated himself; who has become capable of
conducting a most complicated business with great success, and is an
authority on finance; who, though not a lawyer by profession, has by the
attentive reading of judicial decisions, and the experience of his own
business, become almost an authority on legal questions, and particularly
on the laws relating to real property; who has given to the cause of
education the most princely endowments; who, appreciating the indifference
or silence of the historians of America, has determined that the
Scotch-Irish race of the United States, and particularly the State of
California, shall write their own history; that it does not suffice to do
noble acts, but they shall also be recorded. I refer to the President of
the Society of California Pioneers, Vice-president of the Scotch-Irish
Society of America, and President of the Scotch-Irish Society of
California, Alexander Montgomery.
The subject of this sketch was born in County
Down, Ireland, on the 2d day of March, 1825. His father, James Montgomery,
was a farmer in prosperous circumstances until about the birth of
Alexander, when he went security for a friend for a large amount. The
friend failed, and James Montgomery was reduced from affluence to
comparative poverty. When Alexander was old enough to think for himself,
ho determined to learn- a trade at something he could always rely upon as
a certainty for making his way through the world. He was accordingly
apprenticed to a tailor, and submitted with the best grace possible to the
disagreeable features of the attendant conditions. At the age of eighteen
he became impatient of the slow life and the slow progress which seemed to
environ him in his native land; so ho visited Liverpool, Preston, Bolton,
and London, in all of which he worked at his trade, adding to his
knowledge and his finances. There was no limit to the amount of knowledge
one of his keen power of observation could acquire, but at that time and
place the ability to become rich or even independent was quite a different
matter. Just then his
thoughts were turned to America, where thousands of his race and
countrymen had gone before and bettered their condition. So, after a brief
visit to homo and friends, ho returned to England; and on the 21st day of
August, 1846, sailed from Liverpool to New York, where he arrived
thirty-one days later. He worked at his trade in New York City, Red Bank
and Keyport, N. J.; and in eleven months had made money enough to open a
clothing store in Englishton, where ho transacted a profitable business
until 1848. It was at
this time that the confirmed news of the wonderful gold discoveries of
California set the world wild with excitement, and Montgomery was also
seized with the gold fever. To decide was to act. He at once closed out
his business, and, joining with fifty-one adventurers, purchased a
schooner of one hundred tons burden; and on the 24th of January, 1849, set
sail for the modern El Dorado, and, after a dangerous and eventful voyage,
arrived in San Francisco on September 6, 1849, where they sold a portion
of their cargo at a handsome profit; then, taking freight and passengers,
sailed to Sacramento, charging an ounce of gold, or $16 fare, for each
passenger. They made the trip in two weeks, which can be made now in four
hours at an expense of $2.50.
At Sacramento the schooner was sold at a sum
slightly in advance of her purchase price. The company then divided into
four parties of thirteen each, and started to different points in the
mines. The party with which Mr. Montgomery cast his lot reached Bidwell's
Bar, on the Feather River. Here sickness broke up the organization, as
eight of the thirteen, including Mr. Montgomery, became seriously ill with
diseases incidental to their privations in a new country. But he was not
discouraged. He belonged to a race who, by their energy, industry, and
indomitable pluck, had led the way, and made it easy, if not luxurious,
for those who follow.
His mining experience was a varied one. He
left Bidwell's Bar, as he expresses it, "with $400 and the scurvy," and
reached Yuba City. He afterward mined on Feather River; dug a canal on
American Bar, which broke him; left on foot for San Francisco, but changed
his mind; worked his way on a yawl from Marysville to Sacramento; from
thence ho went to Dry Creek, where ho made $1,600, only to be stolen from
him. With renewed energy, he replaced his loss. He then concluded there
wore easier roads to fortune than mining, so he bid good-by to it forever.
He returned to Sacramento, and took a lot of
clothing to Bidwell's Bar, and did fairly well; another to Shasta and
another to Nevada City, and subsequently to Benicia. After about a year,
he sold out there, and again went to Sacramento; and there he opened a
lodging-house, and in a year made $5,000.
Just here the turning-point of his career was
reached. A Sacramento banker advised him to loan Judge Wilson $5,000 on
his flouring-mill and ranch, in Colusa County. He afterward came into
possession of the property, which was conducted with his characteristic
energy and intelligence, thereby increasing his fortune, and aiding in
developing the resources of Colusa County. His investments were many and
successful, and by the use of his fast accumulating wealth he aided the
enterprises of others.
In 1857 he paid a visit to the home of his
youth, but eleven years make so many changes, it was not as it had been,
and he felt but little regret in leaving. After a short tour on the
Continent he returned to California. Again in 1867, having in the meantime
found in Colusa County W. F. Goad, a lawyer and a reliable man of
business, Mr. Montgomery gave him his power of attorney, full charge of
his business, and a credit of $20,000, and started out to travel for an
indefinite period. He visited the great Paris Exposition of that year; saw
the capital of every country in Europe save Portugal; journeyed through
Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Egypt, which latter he viewed from the
heights of the Pyramids. He visited Greece, Turkey, and Asia Minor, nor
turned his steps homeward until he visited the ancient City of Damascus, a
city hoary with age ere Athens or Rome were founded; had an audience with
the Pio Nono, Pius IX., Pope of Rome, whom he described as an amiable old
man, and worthy of all reverence. He also sailed on the Rhine, Rhone,
Danube, Nile, Mississippi, and St. Lawrence, and went through the Suez
Canal before it was finished. Ho has passed over the ground made famous by
the foot-prints of the great characters of history; stood by the tombs of
our Saviour, Charlemagne, and the great Napoleon; and in Jerusalem had the
opportunity of witnessing the ill-feeling and jealousy that exists between
the various Christian sects, even surrounding the sacred precincts of the
tomb of the Redeemer, so great that it required the armed soldiers of the
turbaned Turk to keep peace between them. To a man of his native
shrewdness and keen insight into human character, think what an
opportunity his extensive travels have given him for observation and
reflection. Since his
return it has taken him many years to arrange his immense business
interests so he could withdraw from Colusa to San Francisco, the
commercial metropolis of the State, but he at last succeeded. He now lives
in San Francisco with his beautiful young wife and two daughters in one of
our modern palaces, erected by the late Judge Delos Lake, on an elevation
commanding a view of the Golden Gate, the fortification of Fort Point and
Alcatraz, and from its observatory can be seen the Bay of San Francisco,
the Pacific Ocean, and a portion of seven counties.
Mr. Montgomery's possessions extend from the
snow-clad mountains of Modoc and Siskiyou on the Oregon line to the sunny
orange and olive groves of Los Angeles; and vast and complicated as his
interests are, they are managed, under his direction, by the same
gentleman engaged by him over a quarter of a century ago.
After this rude sketch can any one say that
his prosperity and fortune have been the result of blind luck or chance?
He had his share of misfortune in early life; but his intelligence,
perseverance, and indomitable will-power surmounted all obstacles, so that
after a half-century, his reward has come by placing him among our
successful capitalists. But this is not the end. Right here occurs another
turning-point of his career. Having under Providence accumulated a large
fortune, he now appears to be engaged in the distribution of a portion of
it. And that the portion to be distributed may be devoted to worthy
objects gives him, I firmly believe, as much concern and deep study as
ever did its accumulation.
That you may judge of the wisdom of his
donations, I will here mention a few which have come under my own personal
observation. To the Charity Fund of the Society of California Pioneers he
has contributed $3,000; to the Presbyterian Churches of San Francisco,
about $50,000; to the support of the Hazel Montgomery Kindergarten School
in the name of his youngest daughter, now eight years old, he contributes
the entire expense. On the 2d day of December, 1890, he presented to the
Trustees of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary his check for $250,000,
the corner-stone of which he laid on the first of this month, surrounded
by a host of people. And he also gave to the Scotch-Irish Society of
California $50,000, to be expended in the erection of a hall, the net
proceeds of which shall be devoted to the relief fund of the Society, or
such other use as the Board of Directors shall see fit.
He is to the Scotch-Irish Society of
California what Col. Wright is to that of America, its parent and founder;
and, judging from the fostering care displayed, right well does ho love
his offspring. Many are the donations and benefactions given by him for
public and private purposes, but their scope and purpose I can never get
from him: my information must be had from other sources. This I do know,
that the professional beggar of High or low degree has small chance with
Alexander Montgomery, and all his acts emanate from his inner
consciousness, and not from outside solicitation.
In summing up his character there are a few
salient points to be noted. In his forty-one years in California ho has
never misled any one. If he has been chary of promises it is for good
reasons, because he never makes a promise but he fulfills. It reminds me
of the good old days, as legends tell, when the word of a king was never
broken. He is a man of truth, and hates a liar with a bitter and
contemptuous hatred. His gifts are grand, and when he gives, he gives like
a king. His qualities are royal, and why not? He is descended from the
Montgomery family which has produced so many brave and valiant men, an
honor to the race and country that produced them; and right now, as I pen
these lines, I hold in my hand a letter from Samuel Lockhart, of Castle
Blarney, Ireland, proving to me conclusively that by his mother's side,
who was a Lockhart, he is a lineal descendant of Robert Bruce, the hero
and patriot king of Scotland, and I feel, gentlemen, that you will join
with mo in the earnest hope and prayer that he may live long to enjoy the
honors he has so nobly won. And for such men and for such a race was
California reserved. Eight well do I remember when a stripling of
seventeen, after a toilsome journey of six months, footsore, weary and
worn, swarthy and sunburned, dressed in buckskin and Indian mocasins, on
the Truckee trail on a spur of the Sierras, through the cedar forest on a
beautiful October evening in 1853, I caught the first view of what was to
me the promised land.
When the Lord permitted the Jewish lawgiver to
ascend Mount Nebo, "even unto Pisgah," and view all the land of Judah
"even to the utmost sea," and which ho was never to enter, he saw no such
land as California. As I looked through the opaline atmosphere toward the
setting sun, I saw before me the great Sacramento Valley, clothed in wild
oats, with the Marysville Buttes in the middle distance, looking like an
island in a golden sea. Far to the north Shasta raised his hoary head like
a monarch of the mountains. Far to the west the Coast Range bounded the
view. To the south lay the American River, and Sacramento City lay dim and
hazy through the enchanted atmosphere. The Sacramento River, with its
tributaries, lay before me: and the Yuba, Feather, and Bear Rivers, all
well defined by the oak timber fringing their banks with their rich, dark
foliage. It was a scene in Fairyland, impressed on my mind and never to bo
forgotten. "Surely," thought I, "this is a land to live and die in," and I
have never since changed my opinion of the beloved State of my adoption.
And now, gentlemen, as I have completed my
self-imposed task, and boon honored by your greeting, I will conclude by
returning the salutation of my gifted countryman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee:
I.
Hail to our Celtic brethren, wherever they may
be,
In the far woods of Oregon, or o'er the Atlantic sea;
Whether they guard the banner of St. George in Indian vales,
Or spread beneath the nightless North experimental sails.
One in name and in fame
Are the sea-divided Gaels.
II.
Though fallen the State of Erin, and changed
the Scottish land,
Though small the power of Mona, though unwaked Lewellyn's band,
Though Ambrose Merlin's prophecies degenerate to tales,
And the cloisters of Iona are bemoaned by Northern gales,
One in name and in fame
Are the sea-divided Gaels.
III.
In Northern Spain and Brittany our brethren
also dwell.
O! brave are the traditions of their fathers that they tell;
The eagles and the crescent in the dawn of history pales
Before their fire that seldom flags, and never wholly fails.
One in name and in fame
Are the sea-divided Gaels.
IV.
A greeting and a promise unto them all we
send,
Their character our charter is, their glory is our end;
Their friend shall be our friend, our foe whoe'er assail
The past or future honors of the far dispersed Gael.
One in name and in fame
Are the sea-divided Gaels. |
