Santa Clara County, CA History

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, 
Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago:  The Lewis Publishing Company, 
1888.
 
 
BENCH AND BAR.
        The Mexican laws provided for a judicial system composed of what were 
called Courts of the First, Second, and Third Instance. The first was an 
inferior tribunal, and it was provided that there should be one at each chief 
town in the district. The second heard appeals from the first, and had also 
original jurisdiction in certain cases. The third was exclusively an appellate 
court. Courts of Second and Third Instance, which were to sit only at the 
capital of the department, were never organized in the territory of California, 
and Courts of First Instance had no existence until after the American 
occupation, the first judges being appointed in 1849 by the American 
authorities. Prior to that time justice was administered in San Jose by 
Alcaldes. The first American Alcalde was James Stokes, who was appointed by 
Captain Fallon when he deposed Dolores Pacheco, as is elsewhere related in these 
pages. He was succeeded by John Burton, who came to the pueblo about 1830. All 
kinds of disputes were brought before him for settlement. The written law was 
meager, but that made no difference. Anyone who had a grievance took it to the 
Alcalde, who, after investigation, applied the general principles of justice, 
irrespective of law.
        In December, 1846, Burton concluded that he would divide his labors and 
responsibilities, and, accordingly, appointed a committee of twelve to assist 
him in his work. The persons selected were: Antonio Sunol, Dolores Pacheco, Jose 
Fernandez, Jose Noriega, Felix Buelna, Salvador Castro, William Fisher, Isaac 
Branham, Grove C. Cook, Mr. White, Captain Hanks, and Guillermo Weekes. These 
gentlemen administered justice for some time, and their decisions were as 
implicitly obeyed as though they were a legally constituted tribunal. The Court 
of the First Instance was organized in 1849, and held its last session March 30, 
1850, when the County and District Courts were organized. The practice in the 
Court of the First Instance, and, in fact, for some time afterward, was what 
might be called conglomerate.
        There was no code of laws and no fixed penalties. The lawyers were from 
different States, as were the few law books that were in existence. On the trial 
of a case, one lawyer would insist on its being considered in the light of the 
statutes of Pennsylvania, while his opponent would quote the New York code as 
the rule which should govern. There were as many different penalties for crime 
as there were States represented in the law library of the pueblo. All this 
would have had a tendency to confuse the court if he had not had the good sense 
to reject all authorities and precedents and use his own self-made law. 
Primitive as the practice of the law was at that time, the administration of 
justice seems to have been generally satisfactory This cheerful acquiescence in 
the decisions of Alcaldes and judges of First Instance might be due to the fact 
that there was no appeal.
        The first judge of the County Court was John W. Redmon, a man whose 
vagaries will be remembered as long as the " oldest inhabitant " survives. He 
came from Missouri, had been a physician, and claimed to have been present at 
the battle of New Orleans, where he lost his foot. He was of a crabbed 
disposition, rough in his language, and not inclined to soften his remarks when 
expressing his opinions of members of the Bar. He was once asked by the Bar to 
resign, but refused in language more expressive than elegant. He held the office 
until 1853, when he resigned, and E. C. Allen was appointed for the unexpired 
term. R. B. Buckner was chosen at the ensuing election, and sat on the bench for 
four years. The administrations of Judges Allen and Buckner were in great 
contrast to that of Judge Redmon, and the attorneys experienced great relief 
when they realized that they could address the court without being greeted from 
the bench with some sarcastic remark bordering on insult. After Judge Buckner 
the judges of the County Court were as follows: John H. Moore, from 1857 to 
1861; Isaac N. Senter, from 1861 to 1867; Lawrence Archer, from 1867 to July, 
1871, when he resigned to accept the Democratic nomination for Congress; R. I. 
Barnett, appointed for the unexpired term of Judge Archer; D. S. Payne, from 
1871 to 1879. He was the last County Judge, the judiciary system having been 
remodeled by the new Constitution of the State. The Court of Sessions was an 
adjunct to the County Court, having jurisdiction in criminal cases, except 
murder, manslaughter, and arson. It was presided over by the County Judge, who 
called to his assistance two justices of the peace, who were selected by lot 
from among those elected for the different townships. This Court also had 
jurisdiction of county affairs, performing the duties now devolving upon the 
Board of Supervisors. The Court of Sessions passed out of existence in 1855. In 
the organization of the District Court the Third Judicial District was composed 
of the counties of Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, 
including the present county of San Benito. John H. Watson, for whom the town of 
Watsonville was afterwards named, was the first judge. The first term of the 
District Court was opened on the twenty-second day of April, 1850. The first 
case tried was an action for foreclosure of mortgage given to secure the payment 
of a promissory note for $5,000, with interest at eight per cent per month! The 
first indictment found in the county was against Juan Higuera alias Toreto, and 
charged the defendant with grand larceny in taking a horse belonging to Joseph 
W. McClelland. This indictment was afterwards quashed on motion of the district 
attorney.
        The first grand jury was composed of the following-named persons: Chas. 
White, foreman, James F. Reed, William Campbell, David Dickey, William Higgins, 
Geo. W. Bellamy, Jeptha Osborn, J. We McClelland, Arthur Shearer, C. Campbell, 
Lewis Cory, W. G. Banden, James Murphy, R. M. May, Jas. Appleton, Carolan 
Matthews, F. Lightston, W. Hoover, C. Clayton, J. D. Curd.
        The following is a list of the names, as far as they can be ascertained, 
of the members of the early Bar of Santa Clara County; among them are many who 
have achieved State and national reputation: A. C. Campbell, E. D. Baker, Rufus 
A. Lockwood, Edmund Randolph, Geo. B. Tingley, James M. Jones, A. J. Yates, C. 
T. Ryland, Simeon K. Gibson, John H. Moore, R. B. Buckner, Wm. T. Wallace, 
Lawrence Archer, F. H. Sandford, R. P. Clement, Wm. M. Stafford, W. T. Gough, P. 
O. Minor, Julian Smart, Craven P. Hester, J. M. Williams, F. S. McKinney, J. 
Alex. Yoell, E. O. Crosby, H. M. Van Voorhies, O. H. Allen, Frederic Hall, Wm. 
B. Almond, A. Redmon, A. L. Rhodes, Wm. H. Ramsey, Wm. Matthews, D. P. Belknap, 
Thomas White, H. P. Hastings, F. B. Murdock, James White, Jos. R. Gitchell, 
Azariah Martin, Chas. M. Fox, R. A. Jones, Frs. E. Spencer, S. O. Houghton, J. 
A. Moultrie, C. B. Yamgh, Alfred Cowles.
        The first courthouse was the old juzgado, fronting the plaza, which at 
that time extended north, to or beyond First Street. It was not well adapted to 
the purpose, and in 1850 the court was removed to a two-story adobe building on 
the west side of First Street, about opposite Fountain Alley. It occupied this 
building until the latter part of 1851, when it was for a short time held in the 
Bella Union Building, on Santa Clara Street. From there it went to the State 
House Building, near the corner of Market and San Antonio Streets, where it 
remained until that building was burned down. It then went into temporary 
quarters at the City Hall, then located on Lightston Street, between El Dorado 
and Santa Clara; in the meantime the county purchased a lot at the southeast 
corner of Second and Santa Clara Streets, and the buildings were fitted up to 
accommodate the county offices and courts. Here the department of justice rested 
until 1868, when it went into temporary quarters in the Murphy Block, at the 
southeast corner of Market and Santa Clara Streets. Its stay here was only for a 
few weeks, for in the same year the present courthouse was completed and ready 
for occupancy.
        The District Bench was occupied by Judge Watson until 1851, when he was 
succeeded by Craven P. Hester, who presided until 1859. He was succeeded by Sam 
Bell McKee. The Legislature of 1871-72 created a new judicial district, which 
was called the Twentieth, and composed of the counties of Santa Clara, Santa 
Cruz, and Monterey. Hon. David Belden was appointed judge of the new district, 
to fill the bench until the ensuing election. He was then elected and presided 
over the court until the reorganization of the judicial system and establishment 
of our present Superior Courts in 1880. Under the new system, Santa Clara County 
was allowed two judges, and at the election held in 1879 David Belden and 
Francis E. Spencer were chosen. The great learning and sound reasoning of these 
jurists gave the bench of Santa Clara County a reputation second to none in the 
Union. Many times have these learned judges been called upon to preside at 
trials of important cases elsewhere, and hardly ever is the calendar called that 
it does not disclose some suit of magnitude sent to them for adjudication from 
other counties.    On the opening of the Superior Court in 1880 a division of 
the business was made and the rule then adopted has been adhered to ever since. 
The court was divided into two departments, Judge Belden taking Department 1, 
and Judge Spencer Department 2. All criminal business was assigned to Department 
1, and all probate and insolvency business to Department 2. The other cases were 
distributed alternately in the order of their numbers on the register, 
Department 1 taking the odd-numbered cases and Department 2 the even numbers. 
Judge Belden died May 14, 1888, and the vacancy was filled by the appointment of 
John Reynolds, a lawyer of many years' practice both at this Bar and in San 
Francisco. It is fitting that a sketch of the life and services of these eminent 
jurists should be presented in this work.
DAVID BELDEN 
was born at Newtown, Fairfield County, Connecticut, August 14, 1832. He came of 
old Puritan stock and inherited their fairness of character and untiring energy, 
with none of their intolerance. Mr. Belden's father was a lawyer of considerable 
prominence in New England. The subject of this sketch attended the public 
schools of his native State, and laid the foundation of his education. He 
learned all there was to learn in these institutions, which, though noted for 
their efficiency, could scarcely lead him to the door of the higher education he 
was to achieve by his own unaided efforts, the completeness of which excited the 
admiration of all who had the good fortune of his acquaintance. On reaching his 
majority in 1853, he came to California, stopping at Marysville for two years, 
where he read law. He went to Nevada City in 1855, and commenced the practice of 
his profession. During his residence at Nevada City, he also directed his 
attention toward mining, but this was more for the purpose of practically 
studying the geologic character of the country than for acquisition of the 
precious metals. For the same reason he visited Virginia City, Nevada, and made 
critical examination of the different silver-bearing lodes of Mt. Davidson. 
Everything he did seemed to be with the object of acquiring useful information, 
which, when once stored in his retentive memory, was never lost. The knowledge 
thus gained he bestowed with a lavish hand on those around him.     Many a miner 
whose heart had become sick with hope deferred, has received hints from Judge 
Belden which have enabled him to realize his golden anticipations; and many a 
mechanic has received through him the light by which he has been able to do 
perfect work. No knowledge was so humble that he would not stoop to pick it up, 
and none so lofty that he would not climb to reach it. There seemed no limit to 
the capacity of his mind for the acquisition of wisdom. His powers of both 
analysis and synthesis were wonderful, and however refractory might be the ore 
that went into the laboratory of his brain, it came out pure and shining metal. 
In 1859 he was elected county judge, and occupied the bench four years. In 1865 
he was selected by the people to represent Nevada County in the State Senate. 
Here his broad statesmanship and matchless eloquence won new laurels and gave 
him a Statewide reputation. At the expiration of his term as senator, he, 
together with his wife, visited the Old World and traveled for some months 
through Europe. In this tour he took occasion to investigate, on the spot, many 
things of which he had only read, and returned with much information added to 
his already large store of knowledge. Art, science, horticulture, mechanism, 
road-making, political economy, literature, architecture, domestic economy,�he 
absorbed everything. Returning from Europe he removed to San Jose, in 1869, and 
resumed the practice of the law. In 1871, the Twentieth Judicial District was 
created, and he was appointed its judge. In 1873 he was elected to the same 
position by a practically unanimous vote. The district then was composed of the 
counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey. He held this 
position until the judiciary system of the State was reorganized, when he was 
elected judge of the Superior Court. He was re-elected in 1884, and continued on 
the bench until his death, which occurred May 14, 1888. While his wonderful 
learning excited admiration, and his strict integrity induced respect, no less 
did his warm and sympathetic nature command the affection of all with whom he 
came in contact. He was simple in his habits and unostentatious in his 
appearance. Anyone could approach him and draw at will on his great stores of 
knowledge, while neither his heart nor his purse were closed to the tale of 
distress. He was eminently a progressive man and ready to lend his valuable 
assistance to every enterprise for the benefit of the community. Many of our 
proudest monuments owe their existence to the timely and intelligent efforts of 
Judge Belden. The amount of work he performed was enormous, and it was this 
interminable labor without rest that finally accomplished his death. He 
possessed a robust frame, but it was worn out by his still more vigorous mind. 
It would be impossible to enumerate the many great works which his assistance 
has rendered possible. His handwriting is visible on every page of the history 
of the county since his name was enrolled as one of its citizens. At his death 
the whole State mourned, and at his obsequies all were present to pay tribute to 
his memory. Business was suspended, the temple of justice in which he had so 
long presided was draped in mourning, and the people from all the walks of life 
came forth with grieving hearts to place their floral offerings on the tomb of 
their counselor and friend. The remains were borne to their last resting-place 
by his brothers in the profession, and the eulogy pronounced by the Supreme 
Court of the State through its chief justice, Searles. The whole people composed 
the cortege and none were left who did not show visible signs of the sorrow 
which filled their hearts. Judge Belden was married, April 21, 1861, to Miss 
Elizabeth C. Farrell, of New Jersey, a lady eminently fitted to be the wife of 
such a man. Highly educated and accomplished, but with strong domestic 
instincts, she made for him a most congenial home. Possessed of strong 
intelligence, she was able to render him valuable assistance in most of his 
work. She was his support and consolation during his wedded life and his true 
mourner after his death. She remains on the homestead, and preserves it in the 
same condition in which it was left by her husband.
        Following are the resolutions adopted by the Bar in respect to the 
memory of Judge Belden:
WHEREAS, It has pleased the ever wise and merciful Author of justice to remove 
from our midst and from the scene of his earthly labors the Honorable David 
Belden, Judge of the Superior Court of the County of Santa Clara and State of 
California; and,
WHEREAS, In his death, the judicial system of Santa Clara County has suffered 
its most sad and serious loss since its organization; and,
WHEREAS, The whole community of which Judge Belden was for many years a useful 
and beloved member, unites with the Bar in sincere grief about his bier; and,
WHEREAS, It is fitting that to the public record of his eminent services as a 
judicial officer there should be appended the seal of a merited recognition by 
the court over which he presided with dignity, learning, and honor; be it 
therefore
Resolved, That, in the untimely death of the Hon. David Belden, the Bench and 
Bar of Santa Clara County have lost a most able, reliable, just and respected 
member; the State of California a most useful, illustrious, and conscientious 
jurist; the community a rare example of true greatness and virtue; that, as a 
judge of the Twentieth Judicial District of the State of California from 1871 
until 1880, and of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County from 1880 to the 
date of his death, he ever wore the stainless ermine of judicial integrity, 
displaying in his opinions and rulings a quick perception of the principles of 
justice, and a deep and discriminating study of the precedents and precepts of 
law applicable to every case, bearing himself always with a lofty impartiality 
toward the parties and the interests involved. In his administration of the 
penal statutes to offenders brought before his court he was ever moved with 
earnest and untiring desire to temper the severity of the sentence with that 
degree of mercy required by each individual case, to foster and encourage every 
impulse toward virtue concealed in the criminal's heart. In his bearing toward 
the Bar, he was distinguished for the graceful and uniform courtesy accorded 
every member, and especially noted for the kindly encouragement which constantly 
flowed to the young men of the profession, qualities which won for him the 
esteem and veneration of the former and the confidence and love of the 
latter,�an esteem, veneration, confidence, and love which cease not at his 
grave, but which will continue to make fragrant his memory through the years to 
come. That as a citizen, sprung from the ranks of the masses, and, rising 
through a lifetime of labor, by native force of character, to an eminence of 
distinguished usefulness, his career compels the admiration of all classes of 
society, and should especially excite the young men of our coast to an imitation 
of the virtues of his public and private life. In the shaping of public affairs 
his advice was always easy of access, and ever found well-considered and wise. 
No member of society was more sensitive to the pulsations of public opinion, or 
more apt in appreciation of public needs. Never forward in the impression of his 
personality upon the current of affairs, he was never backward in meeting the 
emergencies of any occasion with a fortitude born of his convictions of right. 
With broad intellectuality, with brilliant literary ability, with incessant 
zeal, he investigated every problem of life and scattered his conclusions 
broadcast with a tongue of silver and a pen of fire. That though his loss to the 
community is lamented as a judge of transcendent ability and a citizen of 
distinguished usefulness, it is as a man among men that the death of David 
Belden is most keenly felt and most sincerely deplored. The friend, the brother, 
the counselor, the very model of all the social virtues, he lived out with 
consistent purity his simple and noble existence, and is gone in answer to the 
morning call of immortality. Beside the unstained robes of his public service 
may be laid the equally immaculate garments of his private life. To the widow of 
our departed friend and brother, who, through the well-filled years of a noble 
life has been the partner of his joys and griefs, the Bar of Santa Clara County 
extends the comfort of the heart-felt sympathy of its every member; in token 
whereof be it
Resolved, That as a body the Bar attend the funeral and sepulture of her beloved 
companion. That, as a mark of respect to their late occupant, the judicial chair 
and bench of Department No. 1, of the Superior Court of this county, be draped 
in mourning for the space of twenty days. That these resolutions be offered 
before the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, at the next sitting thereof, 
with the request that they be spread upon the minutes of said court; that a 
certified copy of the same, and the further action of the Court, be, by the 
clerk thereof, transmitted to the widow and family of the deceased; and that one 
publication of these resolutions be made upon the pages of the public press.
        In making the order to spread these resolutions on the minutes, and to 
transmit a copy to the widow, Judge Spencer said:�
" My BROTHERS OF THE BAR OF SAN JOSE: In the removal by death of my honored 
associate, we, in common with his relatives and community at large, have indeed 
suffered a great and irreparable loss. I can but ill bring myself to the stern 
realization of the fact that the relentless destroyer has taken from my side one 
who for these eight years has been my co-laborer in the delicate and arduous 
duties incident to the office of judge of the Superior Court; one with whom I 
have oft held instructive and pleasant consultations, and with whom I have 
maintained most intimate and cordial personal relations. I knew him well, and 
thus knowing I can truly say that his virtues were many and noble; his faults 
few and insignificant. Indefatigable and conscientious in the attention to, and 
the performance of, his judicial duties, he was stricken while in the midst of 
his labors. With Spartan courage and steadfast devotion to duty, inherited from 
his Puritan ancestors, for nearly three years did he battle with death and stand 
by his post with unswerving fortitude, attending to every duty of his office. To 
the oft-repeated solicitation of friends to give himself relaxation and rest, he 
has often responded from the fullness of his convictions of duty, 'I would 
rather wear out than rust out.' And most truly did he wear out in the 
performance of his judicial duties, for not until the overtaxed body and 
weakened vital organs had broken out in open rebellion did he yield to the 
inevitable, and was carried out of the temple of justice, which he had adorned 
as district and superior judge for sixteen years, to linger by the dark river 
until the ferryman should come to transport him to a haven of well-earned rest.
        "Judge Belden was at the time of his death fifty-five years and nine 
months of age, and had served with distinction and honor in the several judicial 
positions of county judge of Nevada County, district judge of the Twentieth 
Judicial District, and superior judge of this county for the collective period 
of twenty years.
        "Not only was he an able expounder of the law, but the citizens of his 
former mountain home had delighted in sending him to the halls of legislation, 
where, as a senator, he distinguished himself as an able law-maker and a leader 
among his fellows.
        "He was a truly remarkable man. Many have gone before him whose legal 
attainments have been equal to his. Others may have equally possessed the 
treasure of masterly eloquence. But it has never been my fortune to find 
combined in any other person so many rare and glowing qualities of heart, brain, 
and personal accomplishments.
        " As an orator it has been truly said of him that `he spoke with a 
tongue of silver;' his command of language was wonderful, his selections 
beautiful and most happy. He was wont at times with his bursts of eloquence to 
hold his listeners delighted and entranced. Although his delivery was rapid, he 
never hesitated for an apt word or sentence. ' His words came skipping rank and 
file almost before he would.'
        "As a jurist he had few superiors. Well grounded in the elements of law, 
and conversant with the mass of judicial precedents, he added that ready 
perception of principles applicable to any given set of facts, and that 
peculiarly incisive power of reasoning that make the true lawyer.
        "But his attainments by no means stopped with those of his chosen 
profession. His researches in the general domain of knowledge included almost 
every branch of science, art, history, and political economy.
        "Although not a specialist in any one department, he was at home as well 
when gazing at the gems of night, figuring their parallax and discussing the 
laws of planetary motion, as when calculating the angle of aperture of an object 
glass or studying the phenomena of the border line of life exhibited in the 
amoebae.
        "But as a judge did his fitting qualities shine forth with undimmed 
luster.
        "He was a just judge, a wise interpreter of the law and evidence, and 
withal simple and unassuming in manner, and sympathetic almost to a fault.
        "He has passed from our midst forever. The chair that he was wont to 
fill with so much dignity, honor, and credit is now vacant. His robes of office 
have been replaced by the winding sheet. We have laid him away in his final 
resting-place, and have taken to our hearts the solemn and instructive monition 
that the sad lesson affords.
        "A loving wife is mourning the loss of a loyal and affectionate husband. 
The Bar of this county, and the profession at large, lament the loss of a 
cherished brother, and the county and State a valued citizen and faithful public 
servant.
        " But the memory of his virtues and noble qualities we should ever keep 
green in our hearts, and it is eminently fitting that the resolutions now 
presented by his brothers of the Bar should be inscribed upon the pages of the 
records of the court which he has caused to be kept so many years.
        "Let the motion be granted, and an engrossed copy of the resolutions be 
presented to the bereaved family."
 
HON. FRANCIS E. SPENCER 
was born at Ticonderoga, Essex County, New York, September 25, 1834. During his 
infancy his parents removed to Saratoga, and thence, in 1846, to Will County, 
Illinois. Here Mr. Spencer attended the common schools, finally graduating at 
the academy at Joliet. In 1852, when the subject of this sketch was eighteen 
years of age, he removed with his parents to California, settling at San Jose. 
Here Mr. Spencer went to work on a farm, raising sheep and cattle, and general 
agricultural work. In a short time, however, he abandoned the hills and 
grain-fields, and commenced the study of medicine. His father was an eminent 
physician, and this fact influenced the son in the choice of a profession. He 
soon, however, became dissatisfied with his choice. His mind was eminently 
logical, and would be content with nothing but exact results. He would accept no 
proposition that could not be reduced to a mathematical certainty. The exquisite 
 logic of the law suited him better, and he became a student in the office of 
Messrs. Archer & Voorhies, then a leading law firm of San Jose. He was a quiet 
student, and attracted no particular attention until he was examined for 
admission to the Bar of the Supreme Court; in 1858, where he displayed such 
thorough knowledge as to excite comment. In 1863 he was appointed city attorney 
for the city of San Jose, and served as such for seventeen years. Soon after his 
appointment as city attorney he was made a member of the Board of Commissioners 
of the Funded Debt. Here he made a record that established his reputation for 
legal learning, and as a man of great resources. He found that the San Jose Land 
Company, popularly known as the " Forty Thieves," claiming title to all of the 
pueblo lands by virtue of a clause in the city charter, which they construed as 
a confirmation of their claim, had secured a decree of confirmation by the 
United States District Court to the pueblo of a vast tract of land, as is more 
particularly described in our chapter on land titles. From this decree an 
appeal, prosecuted by certain ranch owners, was pending in the United States 
Supreme Court. If he resisted the claim of the Land Company, or contested the 
appeal of the ranch owners, his intelligence told him that, instead of many 
thousand acres of land, the pueblo would get but a very small tract. He resolved 
to aid the appeal and fight the Land Company afterwards. He brought about a 
compromise by which the pueblo secured the whole tract, except that claimed by 
the ranch owners, and then in a subsequent case defeated the claim of the Land 
Company. Then by selling a portion of the remaining land at the government 
price, the commissioners were enabled to pay off the entire debt of the city.
        These two suits, so successfully conducted by Mr. Spencer, not only 
relieved the city from indebtedness of every character, but removed the last 
cloud from the title of every foot of land within the limits of the pueblo. As 
city attorney he watched with an untiring vigilance over the interests of the 
city. He successfully prosecuted the case of the city against the bondsmen of 
the defaulting treasurer, Jasper E. Gunn, and in other cases secured the city 
against loss. His sound advice to the city officials secured the effective and 
prompt administration of municipal affairs. While studying law he had made 
himself familiar with the Spanish language, the Spanish customs, and the Spanish 
and Mexican laws affecting land grants and titles, and on this subject he soon 
became an authority. His opinion that there were no valid suerte titles east of 
Market Street, in the new pueblo, has been confirmed by the highest courts in 
many cases. In the famous suerte suits of Toro versus Beach, Beach versus 
Maldonado, and Luco versus Hare, this opinion was fiercely attacked by some of 
the best lawyers in the State, and fought out to the last ditch, but was never 
seriously disturbed.
        As attorney for defendants in the case of Hart versus Chaboya et al., 
Mr. Spencer succeeded in establishing an important doctrine. As the law then 
stood, upon the death of a wife her heirs inherited one-half of the common 
property. Upon that statute the heirs of Jesse B. Hart brought suit against a 
large number of purchasers from the husband involving a large tract of land on 
the Yerba Buena Rancho, in the Evergreen District. He was successful in having 
the Supreme Court hold that, although the descent was cast upon her heirs for a 
moiety of the common property, yet, as the husband had the control and 
disposition of the common property during coverture, he had a right to wind up 
the estate after the death of the wife, and that conveyances made by him in 
furtherance of that object were valid. This decision saved the homes to a large 
number of farmers, and established a rule that prevented a large amount of 
litigation in favor of speculators.
        In these important cases, coming as he did in contact with many of the 
ablest lawyers of the nation, Mr. Spencer won a reputation for legal ability 
that commanded profound respect from the Bar everywhere, and his calendar 
contained important cases in all the courts of the State. His services were in 
especial demand in actions affecting the title to land, and much of his time was 
occupied in responding to calls from other counties. In fact, the permanent 
settlement of land titles in California is due to the efforts of Judge Spencer 
as much as to any other one man.
        As early as 1861 he was elected district attorney, which office he held 
for two terms, refusing a nomination for the third. During his incumbency of 
this office he did much valuable work for the county, among which was the 
recovery of large sums of money on forfeited bonds. In 1871 he was elected a 
member of Assembly and was made chairman of the judiciary committee of that 
body. It was during this session that the legislation was had in regard to the 
then new codes. Mr. Spencer's legal training and clear mind enabled the 
committee to make its reports promptly and clearly on the large amount of 
business referred to it, the largest and most complicated, perhaps, that has 
ever been met by any committee of the Legislature since the organization of the 
State. How well this work was performed the statute books show for themselves. 
During this session, also, a desperate attempt was made to remove the State 
Normal School from San Jose. He had much to do in frustrating these efforts. 
When the judicial system of the State was reorganized Mr. Spencer was elected 
one of the superior judges for Santa Clara, which position he has ever since 
held. One very noticeable peculiarity of Mr. Spencer's work as an attorney was 
the care with which he prepared his cases for trial. No point was too 
insignificant to be thoroughly investigated, and the law and authorities 
thoroughly collated. His wide practice led him to the study of many specialties, 
and thus no opposing expert testimony found him unprepared. His critical 
knowledge of anatomy, engineering, geology, metallurgy, and mechanical 
appliances, with all the new theories developed by the recent progress in the 
department of microscopy and spectrum analysis, gave him high standing in 
scientific circles. All this knowledge and these habits of painstaking labor he 
carried with him to the Bench. As his services as an attorney were in demand 
throughout the State, so it has continued since he donned the ermine. At the 
request of local judges he has presided at the trial of important cases in many 
different counties. In San Bernardino County he tried the great case of Stockman 
et al., versus Riverside Land and Irrigation Company, involving the lands and 
the canal system of the famous Riverside Colony. He presided at the trial of 
Huse et al., versus Den et at, in which vast landed interests in Santa Barbara 
County were at stake. Also in important contested election cases in Sacramento. 
Also in the great mining case of White versus Merrill et al., in Department 1 of 
the Superior Court of San Francisco. Besides his great learning and sound 
judgment, two other qualities stand out prominently in Judge Spencer's 
administration of justice, i. e., the firmness and dignity with which the 
affairs of his tribunal were conducted, and the uniform courtesy which was 
extended from the Bench to the Bar, and to all others who appeared in his court. 
Outside of his profession, also, Judge Spencer has ever been a progressive 
citizen, liberally subscribing to all enterprises having in view the moral, 
educational, or material advancement of the community. He was selected as one of 
the Board of Trustees of the great Leland
        Stanford, Jr., University, which, being an institution devoted to 
practical education, cannot but receive great benefit from Judge Spencer's 
learning and experience.
 
HON. JOHN REYNOLDS, 
one of the superior judges of Santa Clara County, has been a member of the Bar 
of California for the past thirty-five years, and a resident of San Jose since 
1871. He was born in Bedford, Westchester County, New York, on February 20, 
1825, and received his education at the Union Academy, of that town, conducted 
by his brother, Alexander G. Reynolds. Hon. W. H. Robertson, afterwards county 
judge of that county, and, later, member of Congress and collector of the port 
of New York, received his education with him at the same school, each going from 
it at about the same time to study his chosen profession. He studied law at Sing 
Sing, New York, in the office of his brother, S. F. Reynolds, afterwards judge 
of the Fourth District Court of San Francisco. Admitted to the Bar by the 
Supreme Court of the State of New York, he commenced the practice of law in his 
brother's office, and there continued for one year. Coming to California in the 
fall of 1853, he was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of California in 
that year, opening an office in San Francisco, where he continued until the fall 
of 1871. He then removed to San Jose, engaging in the practice in Santa Clara 
County, where he has since continued. He was a member of the first Republican 
State Convention, in 1856, chairman of the Republican County Committee in San 
Francisco during the presidential election of 184 in which campaign he devoted 
his time exclusively, for seven weeks preceding the second election of Mr. 
Lincoln, to his duties as chairman of the County Committee; has always been 
interested in political matters, although never an active politician. He was 
married in 1855 to Miss Emily Marshall, of Sing Sing, New York.
        Judge Reynolds was lately elected one of the fifteen freeholders to 
frame a new charter for the city of San Jose. This position he resigned to 
accept the judgeship of the Superior Court, to which he has lately been 
appointed, succeeding in that position the late Hon. David Belden. At the 
establishment of the Free Public Library, he was appointed one of its trustees, 
and continued to hold that office until assuming the duties of superior judge. 
He was elected a member of Assembly in 1880, and was a member of that body 
during the memorable session of the Legislature of 1881. On account of certain 
combinations with which he did not sympathize, and which resulted in the defeat 
of the Apportionment Bill, he was not placed at the head of the Judiciary 
Committee; but it is well known that no constitutional question arose in the 
committee, or the House, that he was not consulted, and in but one instance was 
his opinion disregarded, and in that case his vote is found recorded in 
accordance with a subsequent decision of the United States Circuit Court. Judge 
Reynolds' practice as an attorney at the Bar of Santa Clara County has been in 
some of the most important suits instituted within this jurisdiction. Actions 
involving titles to lands have been his specialty, and in these his careful 
practice and thorough research have been often commented on. The most important 
and complicated partition suit ever had in this county, and, perhaps, on the 
coast, was begun and managed by him to the end, with no error in the slightest 
detail. This was the partition of Las Animas Rancho, covering the city of Gilroy 
and many thousand acres of outside lands, and in which there were several very 
hotly contested controversies, involving about one-eighth of the whole rancho, 
and which occupied the court weeks in trying. There were about two thousand 
parties to the record in this action, which was pending for several years. The 
careful, methodical, painstaking character of Judge Reynolds, together with his 
learning and knowledge of the law, acquired by nearly forty years' study and 
practice, eminently fitted him to receive the appointment to the Bench, which he 
now holds. Among the lawyers now prominent at the Bar of Santa Clara County, are 
the following, of whom we present brief personal sketches
 
HON. SHERMAN OTIS HOUGHTON.�
        The names of few among the pioneers of California are more favorably 
known, or have been more closely identified with the best progress of the State, 
than that of Hon. S. O. Houghton. Born April 10, 1828, in New York city, he 
enlisted, when but eighteen years of age, and still at school, in Company A, 
First New York Volunteer Infantry, and on March 26, 1847, arrived in San 
Francisco, after a voyage " round the Horn," to see service in the Mexican War. 
A part of the regiment, including his company, was detailed to Santa Barbara, 
but in a short time were sent to the seat of war, the force numbering one 
hundred and five, all told, under the command of Lieut. Col. Henry S. Burton. On 
arriving in Mexico they took up a position commanding the town of La Paz, where 
they occupied a church and other buildings. They fortified the position, and 
successfully held their own against the most strenuous exertions of the enemy 
for several weeks, until relief came, when they took the offensive, meeting with 
signal success, and capturing the commander of the Mexican forces. Mr. Houghton 
was regularly promoted for merit from the ranks, to sergeant-major, lieutenant, 
and adjutant of the command. In September, 1848, he returned to Monterey, and, 
with six of his brother officers, purchased an outfit and went to the mines, 
meeting with some success. In the spring the company separated, Mr. Houghton 
coming to San Jose in March, 1849. He then purchased oxen and wagons, proceeded 
to Stockton, and established a trading-post at Sullivan's Creek, running a 
pack-train between that point and the camps about Sonora. After this Mr. 
Houghton purchased in Stockton a stock of goods, intending to spend the winter 
in the mountains trading. The rains came on, however, the goods could not be 
moved, and had to be sacrificed With a Mr. Peasley he then engaged in the cattle 
business at San Jose, the speculation paying badly on account of the 
depreciation in value of the scrip issued by the State at that time. In 1852 Mr. 
Houghton assisted in taking the census in Santa Clara County; in the same year 
he was appointed deputy county recorder. In 1854 he was elected to the common 
council of the city, and chosen its president; in 1855 was elected mayor of the 
city, holding office until 1856. In 1871 he was elected a member of the 
Forty-second Congress, and re-elected in the following year to the Forty-third 
Congress, Mr. Houghton being a Republican in politics, and a consistent member 
of the party. From 1852 till 1856 he read law during his leisure moments, and in 
the latter year entered the law office of W. T. Wallace and C. T. Ryland. In 
1860 Mr. Ryland withdrew from the connection, when Mr. Houghton formed a 
partnership with Judge Wallace, which continued till the latter's removal to San 
Francisco, in 1864. Mr. Houghton has been a prominent member of the Bar of San 
Jose, having a very large practice, especially in the settlements of the old 
Spanish estates and the unraveling of their intricate titles. In 1886 he removed 
to Los Angeles, which city he has since made his home, though he still retains 
his large real estate and other interests in this valley.
        On August 23, 1859, Mr. Houghton married Miss Mary M. Donner. She died 
on the 21st of July following, leaving one child, Mary M., who was born June 7, 
1860. On October 10, 1861, he married Eliza P. Donner, the third and youngest 
daughter of George and Tamsen Donner, who was born March 8, 1843. She left 
Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, with her parents early in the year 1846, 
and is one of the survivors of the ill-fated Donner party, whose terrible fate 
is one of the most melancholy in the early annals of California. Mr. Houghton is 
one of the leading citizens of this State, a gentleman honored and esteemed by 
all, and a sturdy specimen of the fine pioneers of California.
 
HON. JOSEPH A. MOULTRIE 
was born in Franklin, Missouri, in 1827. He received his early education there 
and in Madison County. After reading law for a time in the office of W. V. M. 
Bay he enlisted in the United States Army, to serve during the Mexican War. His 
regiment was the First Missouri Cavalry, better known as the famous "Doniphan's 
Regiment" His company was mustered in at Fort Leavenworth, with John De 
Stephenson as captain. The regiment was attached to the "Army of the West," Gen. 
S. W. Kearney commanding. The command left Fort Leavenworth June 27, 1846, and 
marched across the plains to Santa Fe. The operations of Doniphan's Regiment 
make one of the most interesting and thrilling chapters in the history of the 
Mexican War. After the occupation of what is now known as New Mexico, two 
companies of the regiment, Mr. Moultrie's company being one of them, were 
detailed to go out, under the guidance of Col. Joe Walker, the famous Indian 
fighter, to treat with the Navajo Indians. Mr. Moultrie participated in all the 
battles and skirmishes in which his regiment was engaged, including the battle 
of Sacramento, near Chihuahua. He was one of the fourteen men who volunteered 
for the perilous duty of carrying dispatches to Gen. Wool, at Buena Vista. The 
distance was about five hundred miles, through a rough country, infested with 
hostile Mexicans. The perils and hardships which this ex�pedition encountered 
and overcame would fill a book.
        The enterprise, though looked upon as a forlorn hope, was successful. 
Mr. Moultrie was mustered out of service, with his company, at New Orleans, in 
the latter part of June, 1847. He returned to Missouri, where he remained two 
years, and again started for the Pacific Coast. He arrived at Santa Fe in 1849, 
where he stayed until January, 1850e With two companions, he continued his 
journey to California. At San Diego they separated, and Mr. Moultrie, securing a 
mule, rode to San Jose, which he reached in June of the same year, the journey 
from Santa Fe occupying six months. He went to the mines, but was unsuccessful 
and returned to San Jose in 1852. He secured five hundred acres of land near 
Menlo Park, which he farmed for one year, and then accepted an appointment as 
deputy sheriff of Santa Clara County. While occupying this position he resumed 
the study of lair under the instruction of Judge Archer. Later, he entered the 
law office of W. T. Wallace, and when the latter was elected attorney-general in 
1855, Mr. Moultrie became his deputy, serving in that capacity for two years. He 
was elected district attorney for Santa Clara County, which office he held two 
years. In 1861 Mr. Moultrie took an active part in the organization of Mono 
County, and was appointed its first county judge. At the election two years 
later he was elected to the same position for a term of four years. He resigned 
before the expiration of his term, and again went to the mines, and was again 
unsuccessful. He then resumed his law practice in San Jose, which he has 
continued ever since. Judge Moultrie has conducted some of the most important 
cases, both civil and criminal, which have been tried at this Bar, but has 
devoted most of his attention to cases involving the title to real estate. He is 
a popular and respected citizen, as well as a prominent member of the Bar. He is 
a Democrat in politics, and was chosen a delegate to the National Convention 
that nominated Samuel J. Tilden as President of the United States.
 
JUDGE LAWRENCE ARCHER, 
attorney-at-law, rooms 1, 2, and 3 Archer Building, corner of First and Santa 
Clara Streets, San Jose, has been prominently identified with the legal 
profession and the material and political interests of San Jose since 1853, and 
a resident of California since 1852, in which year he crossed the plains from 
St. Joseph, Missouri, not so much for the golden attractions presented then by 
California as the promise held out of a restored health, the latter having been 
undermined by the malaria of Yazoo County, Mississippi, and not much improved by 
a residence on the banks of the Missouri. A native of South Carolina, where he 
was born, in the Anderson district (now Anderson County) in 1820, he there 
received his primary education, after which he attended the University of 
Virginia, and later studied law in the office of Armisted Burt, a prominent 
attorney of Abbeville, South Carolina. These educational advantages were largely 
paid for by his own earnings, his father, who had been a merchant and planter of 
South Carolina, having met with financial reverses while the subject of this 
sketch was yet a lad, throwing the latter on his own resources at an early age. 
His parents were John and Ann (Mosely) Archer, both natives of Virginia. 
Removing to Yazoo County, Mississippi, in 1841 he was admitted by the Supreme 
Court of the State of Mississippi to the practice of law, which he followed in 
Yazoo County two years. The malarial fevers of that region making a change of 
climate necessary, he removed to St. Joseph, Missouri, making the trip by 
steamboat the greater part of the way, then by stage, and finally, owing to an 
accident, the latter part of the way on foot. He practiced law in that city with 
success, remaining there for eight years, and finally resigned the office of 
district attorney, to which he had been elected three years previously, to come 
to California in search of health, which seemed impossible to regain elsewhere.
He settled in Sacramento, where he remained until after the great fire of 1852, 
then removed to San Francisco, where he remained a short time, finally settling, 
in January, 1853, in San Jose, where he has remained permanently since that 
time, and where he has since devoted himself to the practice of his profession.
        In 1867 he was elected county judge, holding that position until August, 
1871, when he resigned that for the session of 1875-76. He was made chairman of 
the Committee on Corporations, which, on account of the part taken by the 
railroads in the politics of the State, was the most important committee in the 
House. As chairman of that committee he prepared a bill to regulate fares and 
freights, which became famous as the "Archer Bill." Up to this time the people 
had been industriously educated to the impression that no one who had not served 
for years in the transportation business could intelligently act in this matter. 
Judge Archer demonstrated that there was one man at least who could grasp and 
solve the problem.
        The bill was defeated in the Senate, but the agitation arising from it 
resulted later in the passage of the "Railroad Commission Bill." In 1864 he 
removed with his family to New York, remaining there for eighteen months, during 
which time he did not enter into the practice of his profession or any business 
engagements. He returned to his California office to enter the campaign as a 
nominee for Congress from this district, which at that time included San 
Francisco and the entire southern portion of the State. Judge Archer has twice 
been elected mayor of San Jose, the first time in 1857 and again in 1877, in 
neither case elected as a representative of either of the great political 
parties, but as a candidate of the better elements of both parties, the last 
time opposing the nominee of the so-called Workingmen's party. He also served 
one term in the State Legislature in 1866.
        He was married in Missouri, in 1848, to Miss Louise Martin of St. 
Joseph. This lady died in 1869, leaving one child, Louise, now the wife of M. J. 
Flavin, a merchant of San Francisco. He was married in 1870 to Miss Alike B. 
Bethell, a native of Indiana, at that time on a visit to relatives in 
California. There have been born to them two children: Lawrence, born in 1871, 
and Leo, born in 1874. Lawrence is now attend�ing the Santa Clara College, and 
Leo attending the public schools of San Jose.
        Judge Archer has 160 acres, in the southeast corner of San Jose, where 
he resides, and on which he has an orchard of thirty acres, planted in cherries, 
apricots, and prunes. This place he has owned since 1861, and has devoted it to 
farming and fruit raising.
        The Judge took great pride in his cherry orchard, which consisted of 
four acres, from which the income averaged about $3,000 per year. He was the 
first fruit-grower in Santa Clara County to utilize the labor of women and 
children in his orchard, thus giving desirable employment to a large number of 
deserving people. Judge Archer foresaw the future prosperity of San Jose when he 
first settled here, and has done much to develop the resources of the county. He 
purchased largely of real estate, and the fact that he could always procure what 
money he wanted with no other security than his word, indicates the estimation 
in which he was held by the community. He was always foremost in improvements; 
he built the first prominent brick building on First Street, and always kept in 
advance of the first rank of progress. During all the heated political campaigns 
in which he has taken a prominent part, not one word has ever been spoken 
reflecting on his ability or integrity.
 
HON. JOSEPH S. WALLIS, 
of Mayfield, has been associated with the Bar of Santa Clara County for upward 
of thirty years; and while most of his contemporaries of the '50's have passed 
away or retired from the active practice of the law, he stands to-day among the 
most active and able men in the ranks of the profession. Judge Wallis is a 
native of Massachusetts, born at Salem, on the twenty-fourth of October, 1825. 
The Wallis family was established in this country generations back, when the 
brothers, Aaron and Joseph Wallis, came from England, among the early settlers 
of the old colony of Massachusetts. His father, Joseph Hutchinson, was a 
merchant, and conducted a large furniture business. His mother's maiden name was 
Sarah D. Hutchinson. She was also of English ancestry, and sprang from the 
Governor Hutchinson family, of Massachusetts.
        The subject was reared at Salem, and received his scholastic training 
there at the English High School and Latin Grammar School, where young men were 
prepared for college. His eagerness to advance, his progress and standing in his 
classes, caused the break�down of his health from over-study, so that he was 
compelled to withdraw from school. At the breaking out of the California gold 
excitement, he decided to go to the new El Dorado, thinking thereby to regain 
his health and perhaps to eventually associate himself with the profession he 
had already been making preparations to enter the law.
        Going to Boston, he took passage, January 24, 1849, on the ship Capital, 
bound for California. Stops were made at Rio de Janeiro and at Valparaiso; 
storms were encountered off Cape Horn and elsewhere, and when they came into the 
harbor of San Francisco, it was the nineteenth of July. Mr. Wallis, who was at 
the head of the party which had come out on the Capital, took his company as far 
as Sacramento, where they disbanded, and a few of them accompanied him into the 
Middle Yuba River country, where they opened up the early mines in that 
vicinity. In December, 1850, he returned to San Francisco, and there engaged in 
clerking. In 1852 he resumed the reading of law, in the office of William H. 
Rhodes. He was admitted to the Bar at Sacramento, before the Supreme Court of 
California, on the fifteenth of August, 1855, though he had previously assisted 
Mr. Rhodes in his practice. He was associated with that noted lawyer until the 
fall of 1857.
        On the seventh of November of that year, he came to Santa Clara County, 
and, locating at Mayfield, has ever since been a citizen of that place. In 1859 
and 1860 he was associate judge with John Moore, in the Court of Sessions of 
Santa Clara County, and in 1862 was chosen by the electors of this district to a 
seat in the Senate of California, serving in the sessions of that year and 1863. 
His legal standing commanded a position for him on the important Committee on 
Judiciary, of which he was one of the earnest working members. The arduous 
duties thus entailed allowed little time for other committee work, though he 
also assisted in the labors of the Engrossment and other committees. On the 
eighteenth of February, 1870, he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of 
the United States.
        He was married July 25, 1854, to Miss Sarah Green, a native of Ohio. She 
came to California in 1844, with the Martin Murphy party, which is treated of in 
extended mention elsewhere in this volume. She owned the land where Sutter built 
his mill, and it was on property of which she had been the former possessor that 
gold was discovered in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Wallis were the parents of five 
children, viz.: Talbot H., State Librarian at Sacramento; Eva (Hess), of San 
Jose; Josephine (Ingalls), of San Jose ; William A., who is in the employ of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad, and resides at Oakland; and Joseph, who died at the 
age of twenty-three years, at Sacramento, where he was a practicing lawyer.
        Judge Wallis has always taken an active interest in public 
affairs�local, State, and national. He has the honor of having, been a member of 
the Free-soil Convention that nominated Van Buren and Adams.
 
R. B. BUCKNER, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky, in 
1822. He received his education at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, and at 
the age of nineteen years he joined his parents in Missouri, where they had gone 
several years previous, leaving him attending school, and bought a farm in 
Jackson County. His father resided on this farm until his death, which occurred 
in 1854 The judge engaged in school-teaching in Missouri, close to the Kansas 
line, until the breaking out of the Mexican War, when in 1846 he enlisted in the 
First Regiment of Missouri Volunteers, Colonel A. W. Doniphan commanding. The 
regiment marched to Santa Fe, which was then in Mexican territory, where, the 
Navajo Indians being troublesome, Judge Buckner's and another company of 
soldiers were sent out to quell them, which they did, making a treaty of peace 
with them; and then, continuing their march, they passed through the country of 
the Zunis and Laguna tribes, and joined their regiment at Socorro, on the Rio 
Grande, and marched on into Mexico. On Christmas-day of that year they met the 
Mexican troops in the battle of Brazito. The enemy having twelve hundred 
cavalry, a regiment of infantry, and a small piece of artillery, his own 
regiment consisting of but eight hundred men, a battery of six guns, and fifty 
cavalry, the chances were decidedly against them; but, notwithstanding that 
fact, they were victorious, as they were also at the battle of Sacramento, 
fought later. They entered the city of Chihuahua, Mexico, March 2, 1847, the 
principal battles having been fought before their regiment reached there. On the 
twenty-seventh of the following April they were ordered to General Taylor's 
headquarters at Monterey, which they reached in June; there they were ordered to 
New Orleans for muster. Sailing from Point Isabel they reached that city the 
fifteenth day of June, 1847; immediately on their arrival they were mustered out 
of the service, and the judge returned to his home in Missouri, where he spent 
the winter. In the spring of 1848 he made a trip into Mexico for the purpose of 
trading. On his return, at Santa Fe, he heard of the discovery of gold in 
California, and, hastening home, began preparations for a trip to the land of 
gold.
        In the spring of May, 1849, he started, with the celebrated "Hudspeth 
Train," consisting of sixty-four wagons with ox-teams. They had the usual 
experience of parties crossing the plains in that early day, and reached the 
Sacramento River at Lassens, on the tenth day of October, 1849. The judge came 
immediately to San Jose, but the gold fever being upon him he left for the mines 
soon after, and in two months returned to this city completely cured. He then 
engaged as clerk for various firms in the mercantile business, which occupation 
he only followed a short time. Having studied law while he taught school in 
Missouri, he concluded to put his knowledge into practice, and accordingly 
opened an office with Judge Bowdon, of Santa Clara. In 1853 he was elected judge 
of Santa Clara County, which office he held for three years, when he was elected 
mayor of San Jose, and filled that position one year. For the past eleven years 
Judge Buckner has been the police justice, now including the office of city 
justice of San Jose. When not engaged in public office he has continued the 
practice of law to this date.
        In 1854 he was united in marriage to Miss Louisa McCabe, a native of 
Washington County, Missouri, who came with her parents, P. T. McCabe and Martha 
(Davidson) McCabe, across the plains to this State in 1849. Her father, who, at 
the ripe old age of eighty-five years, still lives, was sheriff of Santa Clara 
County in the years 1854-56. Judge Buckner and his wife have an adopted daughter 
and a niece, Miss Fannie Montgomery, who has lived with them all her life; she 
is at present an employe of the post-office in San Jose.
        The judge is a member of San Jose Lodge, No. 10, F. and A. M., and of 
the Mexican War Veteran Association of San Jose, and supports the Democratic 
party.
 
S. F. LEIB 
came to this country in 1869, settling in San Jose. Mr. Leib was born in 
Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1848, his father, Joseph Leib, having removed thither 
from Pennsylvania, with his parents, in 1806, when but seven years of age. At 
this very early date in the history of Ohio the Indians had but recently held 
almost unlimited possession, and an old Indian trail ran through the Leib farm.
        Joseph Leib's wife was Clarissa Allen, a native of Ohio, her father 
having come there from Vermont at a very early date. Here in Fairfield County 
they lived their entire married lives, and here they died�Joseph Leib in 1880, 
his wife in 1863. There were born to them three sons: L. H. Leib, who was killed 
at Bolivar, Tennessee, in 1862, while leading his company into action; Joseph 
Leib, now living in Illinois, and S. F., the subject of this sketch.
        Mr. Leib, with his brothers, attended the public schools of their native 
section until he commenced the study of law at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which 
institution he graduated in 1869. He relieved the monotony of school life, 
however, by enlisting in Company E, 159th Ohio Infantry, in the spring of 1864, 
at the age of sixteen, but was mustered out of service the same year.
        Since coming to California Mr. Leib has been not only a successful 
practitioner of the law, but fortunate in business ventures, and his lovely home 
on the beautiful Alameda is remarked by everyone who passes it. Here, after the 
business day is ended, he is received by wife and children into that true home 
peace and enjoyment which is worth the heaviest toil to win; and here he expects 
to make his future home. Beside his city home, Mr. Leib owns one hundred and ten 
acres in the Capertino district, eight miles from San Jose, on the Stevens Creek 
road, which he has all planted in French prune trees, seventy acres of which are 
in full bearing. Mr. Leib varies the routine of law practice by experimental 
horticulture, in the success of which he finds much pleasure. He handles all his 
own prunes�drying them in the sun �and has already established for them a wide 
reputation on account of the thorough manner in which the drying and packing 
processes are accomplished. Mr. Leib is a member of John A. Dix Post, No. 42, 
San Jose, G. A. R.
 
D. W. HERRINGTON.-
        This gentleman, one of the early pioneers of Santa Clara County, is a 
native of Indiana, born near Paris, Jennings County, December 23, 1826. Mr. 
Herrington left the paternal home at the age of thirteen, removing to Madison, 
Indiana, where he worked at his trade, carpenter and joiner, until the age of 
nineteen. He had the misfortune to lose the use of his right arm at this age, 
and was compelled to give up his trade. He immediately entered the Asbury 
University at Greencastle, Indiana, where he remained the greater part of four 
years. On the thirteenth of March, 1850, he left school and started, with an 
ox-team, from Greencastle for California, arriving at Placerville on the tenth 
day of August of the same year. During the first six months in California he 
worked in the gold mines, after which he went to Sacramento, living there and at 
Sutterville from May, 1851, until December, 1853. At this time impaired health 
compelled him to make a change, and he started for Los Angeles, but, on reaching 
Santa Clara, in January, 1854, decided to remain for a time, and has been at 
this place and in San Jose ever since.
        From 1855 to 1861 Mr. Herrington followed the occupation of teaching, 
when he took up the study of law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1862, and has 
been engaged in the practice of law ever since. He was a member of the State 
Legislature in 1863; was elected district attorney in 1865, holding this office 
until 1867, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1878-79, which 
formed the present Constitution of California.
        In 1858 Mr. Herrington married, in Santa Clara, Miss Mary Harriet 
Hazelton, a native of Ohio, who had removed with her parents, Hiram and Martha 
E. Hazelton, at an early age, to Michigan, coming thence to California in 1852. 
From this marriage there are six children: Irving, justice of the peace and real 
estate agent in Santa Clara; Rachel, now a teacher in the Santa Clara public 
schools, having graduated from the State Normal School in 1883; Leona, wife of 
Theodore Worth, of Bradley, Monterey County; Clarence, now studying law in his 
father's office in the city of San Jose; Howard, now engaged in the painting 
business in Los Angeles County, and Bertram A., now teaching in the public 
schools at San Miguel, having graduated from the State Normal School in 1887.
        Mr. Herrington is a member of the Masonic Order, and also of Santa Clara 
Lodge, No. 52, I. O. O. F. He has been city attorney of San Jose since 1879. In 
politics he is a Republican, having belonged to that party since 1861.
        The parents of Mr. Herrington were Joseph and Rachel (Davis) Herrington. 
His father was a native of Maryland, removing, when an infant, with his parents 
to Pennsylvania, and later to Indiana, where he died in 1859. His mother was a 
native of Tennessee. She died in 1861, aged sixty-nine years. Both parents are 
buried at Paris, Jennings County, Indiana.
 
CHARLES D. WRIGHT 
is one of the prominent members of the Bar of Santa Clara County, of which he 
has been a practicing member for more than fifteen years. Mr. Wright is a son of 
the Empire State, born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. His early 
education was obtained in his native State, and when fifteen years of age he 
came to the Pacific Coast and to Santa Clara County. In 1865 he entered the law 
office of Hon. S. O. Houghton as a student, and was admitted to the Bar in 1868. 
He has enjoyed a very large and lucrative law practice. Mr. Wright has always 
been a pronounced Republican in his political affiliations, and, possessing the 
courage of his convictions, he has taken an active part as a local political 
leader, for which he is well fitted because of his superior judgment of human 
nature, and his rare tact and executive ability in controlling and directing 
men. His candor and integrity of character inspire confidence, and he has proved 
a successful fighter of political battles. He managed the campaigns which 
elected his former preceptor, Mr. Houghton, to the United States Congress. His 
efforts in politics have, however, all been in behalf of his friends, as he has 
never been a candidate, nor sought office for himself. As a lawyer Mr. Wright 
excels in his clear conceptions of a cause, and such a logical presentation of 
the facts as carries conviction with his argument in the minds of the jury and 
the court. He has practiced chiefly in the civil courts.
        In 1885 the subject of this memoir married Miss Mollie Murphy, born in 
Santa Clara County, and a daughter of John M. and Virginia Reed Murphy. Her 
father was one of the famous Murphy expedition, whose perilous experiences are 
narrated at length in this work, and her mother was one of the Donner party, 
whose terrible trials and sufferings are also given in detail elsewhere in this 
volume.
 
JOHN C. BLACK, 
attorney at law, whose law offices are at rooms 18 and 19 Knox Block, and 
residence at No. 322 North Third Street, San Jose, is a native of Butler County, 
Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1834. He there received his early education, 
attending later Alleghany College at Meadville, Pennsylvania, of which Bishop 
Kingsley was then a professor. In 1855 he left college to come to California, 
arriving at San Francisco by the Panama route in March of that year, at once 
proceeding to Jackson, Amador County, where he engaged in mining for two years. 
Deciding on a more permanent direction for his energies, he came to the Santa 
Clara Valley, where he devoted himself for several years to teaching school and 
studying law.
        Being admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court in January, 1863, he 
removed to Yuba County, where he engaged in the practice of law. He filled the 
office of assistant district attorney in Marysville during 1863 and 1864, and 
then removed to San Jose, where he has continued the practice of law since that 
time, filling the office of notary public in 1867 and 1868. Was elected district 
attorney in 1871, holding the office until March, 1874.  He was married in 1868 
to Miss Marian J. Millard, a native of Iowa, who came to California with her 
parents in her early childhood, in 1853. They have six children: Clara N., now 
attending the Normal School; John N., attending the University of the Pacific; 
Walter R., Edmund, James G., the three latter attending the public schools of 
San Jose, and an infant now one year old.
        Mr. Black's parents were James and Nancy A. (Russell) Black, natives of 
Pennsylvania, where they lived until 1874, when they removed to California, and 
have since resided in San Jose. They had five sons in the Union army during the 
late war, all coming out alive, although several were badly wounded. The subject 
of this sketch is a member of Garden City Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of Mount 
Hamilton Lodge, No. 142, A. O. U. W., of San Jose, a Republican in politics, and 
in favor of tariff protection to American industries. W. W. Black is interested 
in the San Jose Woolen Mill.
 
HON. JAMES R. LOWE, 
a successful and prominent representative of the San Jose Bar, was born in 
Newburyport, Massachusetts, on April 25, 1840. Up to the age of twelve years he 
attended school in his native town, removing with his parents to San Jose, 
California, where they settled in 1852. He completed his school education at 
Gates' Institute, in the latter city. Appointed United States consul to the city 
of Tehuantepec, Mexico, by President Andrew Johnson, he represented the United 
States at that place at the time the Emperor Maximilian was shot at Queretaro by 
order of President Juarez. On his return from Mexico he studied law with the 
Hon. F. E. Spencer, now superior judge, and was admitted to the Bar. In 1876 Mr. 
Lowe was elected president of the Board of Education of San Jose, holding that 
office for two successive terms, during which time the schools were managed to 
the entire satisfaction of the people of this city, and in a manner unexcelled 
before or since.
He was elected in 1884 State senator on the Republican ticket, and regarded 
among the ablest members of that body. His record as senator was among the best. 
During the extra session of 1886 he took a very active part towards the passage 
of laws in favor of irrigation, holding that "the waters flowing in our rivers 
and streams should not be allowed to roll idly to the sea, but should be thrown 
upon the arid plains, and they be made to blossom like the rose."
        Resulting from that legislation in which Mr. Lowe took so prominent a 
part, irrigation districts have been inaugurated under the State laws, and 
thousands of acres of comparative desert have been transformed into beautiful 
and profitable homes. Mr. Lowe has a place of eighty acres, located in the 
foothills west of the town of Milpitas, which he contemplates planting in trees 
and vines in 1889.
        He was married, in 1861, to Miss Inez Pacheco, a member of the 
celebrated Pacheco family, of California, who was educated at the convent of 
Notre Dame, in San Jose. She died in May, 1872, leaving four children: James, 
Mary (who, while driving in her father's carriage in 1887, was thrown out and 
instantly killed, and at whose death San Jose was a house of mourning, so 
generally beloved was she), Ralph, now in his graduating course at the San Jose 
Commercial College, and William W., now engaged in San Jose as searcher of 
records. He was married in 1874 to Miss Enna Forsyth, a native of Maumee, Ohio, 
a lady of very rare intellectual attainments and culture, who was for several 
terms president of the Board of Education of Santa Clara County, filling that 
position with eminent credit to herself and satisfaction to the people of the 
county. This estimable lady died in 1887, leaving three children: Alexander, 
Duncan, and Eleanor.
        Senator Lowe's parents were James R. and Mary (Tuckwell) Lowe. His 
father was born in Chesterfield, England, in 1808. Educated as a landscape 
gardener and horticulturist, he displayed such rare taste and skill in laying 
out and embellishing large parks and gardens, that he was employed to come to 
the United States and superintend the laying out and adorning the exquisite 
grounds and horticultural plots of James Arnold, of New Bedford. He later did 
similar work for the late Ben. Perley Poore, at Indian Hill Farm, near 
Newburyport, Massachusetts. He removed to California in 1852 with his family, 
and engaged in San Jose in the same profession. There are many places in San 
Jose and California that bear witness to his master skill and rare taste and 
culture in the art of beautifying the face of nature. He was the means of 
bringing to California, and propagating here, many valuable plants and trees, to 
which employment he was devoted up to his death, in 1874. A man of genial, 
affable disposition, fond of telling and listening to a good story, he had many 
and valued friends; in fact, a very happy type of the representative English 
gentleman. He was several times elected a member of the City Council of San 
Jose. Mr. Lowe's mother was a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and a member 
of the celebrated Sherborn family, of New Hampshire.
        Further particulars of Mr. Lowe's services as a horticulturist in Santa 
Clara County will be found in our chapter on horticulture.
 
DANIEL W. BURCHARD.�
        Holding a prominent and important position among the public officers of 
this county, is Mr. Daniel W. Burchard, attorney at law and assistant district 
attorney. His father was the Rev. John L. Burchard, for ten years a member of 
the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. While he was 
stationed in Benton County, Missouri, on March 5, 1858, the subject of this 
sketch was born, and came with his parents to California in the same year. His 
father was located first at Marysville, remaining there four years, and 
afterwards for six years in Stockton. In 1868 he was sent to Gilroy, where 
Daniel attended school. After a four years' residence here, his father returned 
to Marysville, when he was appointed Indian agent at Round Valley. In 1872 the 
family removed to Oakland, in order to afford the children better educational 
advantages. After passing through the schools of Oakland, Daniel went up to the 
reservation, where he taught school and studied law. In 1879 and 1880 he studied 
law in the office of Henley & Johnson, of Santa Rosa, the senior member of that 
firm being Hon. Barclay Henley, late member of Congress from First District. Mr. 
Johnson is now attorney-general for the State.
        Mr. Burchard was admitted to the Bar nine days only after attaining his 
majority, and first "hung out his shingle" in Washington Territory. He remained 
there but a short time, when he returned to California, and for three years 
practiced law in Hollister, serving one year as city attorney. Removing to San 
Jose, he entered into partnership with Moore & Moore, and on the election of 
Howell Moore to the office of district attorney he was appointed deputy.
        Mr. Burchard is a hard worker, as can be gathered from the fact that he 
has appeared in fifteen hundred cases since he began practice, six hundred of 
them being criminal cases. It is noteworthy, also, that, although so young a 
man, he has been connected with many cases involving heavy interests. Among 
these may be noted the congressional election contest of Sullivan versus Felton; 
the senatorial contest of Ryland versus Conklin; a number of homicide criminal 
cases in which the final penalty was inflicted, and others.
        On March 6, 1881, Mr. Burchard was married to Miss Cora, the eldest 
daughter of Hon. Rush McComas, the county treasurer. They have four children: 
Marcie, Mary, Ernest, and Ethel.
        Mr. Burchard's family is of Scotch and German extraction, and is fully 
represented in professional and intellectual pursuits. His father is a 
thoroughly self-made man, educating himself for the ministry by his own efforts, 
and passing his life in the service of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His 
mother is a native of Virginia, a descendant of the pioneers who first settled 
that State. His only brother is Dr. L. S. Burchard, of Oakland, and his only 
sister is the wife of C. H. Twombly, the San Francisco capitalist.
 
JAMES H. CAMPBELL, 
a prominent lawyer and former district attorney of Santa Clara County, was born 
in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1850. He came to Nevada County, California, in 
1859, where he remained until 1867, since which time he has resided in San 
Francisco and in Santa Clara County. In 1871 he graduated from the famous Santa 
Clara College, and in 1872 commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the 
Bar in 1874. In the same year he was appointed to the office of assistant 
district attorney of Santa Clara County, in which position he continued until 
1876. In 1879 he was elected district attorney, and remained in office until 
1885. He was twice elected to that office, and, owing to the effect of the new 
constitution, then recently adopted, remained in office, by virtue of his first 
election, for nearly three years. Since 1885 he has been engaged in the general 
practice of his profession in San Jose, and occupies a prominent position among 
the members of the Bar of Santa Clara County.
        In 1878 Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Mary Faulkner, a native of 
Massachusetts, her parents, John F. and Ann Faulkner, having come to California 
in
the early days. Of this union there are three children: Argyll, Maud, and Irene.
        During Mr. Campbell's incumbency of the office of district attorney, he 
conducted many important murder trials, including those of Majors, Jewell, and 
Showers, for the murder of William Renowden and Archibald McIntyre, near Los 
Gatos. These prisoners were all convicted, Majors and Jewell being hanged, and 
Showers sentenced to imprisonment for life. A peculiarity of Majors' trial was 
that he was first convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life for the 
murder of Renowden, and, while serving this sentence, a second prosecution was 
instituted for the murder of McIntyre, for which crime he was convicted and 
hanged. As a matter of courtesy, Mr. Campbell followed the case, which was 
transferred to Alameda County, on a change of venue, and prosecuted it there. He 
was also instrumental in the conviction of Wasilewsky, in Santa Clara County, 
for the murder of his former wife in Los Gatos, the prisoner being hanged. This 
case was remarkable for the discovery of the criminal and his conviction when 
every clue seemed to have vanished. In political principles Mr. Campbell is a 
Democrat.
 
HON. ALBERT W. CRANDALL 
was born in the town of Gaines, Orleans County, Western New York, in 1835. His 
parents, John L. and Hannah (Brown) Crandall, moved into that State in 1814 or 
1815, when it was still a wilderness, and carved out there a home for 
themselves. Mr. Crandall attended the Albion Academy at Albion, the county seat, 
spending several years there preparing for college. He entered the University of 
Rochester, and graduated with honors in the class of 1862. Among his classmates 
at the university was Albion W. Tourgee, the author of the well-known "Fool's 
Errand."
        During the time Mr. Crandall was preparing for college he taught school 
for several terms, being at one time principal of one of the public schools of 
the city of Buffalo. After graduating he studied law in Albion, with the legal 
firm of Church & Sawyer. Mr. Church was afterwards the chief judge of the Court 
of Appeals of New York State. Mr. Crandall was admitted to the Bar in 1863, and 
until 1878 practiced law in Albion. In that year he came to California, stopped 
at San Jose, and went on to Los Angeles, where he remained until in 1880; he 
returned to San Jose, and has resided here since that time, enjoying a large 
practice. In Albion Mr. Crandall had built up a profitable and enlarging 
practice, but ill health compelled his removal to this State, preferring to 
sacrifice his professional interests there rather than to jeopardize his health. 
During his residence in Los Angeles he lived an almost out-of-door life, riding 
and driving about the country until his health was perfectly restored, finding 
this particular life an incentive to remaining there for a time.
        In 1880, having completely recovered his health and strength, he 
returned to San Jose, and has since engaged actively in the practice of his 
profession, and having also a fondness for outside and open-air employments, he 
purchased, with Mr. Gaines, an eighty-acre ranch, which is mostly planted to 
vines. This is situated on the Branham road, just west of the Alameda road, near 
the Five Mile House. The vines comprise both wine and table grapes. The latter 
have always paid well, while the former, which are mostly made into dry wines 
(red and white), are also on a satisfactory paying basis.
        Mr. Crandall married Miss Maria Pettingill, of Monroe County, New York, 
in 1863. Her parents, Reuben and Clarissa (Green) Pettingill, were natives of 
New Hampshire, moving into New York State about 1816. Mr. Pettingill was well 
known as "Deacon Pettingill," having for more than forty years been prominently 
connected with the Baptist Church at Ogden, New York. There is only one child 
from this union, namely, Albertine, born in 1865, now living with her parents in 
San Jose.
        Mr. Crandall is a member of Friendship Lodge, No. 210, of the Masons of 
San Jose. He is a Republican in politics, and earnestly in favor of a high 
protective tariff. He was chairman of the Central Committee of this county 
during the campaign of 1884, and is now senator for the Thirty-first Senatorial 
District of California, having been elected by a triumphant majority. It should 
also be stated that Mr. Crandall was chairman of the County Central Committee of 
the Republican party in his county in New York State, during several political 
campaigns, and also held several civil offices while there, being collector of 
tolls on the Erie Canal for two terms, clerk of the Board of Supervisors, clerk 
of the Probate Court, and was once nominated for district attorney, but 
declined.
 
NICHOLAS BOWDEN, 
attorney at law, of the firm of Archer & Bowden, rooms 1, 2 and 3 Archer 
Building, San Jose, was born in the County Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1851. In 1853 
his parents removed to America, settling in Cooperstown, Otsego County, New 
York, where he attended the public schools up to the age of fifteen years. He 
then entered a general merchandise store, the largest in that county, going 
through all the gradations from errand boy to head salesman and assistant 
bookkeeper, for four years. In 1869 he came West, and, after a short residence 
in St. Louis, Missouri, located at Evansville, Indiana. Here he remained seven 
years, engaging first as bookkeeper in a mercantile establishment. In 1874 he 
took charge of the Evansville Daily and Weekly Courier, one of the principal 
Democratic newspapers in the State of Indiana. This paper he successfully 
managed for three years, always taking an active interest in politics, although 
never accepting nomination or appointment to office. He was a member of the 
State Convention which nominated "Blue Jean" Williams for the governorship of 
Indiana in the campaign of 1876, which ticket, as well as the national 
Democratic ticket, were successful in that State after a very exciting campaign. 
He was one of the Democrats who went South to watch the visiting statesmen, as 
the gentlemen of both parties were called who went to Louisiana in that year to 
watch the returning Board, and see that each received a fair count of the votes 
cast. He was also endeavoring to recuperate his health, which had become 
impaired by too close attention to business. Returning to Evansville in March, 
1877, and having another attack of typhoid pneumonia, he resigned his newspaper 
management, intending to pass a year in California. Finding his health improved, 
and liking the climate and people, he decided to remain.
        In the fall of 1877 he took the management of the San Jose Daily Herald, 
which he retained until June, 1880. While the current of events had up to this 
time kept him in other business channels, his inclinations and ambitions had 
always tended towards the study of law, which he engaged in regularly in the 
fall of 1880, in the office of Archer & Lovell, for two years. In the fall of 
1882 he was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court en bane, after the usual 
examination, and became a law partner of Judge Lawrence Archer, in the place of 
Mr. Lovell, who had retired, this association continuing to this time. He was 
married on October 4, 1883, to Miss Sallie Trimble, a native of San Jose, the 
eldest daughter of John Trimble, lately deceased, one of the early pioneers of 
California and a veteran of the Mexican War. They have one child, Lawrence 
Archer Bowden, now about one year old.
        Mr. Bowden has always been actively and earnestly interested in the 
political questions of the day, and while not devoting time belonging to his 
profession, to active politics, he has always given a warm support to the 
Democratic party, and has been prominent in its councils. In recognition of his 
position and disinterested party service, he has been nominated by the 
Democratic State Convention, recently held at Los Angeles, as one of the 
Cleveland and Thurman presidential electors for California.
 
BAINBRIDGE L. RYDER, 
attorney at law, is one of the rising and successful young lawyers of the 
Pacific Coast. He was born in the town of Natick, Massachusetts, twenty-seven 
years ago. Mr. Ryder came to California for his health, arriving in the early 
part of January, 1882. On recuperating he employed his spare hours in reading 
law, and, later, entered the law office of Hon. T. H. Lane as a student, and was 
admitted to the Bar in February, 1885. In May, 1888, he was appointed court 
commissioner of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. He is one of three 
attorneys of the city who are recommended in the last "Bankers' Directory," by 
the bankers of San Jose, as competent and trustworthy attorneys to attend to 
legal business from abroad. Mr. Ryder was the instigator and prime mover in 
organizing the San Jose Board of Trade, which is now a large and thrifty body, 
composed of about all of the leading men of the city, with a membership 
numbering more than two hundred. By his experience in the practice of commercial 
law he was brought in contact with such bodies in other cities, and deemed such 
an organization of vital importance to this city and county. Mr. Ryder is 
interested in the Reed Gulch and Golconda Extension mines, and owns one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, twenty-one miles south of San Jose, which he intends 
planting to orchard. He is also a member of the Ryder Shingle Company, owning a 
shingle mill in the Santa Cruz Mountains, situated about twenty-five miles from 
San Jose.
 
M. H. HYLAND, 
attorney at law, residing at No. 132 North Fourth Street, San Jose, is a most 
pleasing example of what might be termed a pre-eminently self-made man. 
Courteous in his home, frank and affable in his conversation and intercourse 
with his fellow-man, he is withal a clear-headed and successful business man, an 
able attorney, and a politician honored in the councils of his party. Born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852, he was, by the death of his parents, Thomas and 
Jane (Leighton) Hyland, thrown upon his own resources at a very tender age. 
Leaving Boston at the age of nine years, he went to New Hampshire, where he 
worked on farms, and later in Massachusetts for about six years. During that 
time he worked in Boston for about one year. In 1869 he came to California, 
remaining in San Francisco for a few months, when he came to San Jose, where he 
has remained almost constantly since that time. His first employment here was in 
a plan�ing mill, where he continued for about two years, gathering together 
sufficient capital to establish himself in the poultry, fish, and game business. 
In this business he continued until 1882, making a fair financial success In 
January, 1883, he accepted the position of chief deputy in the county clerk's 
office, holding that position for two years, during which time he devoted his 
spare hours to the study of law. During all these years of labor and gradual 
advancement in life, Mr. Hyland had been studying privately and improving his 
mind, gathering together the elements of a self-acquired education. In January, 
1885, he was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court of the State. He has since 
that time been engaged in the practice of law and in looking after his varied 
interests.
        He was married, in 1878, to Miss Annie E. Jamison, a native of Clay 
County, Missouri, her parents having moved to that State from Kentucky. In 1864 
they came to California, crossing the plains in the regulation ox-team wagons.
        Mr. Hyland is a member of San Jose Lodge, No. 34, I. O. O. F., and is 
secretary of that Lodge. He is also secretary of the Odd Fellows' Hall 
Association. He is a member of the Democratic party and secretary of the 
Democratic County Committee.
 
SAMUEL ALPHONSO BARKER 
was born in Kennebec County, Maine, July 26, 1833. His paternal ancestors were 
English, and those on his mother's side were Scotch. His family is one of the 
oldest in the country, his people having come to America about seven years after 
the Mayflower. The family in this country is descended from two brothers, Noah 
and Carr Barker, the latter being the ancestor of the subject of this sketch. 
His descendants settled in Maine, while it was still a part of the province of 
Massachusetts. Mr. Barker's maternal ancestors were also early in America. His 
mother's father was a Revolutionary soldier, and it was while on the march to 
Canada, under Arnold, that he selected the tract of land upon which he 
afterwards settled. This tract was afterwards a part of the city of Hallowell. 
He engaged in ship-building for a few years, and then removed to the 
neighborhood of Reedville, where he purchased a farm and devoted himself to 
agricultural pursuits. This farm is still in possession of his descendants. The 
subject of this sketch was educated in his native State, and, in 1854, commenced 
the study of law in the office of Judge Josiah H. Drummond, who has since been 
attorney-general of the State. In 1857 Mr. Barker was admitted to the Bar of the 
Supreme Court of the State of Maine. He practiced his profession successfully 
for ten years in his native State, and in 1867 came to California, being 
attracted hither by a desire to renew his health, which too close application to 
business had impaired. He had chosen Santa Clara County for his residence and 
came directly to San Jose.
        He here resumed the practice of his profession, selecting the department 
of counselor rather than that of advocate. He has confined himself as nearly as 
possible to probate and commercial cases and cases involving the title to lands. 
His sound judgment and knowledge of the law, especially in the departments which 
he had selected for his specialties, brought him a large and lucrative practice. 
The accuracy of his opinions in regard to the investment of capital attracted to 
him many clients, who have trusted implicitly to his judgment and his integrity, 
and have never had occasion to regret their confidence. In all questions 
touching estates of deceased persons and the laws affecting real-estate titles, 
Mr. Barker is considered an authority. He is a member of the Bar of the Supreme 
Court of the State and of the United States District Court. He is attorney for 
the Board of Trade of San Jose, and of the Garden City Savings Union. He was 
married, April 5, 1858, to Sarah E. Parshley, of Maine, and has three children: 
Charles A., now assistant manager of the San Francisco Lumber Company; Frank P., 
deputy recorder and auditor of Santa Clara County, and Alfred, now a student at 
the California Military Academy, at Oakland.
 
FRANK M. PFISTER.�
        This gentleman, the son of Adolph Pfister, was born in San Jose in 1851. 
In early youth he attended the public schools, and the Gates Institute, then the 
Santa Clara College, for two years, after which he was three years at the 
University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which institute he graduated as an 
attorney at law, in 1874. After his graduation Mr. Pfister returned to San Jose 
and continued his studies of the statutes of California for a season, after 
which he went to Inyo County and commenced the practice of law, remaining there 
during a part of the years 1875-76. He then returned to San Jose and formed a 
co-partnership with J. J. Burt, in the practice of law, later drifting into the 
manufacture of lime, of which work Mr. Burt took especial charge, while Mr. 
Pfister became drawn into political life, being elected county treasurer in 
1882. He remained in this office for the term of two years. Then, not wishing 
renomination to a position of such undue responsibility for the amount of 
recompense, he became a candidate for the office of city justice of San Jose, 
being elected in 1884. That office he held for two years, then became justice 
for San Jose township, which position he now holds.
        Judge Pfister is yet interested with Mr. Burt in lime works in Santa 
Clara County, near the Guadaloupe mines. These works are of a capacity of one 
hundred and forty barrels per day. There are also works in San Benito County, 
near Tres Pinos, of a smaller capacity.
        Judge Pfister has always been identified with the Democratic party. He 
is a member of the San Jose Parlor, N. S. G. W.
 
JUDGE JOSEPH BASIL LAMAR 
is a descendant of old Huguenot ancestors, who settled in Charleston, South 
Carolina, in colonial days. Both his grand�sires�Lamar and Winn�were soldiers in 
the War of the Revolution. The Judge has a highly prized relic of those times,�a 
gold watch which strikes the time, which his grandfather Winn carried during 
that war, and was on his person when he was taken prisoner by Lord Cornwallis at 
Camden, South Carolina.
        Judge Lamar was born in Georgia in 1827, educated and reared in his 
native State, and studied law and was admitted to the Bar before he was 
twenty-one years of age, by special act of the Legislature. After practicing a 
short time he came to California. Starting from home in company with five other 
young men, they halted at New Orleans, where they met Gen. Mirabeau B. Lamar, 
second president of the republic of Texas, and relative of the Judge�who advised 
the party to make the trip through Mexico. And, furnished with letters of 
introduction to prominent persons at the principal cities, and a good stock of 
information and advice from him, they crossed the gulf to Vera Cruz, and made 
the trip overland, visiting the city of Mexico and other points of interest, and 
consuming three months en route. Embarking at Mazatlan, they sailed for San 
Francisco, where they arrived April 24, 1849. Mr. Lamar and his companions, like 
most of the immigrants of that day, were gold seekers and went into the mines.
        Mr. Lamar settled in Mendocino County in 1854. In 1858 he was elected to 
the Legislature from Sonoma County. While serving in that body the following 
year, Mr. Lamar prepared and introduced the bill organizing Mendocino County; 
and in 1860 he was elected to represent the new county in the Legislature. In 
1866 he was elected county judge of Mendocino County; he served one term�four 
years�and then resumed his law practice, in which he has been engaged ever 
since. In 1876 he was appointed attorney for the Board of State Harbor 
Commissioners, and held that position four years. In 1883 he settled in San 
Jose, where he has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession.
 
WM. P. VEUVE, 
one of the junior members of the Bar of San Jose, was born in that city on the 
twenty-eighth day of March, 1853, under the shadow of the old juzgado, or town 
hall, in which the ayuntamiento, or town council, held its sessions in the days 
when, under Spanish and Mexican rule, the city was a pueblo, known as San Jose 
de Guadalupe. Located in the center of the plaza, or square, the adobe houses of 
the pobladores, or founders of the pueblo, faced the juzgado from the four sides 
of the plaza. In one of these primitive dwellings, the residence of Donna Juana 
Pacheco, the subject of this sketch first saw the light of day. The exterior of 
Donna Pacheco's adobe house might not have indicated that it was the abode of 
opulence, yet the owner was the widow of a poblador whose lands were measured by 
leagues, and whose cattle were numbered by hundreds.
        The hospitality of the native Californians was proverbial, but at no 
hacienda in the land was there a warmer welcome for stranger or friend than at 
the casa of this good old lady. Dead these many years, may she have found the 
"ever during" gates of Heaven as widely open as were always the doors of her 
humble abode on Market Street, in the pueblo of San Jose.
        Mr. Veuve's father, Eugene L. Veuve, is a native of Chaux-de-Fonds, 
Switzerland, of Huguenot ancestry, and came to America in 1845, landing at 
Mobile, Alabama, where, after a brief sojourn, he went to New Orleans, and from 
there, in 1849, made the overland journey to California, through New Mexico and 
Arizona, in an emigrant train. Escaping the perils of "field and flood" and 
Indians, he reached Los Angeles in the winter of '49. He remained there about 
six months, and then joined the tide of travel setting northward to the mines, 
arriving in San Jose in the spring of '50. Here, struck with the natural 
advantages of the place, he decided to locate for the practice of his trade, 
that of watchmaker and jeweler, and at once opened a shop on Market Street, near 
the old juzgado. Mr. Jackson Lewis arrived in San Jose about this time, and he 
and the elder Mr. Veuve are the pioneer watchmakers of the city.
        Mr. E. L. Veuve's wife, and the mother of Wm. P. Veuve, was born in the 
County Kildare, Ireland, and went to Chili, South America, when a young girl. 
Her maiden name was Eleanor Nugent. Upon the discovery of gold in California, 
the exodus from Chili to the New El Dorado bore her thither, with many other 
pioneer residents of all parts of the State. Her husband (she had married a Mr. 
Pettit) had left Chili in a sailing vessel with all his worldly possessions, and 
she was to follow afterward by steamer and join him in San Francisco. But one 
disaster after another overtook him. He was shipwrecked off the coast of Mexico, 
and lost a valuable stock of goods that was a part of the ship's cargo. He was 
taken down with fever, and, while lying sick and helpless in a strange land, was 
robbed of his money. But after many hardships he reached San Jose, whither his 
wife had gone, but only to be stricken with cholera, of which terrible scourge 
he died.
        Mr. Wm. P. Veuve's parents were married in San Jose, in 1852, and have 
ever since then resided here. Their old homestead, facing Market Plaza, was 
built about the year 1854, and is one of the ancient landmarks in that part of 
the city. About this time there was established a public school in a rude 
building on the plaza, and a Mr. Erle presided over its destinies. To this 
school went the subject of this sketch when but a child, accompanying his elder 
half-brother, who was a regular attendant at its exercises. The school was 
afterwards transferred to quarters on Washington Square, Mr. Erle continuing to 
be its principal teacher. Under this pioneer school-master of San Jose it was 
not a case of Spare the rod and spoil the child, for he was an exponent of what 
might be termed muscular tuition. Young Veuve continued to attend the public 
schools of his native city until 1868, when he entered Santa Clara College, from 
which institution he was graduated in 1874. His studies there were not, however, 
continuous, for they were interrupted by a two years' engagement with the firm 
of Auzerais Brothers, as their bookkeeper.     After receiving his degree in the 
classical course, but not immediately, Mr. Veuve commenced the study of the law 
in the office of Thos. H. Bodley, Esq., an old and well-known practitioner at 
the Bar. In April, 1877, he was duly licensed to practice by the Supreme Court 
of the State, and from that time he has devoted himself to his chosen 
profession, practicing at the Bar or presiding on the Bench.
        At the general election of 1880 he was elected city justice and police 
judge, being one of only two successful candidates on the Democratic ticket. In 
1882 he was re-elected to the same office. Mr. Veuve was the first incumbent of 
this office, and in the beginning of his first term experienced considerable 
difficulty in administering its jurisdiction, owing to defects in the law 
creating it. The Legislature, however, at the suggestion of Mr. Veuve, passed a 
remedial measure, and thereafter no trouble was encountered. In 1884, having 
received superior inducements from friends in the county of San Luis Obispo, he 
resigned his office and took up his residence there. The ties, however, which 
bound him to his native city were so strong that, after an absence of about two 
years, he returned to San Jose, where he has since continued to practice law, 
with ever-increasing success.
        In 1881 Mr. Veuve married Miss Jennie Wilson, and a little girl, named 
Vida, is the result of their union.
        He has a half-brother, H. H. Veuve, who is of the firm of A. Vignier & 
Company, French importers, San Francisco, and a younger full brother, A. L. 
Veuve, who was for a long time manager of the Pacific Manufacturing Company, at 
Santa Clara, and who is now engaged in managing the affairs of the Shasta Lumber 
Company, in Shasta County.
        Mrs. Mary C. Hoffman, widow of the late Herman Hoffman, is a half-sister 
of Mr. Veuve, whose parents, still living, hale and hearty in their old age, 
reside with her on Guadalupe Street, in San Jose.
        In politics Mr. Veuve is a Democrat, active and prominent in his party's 
councils.
        He is a member of Los Gatos Parlor, No. 126, N. S. G. W., and takes 
great interest in the success of this distinctively Californian Order.