History of Fresno County, Vol. 1 - Paul E. Vandor

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spelling of the county's name was "Frezno", a phonetic version that was soon abandoned. Millerton as the then most populous center was regarded as the logical place for the county seat — in fact could not then have had a rival. To organize the new county, seven commissioners were named in the act — Charles A. Hart, Ira McCray, James Cruikshank, H. A. Carroll, O. M. Brown, J. W. Gilmore arid H. M. Lewis. The last named two were absent from the meeting at McCray's hotel on May 26, 1856, to organize and order for June 9 an election for county officers and to vote on county organization, which was accepted as a foregone conclusion. Cruikshank, a lawyer, was chairman and Carroll secretary of the commission, and the county legal machinery was duly set in operation. The first mentions of the new county are in the legislative proceedings and in the State Register for 1857, a publication on the Blue Book order. The latter's mention is reproduced as a present day curiosity:

       FREZNO COUNTY

      

       (County Seat — Millerton)

       Frezno County, organized 1856. Boundaries: North by Merced and Mariposa, east by Utah Territory, south by Tulare, and west by Monterey.

       TOPOGRAPHY— This county was formed from portions of Mariposa, Merced and Tulare, and contains that section of the mining region known as the extreme Southern Mines. The agricultural land in the county is situated in the vicinity of King's River, and is represented to be well adapted for grazing purposes. Number of acres in cultivation, including the Reservations, 2,000.

       LEGAL DISTANCES — Not yet established by law (from Millerton to Stockton about 140 miles).

      

       OFFICERS

      

       Office. Name. Residence. Salary.

       County Judge Chas. A. Hart Millerton $2,500

       District Attorney J. C. Craddock Millerton 1,000

       County Clerk and Recorder I. S. Sayles Tr Millerton 1,000

       Sheriff and Tax Collector W. C. Bradley Millerton 1,000

       Treasurer Geo. Rivercombe Millerton 1,000

       Assessor John G. Simpson Millerton 1,000

       Surveyor C. M. Brown Millerton 1 ,000

       Coroner Dr. Du Gay Millerton Fees

       Public Administrator James Smith Kings River Fees

       Supervisor John R. Hughes Millerton Per diem

       Supervisor John A. Patterson Kings River Per diem

       Supervisor John L. Hunt Huntsville Per diem

      

       (The terms of all of these expired in October, 1858.)

      

       THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT— Hon. Edward Burke, of Mariposa, judge district court; sessions, second Monday, March, July and November.

       SIXTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT— Senator: Hon. Samuel A. Merritt of Mariposa; term expires January, 1859.

       MEMBER OF ASSEMBLY— Hon. Orson K. Smith of Woodville.

       AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES— Wheat, 1,000 acres; barley, 500 acres, and vegetables, 500 acres.

       FRUIT TREES— But little attention has as yet been devoted to the culture of fruit. There are two vineyards in a forward state, and a few fruit trees, which appear to thrive remarkably well.

       LIVE STOCK— Horses, 1,400; mules, 200; asses, 150; cattle, 18,650; calves, 2,650; sheep, 1,000; swine, 4,000; goats, 50; total 28,100. Assessed value, $360,000.

       MINERAL RESOURCES — There are several important mining streams, principally worked by Chinamen. Amount of foreign miner's tax collected $1,000 per month.

       WATER DITCHES, ETC. — There are two extensive water ditches in the course of completion; one steam sawmill and two quartz veins, represented to be remarkably rich.

       MILITARY POST AND INDIAN RESERVATIONS— Fort Miller, Frezno Farm and King's River Farm Reservations are located in this county.

       FINANCES— Receipts from date of organization July 1 to December 1, 1856, $6,281.15; expenditures, $4,268. Amount of taxable property, principally stock, $400,000, tax collected, $6,912; foreign miner's tax collected $1,200 per month.

       POPULATION— Votes cast, 319; Indians, 1,300.

       ATTORNEYS— Millerton: O. M. Brown, H. Clark and Tames T. Cruickshank.

       PHYSICIANS— Fort Miller: Wm. J. L. Engle; Frezno River: D. J. Johnson, Lewis Leach; Millerton: W. A. N. Dulgnay (Du Gay).

      The first meeting of the supervisors-elect was held on June 23 of Hughes and Patterson, J. M. Roan having failed to qualify wherefore Hunt was chosen at a special election ordered at this initial session, besides which the county was declared formally organized. Patterson was succeeded by J. E. Williams in February, 1857, Clark Hoxie elected in May to succeed Hunt and S. W. Rankin in August to supersede Hughes.

      1856 — Fresno's birthyear is a memorable one in the annals of the state, being the year of the extraordinary reign of the great Vigilance Committee, "the most formidable public tribunal in the history of modern civilization," that ushered an era of moral, civic and political scouring and scrubbing, whose beneficial effect was experienced for a generation. Governor Johnson, who, with Gen. T. W. Sherman, was arrayed against the committee, referred to its deliberations as "turbulence and strife without a parallel in the recorded annals of our nation."

      Politically, California voted at its first two presidential elections as follows:

      1852 1856

      Pierce (Dem.) 39,665 Buchanan (Dem.) 53,365

      Scott (Whig) 34,971 Fillmore (Am.) 36,165

      Hale (Free Soil) 100 Fremont (Rep.) 20.691

      At this November, 1856, first national election, the county went:

      Buchanan 218

      Fillmore 123

      Fremont 1

      The identity of this Republican or Whig voter was no secret. He was William Aldridge, and of an age that the younger called him "Dad." He was the choresman at Payne's trading post at Coarse Gold, as populous a voting district as there was in the territory at the time. He became known over the entire state as "the lone Republican of Fresno." Aldridge also mined at Fine Gold Gulch. The correct version here given for the first time is that he came by his political appellation on account of an incident at the first election for Lincoln. The polling place was at Mace's Garden and Captain Mace was the judge of election, electors not voting then by ballot but by oral announcements of their choice of candidates. Registration of electors was an unknown art. Everyone, who was believed to have been born on the soil and to have residence, was considered to have a vote.

      In the camp were two notorious, swashbuckling Copperheads known as Davis and Hill, very undesirable citizens and later suspected of being members of the terrorizing band in the early sixty's that robbed the cabins of Chinese miners of gold dust savings and outrageously maltreated

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