Shasta County History
Shasta County History
A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California-Chicago,
Lewis Publ. Co., 1891
SHASTA COUNTY
The records
and papers of the Alcalde of Shasta County were destroyed by fire June
14, 1853, and thus many important points of history are lost.
The word
"shasta" is derived from the Russian language. Many years ago, and among
the first travelers who visited that portion of the coast, were a party
of Russians, who passed through California, going from the north to the
south. They gave a name to many of the more prominent landmarks which they
encountered on their journey. To the peak now called Shasta Butte, a mountain
clothed with eternal snow, they gave the name of Tcheste, signifying
white, pure, chaste, clear. Subsequent travelers
and geographers changed the name to "Tchasta." The early Americans
adopted the name, and spelled and pronounced it "Chasta," but time has
changed the spelling as at present. The name was also applied to the valley
that lies at the northern base of the mountain, to the river that pours
its cold snow-waters into the Klamath, and to the tribe of Indians in that
vicinity. When the counties of the State were first organized, Mount Shasta
was in Shasta County. Afterward a new county was created (Siskiyou), which
embraces this lofty mountain within its borders.
Shasta, despite such curtailment
of its original proportions, remains a very large county, its area comprising
3,765 square miles. As at present organized, this county is bounded on
the north by Siskiyou County, on the east by Lassen, on the south by Tehama,
and on the west by Trinity.
The whole
of this county is more or less mountainous, the Sierra Nevada striking
across its eastern border, and a branch of the Coast Range striking the
western side, the crest of the latter forming the boundary line between
this and Trinity County. Aside from these more prominent ranges, the face
of the country here is diversified by many short straggling chains of mountains
and irregular masses of hills. Standing in the Sierra Nevada, within the
limits of this county, are several high peaks. The principal one of these,
Lassen, has four distinct summits, the highest being 10,577 feet above
the sea level. These summits are the fragments of what was once a great
crater rim, formed when this was an active volcano.
Through
this county flows the Sacramento River, and the McCloud and Pit rivers,
tributaries from the northeast. Many smaller streams are also in
the county. This region also abounds in mineral springs, many of them "thermals,"
and some of these boil fiercely, with a loud noise.
The western
part of the county, and also the greater portion of the Sierra Nevada lying
to the east, are covered with forests of pine, spruce and fir. The
remainder of the county is but poorly timbered, much of the northeastern
part being nearly treeless. In the southern portion of Shasta there is
found along the Sacramento River a considerable extent of good farming
land. Most of the tillable land elsewhere in the county is confined to
the creek bottoms and small mountain valleys.
Besides
gold and silver, Shasta contains the useful metals and minerals in great
variety. Her deposits of gold, iron and copper, though not much developed,
are no doubt valuable. From the earliest day the county has been a prominent
mining region, and we regret that we have not space to enumerate the many
notorious mines of the past, as well as the successful ones of the present
day. We depend upon the biographical sketches in a subsequent portion of
this volume for most of the important details.
The northern
regions of Shasta County were entered by miners in 1850 by way of Trinity
and Klamath rivers, and rich diggings were found, notably in Scott's Valley,
named after J. W. Scott, who located himself on Scott's Bar in July or
August, 1850. Governor Joseph Lane, of Oregon, was probably the first regular
prospector near Yreka, while Rufus Johnson's party, which penetrated from
Trinity to Yreka Creek in August, 1850, following in his tracks, had been
prospecting the eastern districts during July. So large an immigration
set in that winter, from the south as well as from Oregon, that the section
was in March, 1852, formed into a separate county by the name of Siskiyou.
The seat, of government was assigned to Yreka, whose exceedingly remunerative
flat deposits, opened in March, 1851, within a few weeks transformed the
first tents into an important town, first known as Thompson's Dry Diggings,
then with a slight change in location as Shasta Butte; and this, clashing
with the Lower Shasta, Yreka was adopted, together with the county-seat,
the name being a corruption of Wyeka, whiteness, the Indian term for the
adjacent snow-crowned Shasta. Lockhart was prominent in formally laying
out the town in August, 1851. Some ascribed the first house to Boles and
Dane. The town was incorporated in 1854, illegally, but legally in 1857.
Although the place somewhat declined with the mines, it still held a leading
place in the county.
The decline
of the diggings is compensated for by the fertility of Shasta Valley. In
the adjoining Scott Valley, Fort Jones acquired the supremacy. This place
was founded in 1851 as Wheelock's Trading Station, and later called Scottsburg,
and incorporated in 1872. In the upper part of the county Etna rose around
the flour and saw mills erected in 1853­'54 and absorbed Rough
and Ready.
The southern
part of Shasta was in 1856 segregated for the formation of Tehama County.
Although occupied by several settlers before 1848, the district received
for some time little addition to its occupants, owing to the strange lack
of gold, although bordering on three sides by productive mining districts.
It became evident, however, that traffic must pass this way for the mines
east and north of it, and in 1849 three towns were founded, two on Deer
Creek, which survived only on paper, Danville and Benton. Thus Tehama received
a decided impulse as the proclaimed head of navigation. It became a lively
stage town, and a fine farming district sustained it until the railroad
came. Its prosperity was for a time checked by the ascent of a steamboat
(the Jack Hays) to Red Bluff, which began to rise in 1850.
In October,
1849, Shasta, then known as Reading's Springs, because of the fine springs
at that point, was a busy village of tents and nearly as many people lived
on the hill as in the town under the same, where most of the buildings
now are. Among those who spent the memorable winter of 1848–'49 there were
R. J. Walsh and John S. Follansbee. Dick Chadman, a native of Tennessee,
camped on the hill in January. Several Oregonians settled on the hill as
soon as the trails were passable in the spring of 1849, and engaged in
mining on Rock, Middle and Salt creeks. In October several log cabins were
started up but none completed, and several hundred people arriving that
fall were obliged to live in tents that winter and even sleep in the open
air in blankets. The rainy season set in November 2, and from that time
it rained quite steady, and sometimes very hard, through November, December
and the greater part of January. As might be expected it produced great
discomfort and a panic. Some sold their provisions at ruinous prices and
hurried off to Sacramento and San Francisco. Though freights had been forty
and fifty cents per pound between Sacramento and Shasta, they sold their
flour as low as twenty cents per pound, and other things equally as low.
R. J. Walsh was the only man having money who dared to invest. He
bought largely, and when travel was cut off by the impassability of the
Sycamore slough, he made a corner on every article of merchandise in his
store, and, within thirty days after he had purchased flour at twenty cents
per pound, was selling it at $2.00, $2.25 and as high as $2.50 per pound.
He was known to sell many a sack of flour, cash down in glittering gold
dust for $225, or at the rate of $450 per barrel! In those flush days the
price of a sack of flour was no more thought of than now. Dr. Benj. Shurtleff,
his cousin Harrison J. Shurtleff, Dr. Hall, from Vermont, and Mr. Belcher,
from Massachusetts, were living and messing together, and occasionally
indulged in the luxury of a peach pie, which cost $1.50 each. The pioneer
pie factory was run by Benj. F. Washington, Vincent E. Geiger and William
S. Lacy. Geiger cut the wood, Washington made the pies, and Lacy was the
salesman.
Early
in 1851 the first white child was born, a girl, to Mrs. and Mr. John Carthy,
but she lived only a few weeks. The first white male child born in the
county was at French Gulch, April 24, 1851, namely, C. F. Montgomery, afterward
a resident of Arizona and business manager of the Daily and Weekly Nugget,
published at Tombstone.
Pierson
B. Reading, a native of New Jersey, came to California overland as a member
of the Chiles-Walker party. Becoming clerk and chief of trappers for Sutter,
he made wide explorations in 1844–'45; commanded the Fort during Sutter's
absence in the Micheltorena campaign; obtained in 1844 a grant of the San
Buenaventura rancho; in 1846 he was active from the first in promoting
the settlers' revolt, and served in 1846–'47 in the California Battalion
as pay­master, with rank of major. Afterward he settled on his
Shasta County rancho, but in 1848—'49 engaged extensively in mining on
the Trinity River, where Reading Bar bore his name. In 1849 he had a store
at Sacramento, in company with Hensley & Snyder, besides taking a part
in political affairs. In 1851 he was candidate for State Governor, barely
missing election. Subsequently he devoted himself to agriculture in Northern
California. He died in 1868, at the age of fifty-two years, leaving a widow
and five children. Major Reading was a man of a well-balanced mind, honorable,
energetic and courteous.
The late
Chief Justice, Royal T. Sprague, came to Shasta in. September, 1849. He
with others came overland from Ohio, forded the Sacramento River at Moore's
rancho and built a log house just north of the Potter place, where they
spent the winter, and in the spring and summer of 1850 he moved on Clear
Creek at Grizzly Gulch.
The late
General Joseph Lane was also a Shasta County miner. He mined in the vicinity
of Olney Creek and Oregon Gulch. He was an agreeable and intelligent man,
with strong, practical common sense. He returned to Oregon in the fall
of 1850.
The Mexican
land grant in Shasta County was that of San Buenaventura, 26,632 acres,
patented to E. D. Reading in 1857.
WEBB AND THE DUNCAN BROTHERS.
In 1852
Colonel A. H. Webb was living in Harristown, in Shasta County, where he
kept a store. He shrewdly preserved the good people from Indian depredations.
During that period three brothers named Duncan, apparently of the
Caucasian race but really one-quarter Indian blood and identified with
the Cherokee nation, were causing much trouble in the community. They were
large and stout, and very rough in manners and morals. One day two of these
brothers, mounted upon half-broken mustangs, rode into and out of every
house in the village, apparently on a wager, but making an exception of
Mr. Webb's store, as the proprietor said he could not afford to have his
goods damaged. They respected him. But the next day, having been taunted
by a boon companion with the failure to fully complete the stipulations
of the bet, the two men determined to do so, come what would. Mr. Webb
gave no more thought to the matter and was upon the second day busy about
the store, when with a clatter and crash the younger of the two Duncans
forced his foaming and struggling mustang directly into the store. Mr.
Webb turned toward the intruder in astonishment and anger, and Duncan,
noticing his indignation and immediately giving rein to his natural insolence,
exclaimed with an oath, "Perhaps you do not like my riding in here?" Irritated
beyond endurance, Webb stepped rapidly behind the desk, snatched a loaded
revolver and covered the desperado in an instant, while he answered with
stern emphasis, "No, I don't like it; and you have just twenty seconds
to ride out of here before you get this bullet in your brain. Go!" Duncan
saw the merchant's deadly purpose, and, wheeling his horse, dashed out
of the store in an instant..
The news
that Mr. Webb had driven one of the Duncans out of the store at the muzzle
of a pistol soon spread about, and while it increased his popularity with
a majority of the inhabitants it changed the feeling of careless friendliness
with which the desperado brothers had hitherto regarded him to one of bitter
hatred, which every one predicted would speedily culminate in a tragedy.
But more than a year elapsed without anything of that nature happening,
and Webb moved to Bald Hill, in the same county, where he continued in
the same business. The Duncans were as frequently seen there as at
Harristown. At a local election soon held at that place the three Duncans
were, as usual, making themselves the most conspicuous figures in the large
assemblage, drinking and carousing. The polls were across the street from
Webb's store, and Webb, being one of the judges of the election, left the
store in charge of his partner. He saw young Duncan in the store, but paid
no special attention to it, as it had been so long since the trouble they
had had.
Suddenly
Webb felt his long hair seized from behind and saw a bowie knife coming
in the other hand of the villain toward him; when a young man named Kit
seized the would-be murderer's arm and arrested the blow at the very instant
when the point of the weapon was against Webb's breast. Foiled in his immediate
purpose, but still retaining his hold both upon the knife and his intended
victim, Duncan turned to the latter, saying tauntingly, while he savagely
struggled to free his right arm for a second blow, "Why don't you
beg for your life?" " No, I will not," was the answer: " the sooner you
let me go the better it will be for yourself." " Let you go ?" shrieked
the desperado as he struggled in vain to free his arm, "let you go! I will
kill you first."
The crowd
separated the men. Webb remained in his room, his enemy being forced out
into the street, and, being unarmed, looked around for a weapon: Several
rifles were lying about, but as he picked up one after another, the owners
told him that they were not loaded. It struck him finally that the statements
were not true, being made through the fear which most of the people had
of Duncan and his gang, and examination of one of the rifles confirmed
his suspicions. At this moment some one called out, "Duncan is in your
store; he has attacked your partner." Webb sprang across the street and
into the store, found the report true and raised the rifle; but Duncan
let go, sprang into the back door, and as he put his hand into his hip-pocket
to get a revolver Webb fired upon him and shattered the hand while in the
pocket, and the bullet also entered the body. Duncan did not fall, but
fired the weapon with his left hand, missing his mark. Webb rushed back
to the polling place, got another gun, and as he merged into the street
again Duncan came out of the store and fell on his face. The crowd urged
Webb to finish killing him and rid the community of a desperado. A stalwart
miner named Ridge, who was an educated Indian, also urged Webb to finish
killing Duncan. Webb would not be persuaded to attack a fallen foe, and
the latter was carried away by his friends. Webb was then warned that he
did the most injudicious thing for the safety both of himself and of the
community. Sure enough, he was soon informed that threats of vengeance
by the savages had been made. Seeing one of the Duncans passing one day,
he said, "I have nothing to say to you personally, sir, but you will take
this message to the young Duncan and his brother, tell them that if I hear
of another word of threat being uttered against me, I will shoot young
Duncan in his bed. Will you carry that message?" The man promised compliance
and probably fulfilled his promise, for no other threats were heard from
them afterward.
Webb,
shortly afterward visiting the county-seat, was surrounded by the citizens,
who asked him whether he wanted a trial or not. He said he did not care—only
the time attending one interfered with his business. The crowd immediately
voted not to try him and gave him a banquet in the evening.
During
the following year, 1854, Webb passed through the Cherokee. Nation on a
trip to the East. He stopped overnight on a fine plantation kept by a middle-aged
Cherokee of mixed blood, though to all appearance a polished Southern gentleman.
During the evening the following conversation ensued:
Host—"By
the way, Mr. Webb, were you ever in a county in California which I think
they call Shasta?"
Webb—"Certainly,
I have lived there for several years past, and am very well acquainted
there."
"Indeed!
then you must know my nephews, young Duncan and his brothers?"
"Oh,
yes; I know them quite well. Are they your nephews, indeed?"
"Yes;
my sister's children; but tell me, since you knew them so well, is it true
that young Duncan was shot last year in a quarrel with some desperado or
other?"
Webb
repressed a strange mixture of feelings and answered calmly, "It is said
that he was shot; though why the man who did it can be justly termed a
cut-throat or desperado, I must say is by no means certain."
"Oh,
well," said the Cherokee, "it is quite possible I may have heard it incorrectly;
it was only a very indifferent account that reached me.. Please tell me
all the particulars."
Webb
told them all, skillfully suppressing the name of the store-keeper in the
affair, which his host did not notice.
"What
became of the villain?" he finally asked; "is he still there?"
"I believe
not. In fact, I know that he went away some months since, and I have reason
to think he left the State."
"Well,
it doesn't matter; I dare say it was young Duncan's fault, as you have
suggested; he was always a wild youth, and when he drinks there is no holding
him in."
The next
morning, after a hearty breakfast, host and guest parted in a friendly
manner. Some time after Webb returned to the coast someone asked him, "Colonel,
suppose the planter had asked you the name of the man who shot his
nephew, what would you have said ?" " I would have told him that his name
was Webb, but don't know that I should have taken any particular
pains to impress him with the thought that I was that particular Webb."
"Suppose he discovered the truth: what would you have done?" "I can't say
with any certainty, of course, but I think he would have entertained
me just as hospitably, and the next morning he would have mounted his horse
and ridden out on the prairie with me until we were out of sight of the
house, drawn a pistol and told me to defend myself." " What became of
young Duncan?" "Oh, he flourished for several years afterward, but
finally had a quarrel with some one else and got a bullet between the eyes."
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
The name
Shasta was given the town by a meeting of its citizens held June 8, 1850,
in the front of the store of R. J. Walsh, where Army Hall was afterward
built.
The St.
Charles Hotel, built by James Macly & Co., and the Trinity House, built
by W. S. Bonfield and David Casanant, were the first frame buildings in
the town. The lumber from which they were built was whipsawed by Jonathan
Otis and his partner; and cost $1 per foot, or at the rate of $1,000 per
1,000 feet. These buildings were erected in the summer of 1850. Macly was
a man of great energy and enterprise. He subsequently went East and while
on his second trip across the plains to California, was killed by Indians
in Honey Lake Valley. His remains were brought to Shasta and buried in
the old cemetery.
The law
authorizing the organization of Shasta fixed the county-seat at Reading's
ranch, but power was vested in the Court of Sessions to remove the county-seat
to such point in the county as public convenience might require. February
10, 1851, Judge Harrison and County Clerk Robinson, with justices of the
peace enough to form a quorum, went to the residence of Major Reading and
organized the Court of Sessions by electing two of the justices of the
peace associate justices. The court then removed the county-seat to Shasta,
taking it borne with them that night.
The first
court-house was a log building. Later a double brick store was purchased
and fitted up for a court-house, which served the purpose until the county-seat
was removed.
When
the railroad was projected through the State the citizens of Shasta took
hold with commendable zeal to have it built to Shasta, and spent both money
and time freely, but failed in securing it. The road was built in 1872,
and the town of Reading started. Many of the enterprising: citizens of
Shasta sold out at heavy losses and went to the new town, and since then
Shasta has made no advancement; and the place that was once the most rushing
business town in the county is now very quiet. It is very pleasantly located.
The following
are some of the leading business men of the place: Colonel William Magee,
John V. Scott, Frank Litsch, general merchandise; A. W. Pryor, druggist;
Judge G. R Knox, C. H. Beherns, dealers in grain and hay and proprietors
of the Empire Hotel, and Joseph E. Bell. The town has excellent schools.
Mrs. D. M. Coleman is principal. The town has the honor of having the oldest
Masonic Lodge in the State,—Western Star, No. 2. The lodge at San Francisco
was organized the same month, and the brethren at Shasta waived their claim
to No. 1 and took 2. There is also in the town a lodge of the I. O. O.
F., Encampment No. 14, and Shasta Lodge, No. 57; and there is Shasta Lodge
A. O. U. W., No. 71.
COUNTY OFFICERS FROM 1854 TO 1881 INCLUSIVE.
1854-1856
Sheriff ---W. A. Nunnally
County Clerk ---T. W. Dawson
District Attorney --- Joseph Ward
Treasurer --- J. R. Gilbert
Coroner --- E. G. Goodwin
Public Auditor --- D. D. Harrill
Assessor --- S. E. Jack
Surveyor --- E. C. Gillette
Superintendent of Schools --- Paul K. Hubs
Assemblyman --- John A. Ring
State Senator --- R T. Sprague
County Judge --- J. C. Hinkley
Another election was held September 5, 1854, when the following officers
were elected:
Surveyor ---William Magee
Assessor --- William S. Hughes
District Judge ---William P. Daingerfield
Assemblyman --- Henry Baten
1856-1858.
Sheriff --- John A. Dubelbis
County Clerk ---William S. Jenkins
Deputy Clerk ---H. L. Van Horn
Under Sheriff ---William Magee
Deputy Sheriff ---John Hale
Treasurer --- G. C. Farquhar
Assessor --- James Hayburn
District Attorney ---E. Garter
Public Administrator ---B. Swasey
County Surveyor --- A. H. Stout
County Physician ---J. E. Pelham
District Judge ---William P. Daingerfield
County Judge --- J. C. Hinkley
Associate Judge --- E. K. Shed, J. W. Greevey
School Commissioner --- J W. Chappel
Supervisors --- L. H. Tower, William H. Dennison
At the November 4 election
in 1856 the following were elected to fill short terms:
Superintendent of Schools ---H. A. Curtis
Surveyor ---William Magee
Assessor --- R. B. Snee
Assemblyman ---Isaac Hare
1858-1860.
Sheriff --- Clay Stockton
County Clerk --- H. I. Van Horn
Public Administrator --- B. Swasey
Treasurer --- James Hayburn
Assessor ---William H. Angel
Coroner --- Doctor Gutman
Surveyor --- E Linn
Superintendent of Schools --- Peter Sherman
County Judge --- Joel T. Landrum
Assemblyman --- Charles R. Street
District Judge ---William P. Daingerfield
State Senator --- E. Garter
1860-1862.
District Judge ---William P. Daingerfield
County Judge --- Joel T. Landrum
Associate Justices --- C C. Bush, G. H Brooks
County Treasurer --- James Hayburn
Recorder --- J R. Durick
County Clerk --- John Anderson
Sheriff --- John S. Follansbee
Under Sheriff ---William H. Angel
Tax Collector --- A. S. Killman
Deputy Tax Collector --- Ben D. Anderson
Assessor --- B. Gartland
Public Administrator ---Dennis H. Dunn
Surveyor --- A. J. Quait
District Attorney ---James D. Mix
Superintendent of Public Instruction --- G. K. Godfrey
Supervisors --- John V. Scott, J. W. Romer, A. J. Reid
1862-1864.
Senator --- Benjamin Shurtleff
Sheriff --- J. S. Follansbee
County Clerk --- John Anderson
County Treasurer ---Felix Tracy
County Recorder ---J. S. Durick
District Attorney ---W. S. Knox
Assessor ---Caleb Watkins
Public Administrator ---D. H. Dunn
Superintendent of Schools --- Grose K. Godfrey
Surveyor --- E. Linn
Coroner ---Joseph Simpson
Tax Collector --- A. S. Killman
County Judge ---C. C. Bush
Assemblyman --- George Woodman
District Judge --- E. Garter
At an election held September
15, 1862, J. N. Chappell was elected Assemblyman.
1864-1866.
Sheriff --- William E. Hopping
Tax Collector --- J W. Garden
Under Sheriff --- Joseph Burrows
County Clerk --- Charles McDonald
District Attorney --- Homer A. Curtiss
County Recorder --- George D. Forbes
Treasurer --- Felix Tracy
Assessor --- A P. Ladd
Superintendent of Schools ---John J. Conmy
Coroner and Administrator ---D. H. Dunn
Surveyor --- J. F. Winsell
County Judge four years --- C. C. Bush
District Judge six years --- E. Garter
Assemblyman --- J. N. Chappell
1866-1868.
Sheriff ---William E. Hopping
Tax Collector --- J W. Garden
County Clerk --- Charles McDonald
Treasurer --- Fred B. Chandler
District Attorney --- John S. Follansbee
Recorder and Auditor --- George D. Forbes
Coroner and Administrator --- D. Lynch
Superintendent of Schools --- W. L. Carter
Surveyor --- S. P. Hicks
Assemblyman --- J N. Chappell
Assessor --- A P. Ladd
In 1867 George D. Forbes,
Recorder and Auditor, died, and Samuel Cooper was appointed to fill the
vacancy.
1868-1870.
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- Thomas Green
County Clerk, Auditor and Recorder ---G. L. Taggart
Treasurer --- Fred B. Chandler
District Attorney --- John S. Follansbee
Surveyor --- George Silverthorn
Coroner and Administrator --- Daniel Lynch
Assessor --- A P. Ladd
Superintendent of Schools --- W. L. Carter
Member of Assembly --- Perry Dryer
Senator --- J. N. Chappell
County Judge --- C. C. Bush
District Judge --- E. Garter
1870-1872.
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- Thomas Greene
County Clerk, Auditor and Recorder --- G. I. Taggert
Treasurer --- Samuel Cooper
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
County Surveyor --- Q. N. Atkins
Coroner and Administrator --- John Schuler
Assessor --- A. P. Ladd
Superintendent of Schools --- W. L. Carter
Member of Assembly --- A. R. Andrews
District Judge --- A M. Roseborough
A. P. Ladd, County Assessor,
died in 1869. Charles W. Taylor was appointed to fill the vacancy.
1872-1874.
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- Sylvester Hull
Clerk, Auditor and Recorder ---William H. Bickford
Treasurer --- Samuel Cooper
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
Surveyor --- George Silverthorn
Coroner and Administrator --- John Schuler
Assessor --- D. O. Osborn
Superintendent of Schools --- W. L. Carter
Assemblyman --- A. R. Andrews
Senator --- John McMurray
County Judge ---William E. Hopping
District Judge --- A M. Roseborough
1874-1876.
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- S. Hull
Clerk, Auditor and Recorder --- William H. Bickford
Treasurer --- J. Van Schaick
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
Surveyor --- Q. N. Atkins
Coroner and Administrator --- William P. Hartman
Assessor --- D. C. Osborn
Superintendent of Schools --- L. K. Grim
Member of Assembly --- R. Klotz
State Senator --- W. J. Tinnin
County Judge --- William E. Hopping
District Judge --- A. M. Roseborough
1876-1878.
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- S. Hull
Clerk, Auditor and Recorder ---William H. Bickford
Treasurer --- J. Van Schaick
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
Assessor --- Q. N. Atkins
Superintendent of Schools --- Mrs. D. M. Coleman
Surveyor --- George Silverthorn
Coroner and Administrator --- William P. Hartman
County Judge --- William E. Hopping
District Judge --- A. M. Roseborough
1878-1880.
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- S. Hull
Clerk, Auditor and Recorder --- F. C. Tiffin
Treasurer --- J. Van Schaick
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
Surveyor --- J. E. Stockton
Coroner and administrator --- C. Lenz
Assessor --- Q. N. Atkins
Superintendent of Schools --- Mrs. D. M. Coleman
Assemblyman --- J. C. Montague
Senator --- D. Ream
County Judge ---William E. Hopping
District Judge --- A. M. Roseborough
Treasurer John Van Schaick
died during the term, and Charles McDonald was appointed to fill the vacancy.
Coroner and Administrator C. Lenz resigned during the term, and William
Hartman was appointed to fill the vacancy. Hartman resigned, and
D. P. Bystle was appointed to fill the unexpired term.
1880-1881.
Superior Judge --- Aaron Bell
Sheriff and Tax Collector --- S. Hull
Clerk, Recorder and Auditor --- F. C. Tiffin
Treasurer --- R. Ripley
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
Surveyor --- J. E. Stockton
Coroner and Administrator --- J. D. Bystle
Assessor --- William S. Kidder
Superintendent of Schools --- Mrs. D. M. Coleman
Assemblyman --- J S. P. Bass
Senator --- A. B. Garlock
1881-1882.
Assemblyman --- John McMurray
Senator --- A. B. Garlock
Superior Judge --- Aaron Bell
Sheriff --- S. Hull
Under Sheriff --- R. Kennedy
Deputy Sheriff --- William Whiting
County Clerk --- F C. Tiffin
Assistant County Clerk --- William Jackson
District Attorney --- Clay W. Taylor
Treasurer --- Richard Ripley
Assessor --- W. S. Kidder
Assistant Assessor --- T. B. Smith
Assistant Assessor --- Benjamin Swasey
Superintendent of Schools --- Mrs. D. M. Coleman
Public Administrator and Coroner --- D. P. Bystle
Surveyor --- J. E. Stockton
Supervisors --- J. W. Gorden, J. D. Blair, Wm. Davidson.
REDDING,
the seat of government and metropolis of the county, is a beautiful
place and an enterprising commercial center, being on both the Sacramento
River and the California & Oregon Railroad, and having its complement
of schools, churches, fraternal societies, business houses, factories,
and all that conduce to the wealth and refinement of an inland city.
MILLVILLE
is pleasantly situated on the east side of the Sacramento River near
the junction of Cow and Clover Creeks. The first inhabitants here were
Samuel E. and Nathaniel T. Stroud, brothers, who located the site in 1853.
In 1856 Mr. Harold built the flour-mill now owned by Wilkinson & Ross.
The first merchant was Joseph
Smith, in 1857. The next year Mr. Hazelrig became his partner. It has
since changed hands several times. In 1860 the second business house was
started by John Hilderbrant; and this also has changed proprietorship a
number of times.
The leading business men
at present are: Joseph C. Harris & Co., general merchandise; E. E.
Rawlings, druggist; L. W. Kidd, editor and proprietor of the East-Side
Times; Wilkinson & Ross, mill owners, etc.
The village is also blessed
with lodges of Masons, Eastern Star, Odd Fellows, Daughters of Rebekah
and Native Sons of the Golden West.
THE ASSEMBLYMEN
from Shasta County have been: A. R. Andrews, 1856, 1869–'72; J. S. P.
Bass, 1880; Henry Bates, 1855; J. M. Briceland, 1875–'76; T. T. Cabiness,
1853; J. N. Chappell, 1863–'66; Perry Dryer, 1867–'68; Samuel Flemming,
1852; I. Hare, 1857; Rudolph Klotz, 1873–'74; A. G. McCandless, 1851; E.
D. Pearce, 1852; John A. Ring, 1854; Chas. R. Street, 1858–'59; John White,
1860–'61; George W. Woodman, 1862.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
California
Histories Index Page