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