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PIONEER PASTORATE 
 
 AND TIMES 
 
 EMBODYING 
 
 CONTEMPORARY LOCAL TRANSACTIONS AND EVENTS 
 
 / ^''' , iM^ . (yJi . ^o^ <! 
 
 
 Rev. Albert Williams 
 
 rOXINDEE AND FIEST PASTOK OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 ./<v^^ OF . 
 
 
 ..y^w 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 Wallace &" Hasseii, Printers, 4ig Sacramento Street 
 
 1879. 
 
 )" 
 
■^1 
 
 COPYRIGHTED. 
 
o 
 
 TO 
 
 MARY 
 
 HELPER IN MY LABORS AND SHARER OF MY JOYf 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The present volume is offered as a contribution to 
 history, in one of whose niches the subject, humble as it 
 may be, claims a place. As the oldest Protestant Church 
 organization in San Francisco, and confessedly a leading 
 religious society, the First Presbyterian Church has at- 
 tracted a marked attention and regard. Of this fact I 
 have received many proofs early and late, and from near 
 and far. 
 
 Immediately after my arrival, a characteristic friendly 
 greeting was given to me by the scholarly naval chap- 
 lain, the Rev. Walter Colton, at that time in Monterey, 
 and only a few days before his departure from the coast. 
 As a co-worker on the shore of the Pacific, in the sum- 
 mer of eighteen hundred and forty -nine, I was welcomed 
 hj the distinguished divine and statesman, the Rev. John 
 Dunmore Lang of Sydney, New South Wales. Subse- 
 quently, came to hand friendly letters from Dr. Malan of 
 Geneva, Dr. Candlish of Edinburgh, and others. These, 
 and similar proffers of cheer and encouragement, are 
 cherished in grateful remembrance. 
 
 Nor has the interest in the general subject ceasied. 
 While it is acknowledged, that the work of those days 
 is permanent, the wish is from time to time exjoressed, 
 that in written form its history may be recorded. To 
 
viii PEE FACE. 
 
 many inquiries regarding the general subject, I have in- 
 deed already responded, privately in conversations and 
 correspondence, as well as by communications through 
 the Press, and published sermons and addresses. The 
 theme, however, has not been exhausted. More has been 
 asked, in substance and mode. 
 
 So, suspending awhile engagements in connection with 
 California history in a more extended scope, in order to 
 meet what seems a requirement, as well as to gratify 
 wishes which I am bound to respect, I have thrown to- 
 gether, in the present volume, such facts and incidents, 
 recalled from the past, as may assist in an understand- 
 ing of the period under review, interesting alike to the 
 general and special reader. In a word, the First Pres- 
 byterian Church of San Francisco, in its planting and 
 early history, is the central subject of the present effort, 
 around which are grouped leading events identified with 
 it, and illustrative of the early times. 
 
 The day is remembered when doubts and fears were 
 widely prevalent, as to the final issue of the rush of 
 gold-seekers, concentrated upon a common arena, with 
 all their shades of training and habits. The problem 
 for practical solution was, in truth, one of grave import: 
 how, out of seeming or actual incongruities and even 
 antagonisms, to evolve system and harmony. And yet — 
 it may seem a wonder — from what was regarded by not a 
 few a social chaos, arose the crowning work of the times, 
 a Christian State. The conditions, trials, duties, were 
 all peculiar. In the midst of all is seen a sovereign 
 overruling Providence, concerned in the ordering of 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 events and the accomplishment of final results. Man 
 proposes, hut God disposes. 
 
 Again, referring to the question of the character of 
 the Pioneers in Church and State : virtue, patriotism, 
 and attachment to traditional, wise, and beneficent insti- 
 tutions, were their controlling principles. Let the men 
 of the early days be judged by their works. Time has 
 tested them. That generation of active laborers has 
 nearly passed away. Would their successors have begun 
 and builded as wisely and as well? 
 
 Necessarily, the present narrative is more or less per- 
 sonal in its details; for which fact, I trust no apology is 
 requisite, for, as Gibbon has truly said, "a false modesty 
 is the meanest species of pride." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 The Beginning— Voyage to Chagres— Isthmus Transit— Voyage from 
 Panama — Arrival at San Francisco Pa»e 1 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Visit to Benicia— Rev. S. Woodbridge, Jr.— First Sermons in San Fran- 
 cisco—Initial Steps in Church Organization— The Institute — 
 Second Visit to Benicia— A Sad Bereavement— Organization of 
 the First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco. . . 12 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 Introductories— General Persifer F. Smith and Commodore Thomas Ap 
 Catesby Jones— Sunday School and its Superintendent— Church 
 Choir — Wednesday Evening Prayer Meeting— An Excursion and 
 Wayside Labors— A Day at the Mission Dolores— Padre San- 
 tillan 24 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 Church Pilgrimages— The Tent- Church Edifice— Period of Great 
 Fires— Last General and most Destructive Fire — Church Burned 
 —Temporary Place of Worship— Church Eebuilt. . . 37 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 4 
 First Visit to San Jose — San Francisco Protestant Clmrches in '49 — 
 Arrival of Koman Catholic Priests — Frederick Buel — San Fran-^ 
 Cisco Bible Society Pi^ge 51 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 Disturbance of the Public Peace — "The Hounds" — First Vigilance 
 Committee — Trial and Punishment — Arrivals by Sea — "No More- 
 Ta-tiir"— Ministerial Association — Seamen's Friend Society — 
 Benevolent Society — Last Hours of Two Men — The Kev. F. S. 
 Mines — First Marriage Ceremony. ..... 58 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 Church Progress — Suffering Immigrants and Relief — Captain C. M. 
 Weber, Stockton, and the Eev. James Woods — Town-Building 
 and Town-Sites — Visit to Sacramento — The Eev. J. A. Benton — 
 Mutineers of the Cutter Eioing — Attempted Homicide of Passed- 
 Midshipman William Gibson — Naval Court and Incidents — Clem- 
 ency of Commodore Jones — Execution. . . . ' . 68 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 Climate and Novel Experiences — American House — The Humorous 
 Pope — "Good in AH" — Sickness and Cemeteries— A Notable 
 Fiineral — Day of Thanksgiving — Political Affairs — State Govern- 
 ment and its Inauguration — Earthquake — First Fire. . . 78 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 Winter of 1849-50 — Communion Season and Incidents — "A Eegular 
 New School Blue Presbyterian" — ^ Annual Eeview — Presbytery of 
 California— The Press of San Francisco— r/;e Watchman — Family 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 Reunion— Visit to Oregon— Dedication of the Presbyterian Church 
 of Clatsop Plains— Two Deeply Lamented Deaths — Cholera in 
 San Francisco— Ecclesiastical Councils— Second Meeting of the 
 Presbytery of California and Installation. . . . Page 93 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 A Busy Period— Dedication— Orphan Asylum Society— Eenewal of 
 Crime— Vigilance Committee of 1851— Executions— Whittaker 
 and Mackenzie — Eeview of 1851 108 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 -Christian Work among the Chinese— The Eev. Messrs. W. G. Canders, 
 Kobert McCoy, and Joshua Butts— Welsh Church of San Fran- 
 cisco—Founding of the Presbyterian Chinese Mission— Sunday 
 School Third Anniversary— Church of Santa Clara— Synod of 
 the Pacific. 121 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 Period of Excitements over Land Titles— Eainy Season of 1852-53— 
 Flour Monopoly— Marriage Incidents — The Scotch. , . 133 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 Increase of Church Officers— Church Organ — Young Men's Christian 
 Association of San Francisco — Yankee Enterprise — New Church 
 Edifice Proposed — Privileges of Travel — Commodore John D. 
 Sloat — Captain Patterson, the Cholera, Lieutenant Derby — Mis- 
 sion Church — Eesignation — Organization of Calvary Church — 
 Eeligious Influences Appreciated 144 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 Close of the Pastorate — Note to the Session, aud Keply — Kesokition of 
 the Church, aud Letter of the Trustees — Action and Eesolutions 
 of the Presbytery — Farewell Discourse. . . . Page 162 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 Ketlections on the Past — Early Imuiigratiou aud Trials — Novel Fea- 
 tures — The Chief Place of 1849 — Formation of the State Govern- 
 ment — High Wages and Housekeeping — Fifteen per Cent, per 
 Month — Moral Standard — Pubhc Men and Leaders. . . 187 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 Predictions, Sombre and Bright — Sau Francisco : A Dream — Increasing 
 Prodi;ctions — Statistics of Agriculture, etc. — Trade aud Com- 
 merce — California aud the Orient. ..... 203 
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 
 Benevolence — Sanitary Commission and Incidents — Systematic Chari- 
 ties — Common Schools — Colleges — Libraries — Literature and 
 Music — Distance aud Time — Religious Societies — Presbyterian 
 Churches — Concluding Remarks 229 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Beginning— Voyage to Chagres— Isthmus Transit— Voyage from 
 Panama — Arrival at San Francisco. 
 
 " MuTATio MiRABiLis !" is the motto under which, 
 in my diary, I made the following entry: " Clin- 
 ton, Xew Jersey, February 1st, 1849. After a 
 pastorate in this place of ten years, I this day 
 received a joint commission from the Boards of 
 Education and Missions of the Presbyterian 
 Church, to proceed forthwith to the new field 
 of Christian, as it is also of secular enterprise, in 
 Upper California." 
 
 The prompting which preceded and induced 
 this movement was, first from without, made by 
 esteemed friends who had determined to join the 
 throngs of men hastening to the new Eldorado, 
 and who solicited my company; and next, through 
 the interposition of the same gentlemen, the prof- 
 fer of authority, in the name of the General As- 
 sembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United 
 States, from the above named Boards, to enter 
 upon the important undertaking. To this grave 
 proposal I gave my assent, after a serious though 
 necessarily brief consideration, and with the ap- 
 proving counsel of valued friends in Princeton, 
 Philadelphia, and Xew York. The issuance and 
 
 A 
 
2 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 recei]3t of my commission followed. The time 
 for preparation for the long voyage was limited. 
 My departure was desired to be " forthwith." 
 The next " steamer -day" was set for the 5th of 
 February. By a diligent use of the interval, I 
 was made ready for the sudden change which had 
 invaded " the spirit of my dream." For, more 
 like a dream than a reality it seemed to me, when 
 having embarked, February 5th, 1849, at New 
 York, on board the steamship Crescent City, Stod- 
 dard, master, for Chagres, day by day the distance 
 was widening between me and my late home and 
 associates, and, steadily also, I was borne onward 
 towards my far-off destination. 
 
 Before sailing, the report was current that some 
 balf a dozen clergymen had engaged passage with 
 us. With interest, near the gangway, I watched 
 the embarkation, to see if I could recognize any 
 belonging to the cloth. If any, I thought I dis- 
 covered one, wrapped in a blue cloth cloak, with 
 narrow cape — a grave looking gentleman withal; 
 but I was mistaken. In truth, I was the solitary 
 representative of the profession on board; and 
 the agreeable manner in which my presence was 
 acknowledged, at once gave me an assuring en- 
 couragement. Several of the passengers were my 
 familiar acquaintances — to others, I was not un- 
 known; and soon, with many more, sprang up a 
 mutually pleasant intercourse. 
 
A PIONEER PAS TOE ATE. 3 
 
 On board the Crescent City^ in the ordering of 
 events, among my three hundred fellow-passengers 
 and a large ship's company, began my Pioneer 
 Pastorate. In anticipation of the only Sunday 
 which occurred during the Atlantic voyage, I was 
 requested to perform religious service on that day. 
 Sunday, 11th of February, dawned upon us under 
 tropical skies, and at midday we were sailing ovei* 
 a smooth sea, between the islands of Hayti and 
 Cuba. At the orthodox hour of eleven, the call 
 to worship drew together a large assemblage. 
 In addition to the usual devotional exercises, I 
 preached a sermon from Psalm LXYI., 13, 14: 
 "I will go into Thy house with burnt offerings," 
 etc. The subject was " Religious Yows." 
 
 After the service, many came forward, and, in- 
 troducing themselves by name, spoke of the plea- 
 sure the}^ had enjoyed. Of these were not a few 
 who said they were church members. Nearly all 
 were officers and members of raining associations, 
 who kindly asked me to visit them in the gold 
 regions, where they would provide a place for re- 
 ligious worship. An elderly gentleman, not a 
 church member, whose family were parishioners 
 of Dr. Bethune in Philadelphia, said his feeling 
 while I was preaching was, "Almost thou persuad- 
 est me to be a Christian!" and he had told his 
 pious son, before leaving home, he hoped to find 
 something better than gold. Another had " re- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 solved not to lose his religious attainments." And 
 all had determined not to do work on Sunday, A 
 friend remarked, he thought our entire company 
 would compare favorably with the Pilgrims of 
 Plymouth. 
 
 Such are a few of the palpable demonstrations 
 of character which help to refute the false repre- 
 sentations which have been sometimes associated 
 with the pioneer gold seekers, in reference to 
 whom truth compels the declaration, that the 
 desire of gold had not an exclusive place in their 
 hearts. Of this voyage of the Crescent City and 
 its many gratifying associations, I retain ever- 
 grateful memories. The names of the passengers 
 whose companionship was specially agreeable; are 
 cherished in my choicest recollections. Suffice it 
 to mention only, from a large number. Dr. James 
 C. Cobb, Col. Gilbert A. Grant, Wm. J. Lewis, 
 Theodore T. Johnson, George H. Howard, Col. J. 
 C. Zabriskie, Dr. Henry Race who had prompted 
 and largely influenced my owai adventure, and my 
 esteemed friend and late parishioner, Capt. George 
 W. Taylor, martyr General in the late civil war. 
 
 The voyage to Chagres ended on the 14th of 
 February. A few hours only before our arrival, 
 the Falcon^ which sailed from New York on the 
 1st of February, and had touched at Havana, 
 with a company of passengers nearly equal to our 
 own number, had dropped her anchor in that har- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 5 
 
 bor. The two ships' living freight, landing simul- 
 taneously and requiring immediate transportation 
 to Panama, increased the difficulty of forming 
 contracts, amid so great competition, which would 
 be faithfully observed. At length, the nearly six 
 hundred " Californians," as we were called, were 
 provided, at enhanced rates, with passage by 
 canoes to ascend the Chagres river, and after- 
 wards, at Gorgona and Cruces, with mustangs for 
 the land conveyance. 
 
 The interest of the commingling of the two 
 parties from the Crescent City and the Falcon was 
 enlivened by many pleasant acquaintanceships 
 formed, and continued interchanges of friend- 
 ship. Thus, as well as in the case of my asso- 
 ciates of the Crescent Citij, I was brought into 
 intimate fellowship with many whom it is my 
 special honor to add to the "list of friends." 
 More favored were they of the Falcon than the 
 exclusively male passengers of the Crescent City, 
 by the presence and charm of two most estima- 
 ble Christian ladies, Mrs. Bezer Simmons and 
 Mrs. John W. Geary. To name a few of my new 
 acquaintances: Captain Bezer Simmons, who had 
 been a successful shipmaster in the Pacific Ocean, 
 battling with the sea-monsters, had visited Cali- 
 fornia and secured valuable properties, and was 
 prepared to engage in commercial business in 
 San Francisco as head of the firm of Simmons, 
 
6 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Hutchinson k Co. ; and Col. John W. Geary, who 
 had proved himself a brave officer in the Mexican 
 war, and was the bearer of a commission as the 
 first Postmaster of San Francisco; and, as not 
 needing special description, as those named need 
 it not, Frederick Billings, Esq., who promptly 
 gave me his friendship and its warmth, which I 
 was as ready to reciprocate, and who remarked, 
 very early in this new mutualness of regard, "It 
 seems, Mr. W., as if I had known you always;" 
 and Dr. George F. Turner, Chief of the Medical 
 Staff of the Military Department of the Pacific; 
 Professor Forrest Shepherd, of Yale and Western 
 Reserve Colleges; W. W. Caldwell, merchant, of 
 Richmond, New Orleans, and Havana; and, not 
 to name more, a Commission of the United States 
 Army and Navy, for service in scientific observa- 
 tions, consisting of Captains Yan Brunt, Golds- 
 borough, and Knox, and Lieut. Blunt, U. S. X., 
 and Major Smith, U. S. A. 
 
 More favored than the preceding company of 
 steamer voyageurs, it was our happiness to suffer 
 no inconvenience from drenching rains and epi- 
 demic disease during the Isthmus transit. 
 
 On account of the non-arrival of the steamer 
 Oregon at Panama, with many others I stopped sev- 
 eral days at Gorgona, on the upper Chagres river. 
 
 Arriving at Panama, Saturday, February 24th, 
 before I had taken lodgings, I was met by Col. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 7 
 
 Zabriskie with the message that I was desired 
 to conduct public religious service the next da}'. 
 Accordingly, at 11 o'clock a. m., Sunday, a large 
 assembly gathered in the spacious dining hall of 
 the American Hotel, and joined in divine worship. 
 Not only " Calif ornians," but also several respect- 
 able Panamenos attended the service. The latter 
 seemed deeply interested, and afterwards spoke 
 admiringly of the simple and solemn character of 
 our forms of worship. Thus, in the same place, 
 on the two succeeding Sundays, while awaiting 
 the arrival of the steamer Oregon, my services 
 were desired and given, in leading the sacred 
 worship of my countrymen. 
 
 Not only in these public exercises, but often 
 during my stay in Panama, my services were 
 called in requisition to visit the sick, and in a 
 few sad instances, to bury the dead. Though the 
 diseases of fever and cholera which had so greatly 
 afflicted the first steamer company, a month pre- 
 ceding, had disappeared, still, from constrained 
 exposure, from fatigue, and sometimes from im- 
 prudence, many were attacked by sicknesses inci- 
 dent to the climate, which, in exceptional cases, 
 proved fatal. It is due to truth to add, the 
 general humane and sympathizing attentions be- 
 stowed upon the unfortunate and suffering, were 
 highly honorable to the sojourners in these 
 strange scenes. None known to require assist- 
 
8 A PIOXEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 ance in any form were left to want the needed 
 help. 
 
 The great absorbing wish was to embark for 
 California. Anxiously, impatiently, such as had 
 tickets for the expected steamer waited, and daily 
 they were in the habit of watching from the 
 ^'Battery" for her coming. More trying still was 
 the situation of the man}' who were unprovided 
 with steamer tickets, and who saw no immediate 
 prospect of continuino; the voyage on the Pacific. 
 
 How eagerly opportunities were sought, during 
 that period of waiting, an incident, quite unusual 
 it must be believed, will illustrate. A young man 
 who had made two trips across the Isthmus, had, 
 on account of his severe exertions and exposure, 
 become alarmingly ill, I had visited him outside 
 the cit}^ walls, and was on my way to visit him 
 again, when I met his friends bearing the melan- 
 choly news that he was dead. The report was 
 made in the hearing of a group of men, when 
 suddenly a stranger arose from the low wall upon 
 which, with others, he had been sitting, and press- 
 ing hastily forward, his eager, interrupting inquiry 
 broke strangel}'' upon us, •' Had he a through- 
 ticket?" 
 
 The good steamer Oregon, R. H. Pearson, com- 
 mander, at length, to the joy of her waiting pas- 
 sengers, appeared in the distance, and came to 
 anchor before the quaint old town of Panama. 
 
A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 
 
 On the loth of March, having spent twenty-eight 
 days altogether upon the Isthmus, the time ar- 
 rived for embarkation on board this second pio- 
 neer steamer. The number of her passengers 
 allowed for the voyage to California was limited 
 to two hundred and fifty, although subsequently 
 the same ship carried a thousand and more. 
 What with the opportune arrival of the barques 
 Uquator and Colooneij, and the purchase or charter 
 of two or three smaller vessels, nearly all who 
 were waiting at the time were provided with 
 passages. A request, before the departure of the 
 Oregon, was made by Captain William Stout, of 
 the agency of the line, that I would conduct, 
 daily, morning and evening prayers at eight bells, 
 and on Sundays, at 11 o'clock a. m., hold a re- 
 ligious service, with the addition of a sermon. 
 This plan was, without interruption, carried out, 
 and it is believed with a special appreciation, 
 generally, on the part of the passengers. 
 
 The continuity of the voyage was broken by a 
 delay of two days, for the purpose of coaling, at 
 San Bias, and by entering the harbors of San 
 Diego and Monterey for the exchange of mails. 
 In remarkably good time, and without any un- 
 toward event, on the 1st of April, we entered the 
 Golden Gate, and cast anchor in the good port of 
 San Francisco. Whatever inconveniences had 
 been suffered were all absorbed in the pleasure 
 of a safe ending of a long voyage. 
 
10 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Exciting beyond description was the scene pre- 
 sented on landing. Everybody, every moveable 
 thing was astir. The newly arrived, with their 
 pent-up longings, were not the least active, and 
 entered with all their zeal into the arena of strife. 
 A day lost by delay in reaching the gold-diggings, 
 the destination of nearly all, was regarded a great 
 calamity. Some tarried of choice, pitching their 
 tents, temporarily, in order to dispose of such 
 small invoices of goods as had been transported 
 for speculation. Others sought the first oppor- 
 tunities for leaving the town, in launches across 
 the Bays, and up the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
 rivers. Such as were unable to avail themselves 
 of water transportation, accepted, as of next 
 choice, the circuitous land route around the 
 southern point of San Francisco Bay, and onward 
 to their destination. And still others applied 
 their skill to the building of boats, submitting 
 to this detention, though their courage was sus- 
 tained by the prospect, at no distant time, of 
 reaching points upon the upper river -courses 
 nearest to the tempting gold fields. 
 
 Of the four thousand permanent and floating 
 population of San Francisco, the greater part 
 were sheltered under tents and canvas-covered 
 houses. For more stable dwelling or business 
 places, the materials were either wanting or too 
 costly, or required too much time in the prepara- 
 tion, for the demands of immediate and pressing 
 
A PIONEEB PASTORATE. H 
 
 use. However prepared for surprises, the very 
 high rates commanded by all articles of con- 
 sumption and use, startled all newcomers. In 
 my walks, not always along streets, for they were 
 often, though named, undefined, I met a fellow- 
 passenger, who was an improvised merchant, in 
 his tent, which he had brought with him. ''What 
 do you think?" he asked. "See, for that scant- 
 ling in the centre, supporting my tent, I paid one 
 dollar per foot, twelve dollars for the piece." 
 Such was the scale of prices for all goods in 
 special demand. And every thing seemed novel, 
 much grotesque, and all strange. 
 
 It fell to my lot to behold the future me- 
 tropolis of the Pacific, as also California in gen- 
 eral, while yet the natural aspect was unchanged. 
 In the immediate front of the occupied portion 
 of San Francisco, lay the calm, crescent-shaped 
 "Yerba Buena Cove," soon after darkened by 
 hundreds of floating hulls, and now made the 
 solid foundation of commercial structures, fringed 
 with projecting wharves; and westward and south- 
 ward, beyond the limited settlement, were sur- 
 rounding heights, swelling ridges, and sand-dunes, 
 mantled with evergreen oaks and low, thorny 
 chapparal. In the busy scene of its centre of 
 social and commercial life, were planted the seeds 
 of future untold enlargement. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Visit to Benicia — Rev. S. Woodbridge, Jr. — First Sermons in San Fran- 
 cisco — Initial Steps in Church Organization — The Institute — 
 Second Visit to Benicia — A Sad Bereavement — Organization of 
 the First Presbyterian Chi;rch of San Francisco. 
 
 The desire to meet and advise with my clerical 
 brother of the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. 
 Sylvester Woodbridge, Jr., who had preceded me 
 and arrived in the country a month earlier, on 
 board the first Pacific mail steamer California, led 
 me at once to visit him at his chosen place of 
 residence and professional service, Benicia. On 
 the evening of the 3d of April, I reached the place, 
 and, at the landing, was met and cordially wel- 
 comed by Mr. Woodbridge. Two da3's were spent 
 in conferences with reference to the great field 
 and work open to Christian effort in California. 
 A promising door of usefulness seemed wisely 
 entered by my brother; a w^ide scope was before 
 me, from which to make my selection. During 
 this first brief visit, in interviews with Dr. Robert 
 Semple, one of the proprietors of the town-site 
 of Benicia, that gentleman made a tender with a 
 deed signed by himself, awaiting the signatures 
 (afterwards added) of Messrs. Thomas 0. Larkin 
 and Bethuel Phelps of joint interest, for a plot 
 of ground, favorably located, 1200 x 600 feet in 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 13 
 
 extent, for a college, under the auspices of the 
 Presbyterian Church. This is the site of the 
 present St. Augustine College, under the control 
 of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 
 At the close of the week, I returned to San 
 Francisco. A cordial, fraternal greeting was given 
 me by the Rev. T. Dwight Hunt, a Presbyterian, 
 whose sympathies with the New School branch of 
 the denomination interposed no barrier to my 
 frank recognition, on account of my Old School, 
 so-called, associations. 
 
 By the request of Mr. Hunt, I preached, in his 
 absence from the city, my first sermons in Cali- 
 fornia on the following Sunday, the 8th of April, 
 in the Public School House, situated on the south- 
 west corner of the open Plaza. Mr. Hunt had 
 been already five months in the country, provi- 
 dentially led to transfer his labors from the Ha- 
 waiian Islands to this equally missionary ground ] 
 and by the usefulness of his ministry, receiving 
 tokens of the wisdom of his self-transfer. Upon 
 his arrival, an engagement was made, constituting 
 him the Chaplain of the town, for the main- 
 tenance of a Union religious service, attended 
 upon and supported by representatives of various 
 Christian denominations. The contract was for 
 one year, under the stipulation that the incum- 
 bent within that time should not organize a de- 
 nominational church. 
 
14 A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 
 
 Having noticed, from time to time, before com- 
 ing to the country, reports of the sojourn here of 
 Protestant clergymen, and particularly those of the 
 confessed avant cozener Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 it was with surprise I found no Protestant church 
 organizations existing in any portion of Califor- 
 nia. None of the four Protestant ministers who 
 arrived a month before me, had taken any direct 
 steps towards a formal church organization. 
 
 As the church of the Puritans was in the 3fay- 
 ^fiower, so it may be truly said, the germ and 
 nucleus of the First Presbyterian Church of San 
 Francisco — honored name, and fruitful mother of 
 churches — was in the steamship Oregon. Friend- 
 ships were formed and fellowships cemented, dur- 
 ing and by means of the common experiences of 
 travel, which were shaping themselves, by mutual 
 attracting forces, into an intimate communion, 
 requiring only the touch of the finger of Provi- 
 dence to constitute those elements of Christian 
 life into an associated organic union. Such, 
 eventually, was the developed result. Many of 
 the companions of my journey, on the Atlantic, 
 on the Isthmus, and on the Pacific, particularly 
 of the official, professional, and mercantile classes, 
 established themselves in San Francisco. Of these, 
 not the least were the good and true men and 
 women, whose friendship I had enjoyed, and who, 
 still pleased to continue their confiding interest, 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 15 
 
 were prompt, when settled in their new home, to 
 confer together and plan with me the organization 
 of a church of my denomination. The first formal 
 conference in relation to this step was held in the 
 law office of Frederick Billings, Esq., in the City 
 Hotel Building, on the Clay street side, shortly 
 after my first visit to Benicia. Mr. Caldwell, Dr. 
 Turner, and Mr. Billings, with myself, were the 
 first active movers in the enterprise. Subsequent 
 meetings were held in the office of Dr. Turner, on 
 Washington street, opposite the Custom House, 
 and adjoining the Alta California newspaper office. 
 Besides the persons named, were others, some 
 older residents, and, of arrivals by the California. 
 one deserving particular mention, Judge Elihu 
 Woodruff, all of whom entered heartily with us 
 into the proposed plan of a church organization. 
 Delays occurred in carrying our plans into effect, 
 chiefly due to the want of a suitable place of 
 assembling. 
 
 While this subject was under consideration, and 
 action was necessarily postponed, another call for 
 my services, in the line of education, was made 
 upon me. At the time, there was no school of 
 any kind in San Francisco, the school which had 
 been in existence having been interrupted by the 
 disorganizing influence of the gold discovery, 
 which withdrew from the city alike teacher and 
 pupils. Influential citizens, prominent among 
 
IQ A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 whom in this respect was Mr. W. D. M. Howard, 
 invited me to take charge of a school for the in- 
 struction of young San Franciscans. Although 
 the Public School House might be supposed, 
 prima facie^ to keep its door open for educational 
 uses, it was somehow considered necessary to 
 award me a warrant for its use, through the con- 
 stituted municipal authorities, the Alcalde and 
 Ayuntamiento. And not only this, but to show 
 the interest taken in the cause of education, and 
 perhaps also for the sake of asserting its own pre- 
 rogative, the District Assembly of San Francisco, 
 a rival power to the Alcalde and Ayuntamiento^ 
 also volunteered to grant me the liberty of the 
 School House. And accordingly, and in pursu- 
 ance of its strict parliamentary usage, an honor- 
 able member prepared and offered in the Assembly 
 a "bill," which was unanimously passed, granting 
 the aforesaid franchise. The school, known as 
 " The Institute," was opened on the 23d of April, 
 and continued five months, when a pressure of 
 parochial duties compelled me to relinquish the 
 burdensome charge. 
 
 Before entering upon the school duties, and 
 while my church enterprise was delayed, I made 
 a second visit to Benicia, and, remaining over Sun- 
 day, 15th of April, on that day I was permitted to 
 assist my brother Woodbridge in the pleasant ser- 
 vice of organizing the Presbyterian Church of 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 17 
 
 Benicia, distinguished as the first Protestant 
 Church organization in California — an initial 
 action to be followed by the formation of count- 
 less churches on these shores in the years to 
 come. 
 
 Here a dark shadow overspread the circle of 
 our intimate associations, which hitherto had been 
 only radiant with joy and hope. Returning from 
 Benicia, the sad news was communicated that our 
 beloved Mrs. Simmons was seriously ill. Begin- 
 ning with a chill, a virulent type of Panama fever 
 was developed. Most anxiously the progress of 
 the disease was watched by the tenderest of 
 hearts, resisted also by the best offices of the 
 highest medical skill. But all in vain. Early in 
 the morning of the 24th of April, I was sum- 
 moned to her dying chamber. Never can I forget 
 the placid, beaming countenance which greeted 
 me, and the first words spoken from her lips: 
 " Mr. W., I am going to die. I was once afraid to 
 die, but I am not now. I trust myself in the 
 hands of Jesus." The flickering flame still burned, 
 and continued until 3 o'clock p. m. Among her 
 expressed desires was this, addressed to me: ''Mr. 
 W., you have known me longer than any clergy- 
 man here ; I wish you to deliver the funeral dis- 
 course, and have it sent — Fred will copy it — to 
 my parents." Repeatedly, as the end seemed to 
 hav^e arrived, she bade her husband, brother, and 
 
 6 
 
18 A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 all present, a cheerful, affectionate "good -by." 
 Requests and messages, which were characteristic, 
 at intervals were given, expressive of abiding love. 
 Peaceful with calm joy was the waning, departing 
 life. The gain to her was infinite; to survivors, 
 the loss irreparable. In the quiet cemetery of her 
 native Woodstock, Vermont, her mortal remains, 
 with those of her respected husband, who also, 
 alas! too soon for our sakes, was called away, 
 await the resurrection of the just. 
 
 It has ever seemed to me a special favor of 
 Divine providence, that in my first voyage to Cal- 
 ifornia it was my privilege to enjoy companion- 
 ships so agreeable, and secure friendships so 
 valued and lasting. And this not for my own 
 gratification merely, but for the higher end of 
 the cementing of a communion of Christian hearts 
 which formed the nucleus of the Church which I 
 was permitted to found. For with this fact is as- 
 sociated what, without exaggeration, is true, the 
 high social position which the society sustained, 
 in that nucleus, and the kindred elements, at its 
 organization and afterward, which it drew to 
 itself. 
 
 A leading sentiment in the minds of those who 
 constituted the original members of the First 
 Presbyterian Church of San Francisco, and which 
 prompted this early organization, was the wish 
 to unfurl the banner of church membership for 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 19 
 
 their own sake as well as the sake of others. 
 They desired to be known as under and bound by 
 their religious vows. Their wish was fulfilled. 
 The time was appointed for holding the first pub- 
 lic religious service looking to the church organ- 
 ization. In the afternoon of the second Sunday, 
 the 13th, of May, I conducted divine worship in 
 the Public School House, in the presence of a 
 goodly number of persons, and preached my first 
 sermon, preparatory to the purposed church or- 
 ganization. On the following Sunday, the 20th 
 of May, 1849, after devotional exercises and a 
 sermon, I proceeded to the formal church organ- 
 ization. A written petition was placed in my 
 hands, requesting that the petitioners be consti- 
 tuted in a church relation, to be known as the 
 First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco, under 
 the authority of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church of the United States. The 
 petitioners and original members were the follow- 
 ing: W. W. Caldwell, from the Second Presby- 
 terian Church, ISTewburyport, Massachusetts; Geo. 
 F. Turner, from the Mission Church of Mackinaw; 
 Frederick Billings, from the First Congregational 
 Church of Woodstock, Vermont; Mrs. Sarah B. 
 Gillespie, from the Presbyterian Mission Church, 
 Macao, China; Mrs. Margaret A. Geary, from the 
 Presbyterian Church of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; 
 and Mrs. Ann Hodghton, from the Mission Church, 
 
20 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Valparaiso, Chile. Upon the open afifirmation of 
 the desire expressed in the petition by the above 
 named petitioners, and their assent to the Con- 
 stitution and Government of the Presbyterian 
 Church of the United States, by virtue of the 
 authority given to me by the General Assembly 
 of the said Church, through its Board of Missions, 
 I declared the persons above named a duly con- 
 stituted church, under the title of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church of San Francisco. Mr. W. W. 
 Caldwell and Dr. George F. Turner were chosen 
 Ruling Elders of the Church. Subsequently, the 
 congregation elected Bezer Simmons, Elihu Wood- 
 ruff, and Hiram Grimes, its first Board of Trustees. 
 Thus an object was attained which was a consum- 
 mation, in this regard, fulfilling the best wishes of 
 my heart. The occasion was fraught with sincere 
 mutual congratulations, and though chastened in 
 pensive submission under the skirting cloud of 
 a deep providential bereavement, with trustful 
 courage the consecrated band, harmoniously 
 united, took its position as a part of the great 
 '^' sacramental host." 
 
 With this pioneer religious society were iden- 
 tified a goodly proportion of the leading commer- 
 cial and professional men of San Francisco in the 
 pioneer times. It is with no invidious distinction, 
 with reference to many other worthy names, that 
 mention is made of a few as representative of 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 21 
 
 the many. Of mercantile houses, were Simmons, 
 Hutchinson & Co.; DeWitt & Harrison; Finley, 
 Johnson & Co. ; McKenzie, Thompson k Co. ; 
 Alexander Cross & Co. ; Daniel Gibb & Co. ; Mar- 
 vin & Hitchcock; Thomas H. Selby & Co.; Aus- 
 tin & Kelly; G-ildemeester, DeFremery & Co.; 
 Grladwin & Whitmore; Coit & Beals, and others. 
 Of individuals, professional and business men. in 
 addition to those previously inserted : Drs. B. B. 
 Coit, S. R. Harris, Wm. Jelly, H. P. Coon, A. C. 
 Donaldson; Messrs. R. H.Waller, Thos. F. Gould, 
 James P. Howard, Nathaniel Lane, C. Y. Gillespie, 
 W. S. Clark, G. W. P. Bissell, H. M. Hale, Edward 
 H. Parker, Chas. L. Kellogg, J. D. Arthur, Thos. 
 Hopkins, Edmund Hodgson, H. H. Haight, J. B. 
 Roberts, David Beck, G. I. N. Monell, David Gil- 
 lespie, Samuel Hopkins, W. H. Stowell, Nathaniel 
 Gray, L. B. Edwards, D. A. Jennings, Samuel B. 
 King, John H. Bolton, David Jacks, John Burke, 
 the brothers W. S. and Hamlet Jacks, B. F. Ster- 
 ett, E. R. Hawley, A. R. Flint, Martin Robinson, 
 James Collyer, H. I, Thornton, Thompson Camp- 
 bell, E. D. Baker, Bailie Peyton, John Middleton, 
 Stephen S. Smith, Aug. Olbrecht, A. T. Parish, 
 Redick McKee, Alexander C. Baine, James Dunn, 
 the brothers J. J. and Ed. C. McComb, George 
 Carothers, S. Dennison, Moses Hoyt, John Wilson, 
 H. T. Havens, David Yan Pelt. 
 
22 A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 
 
 The estimable wives and daughters of parish- 
 ioners composed a crowning feature of the society. 
 We were favored also with the attendance upon 
 the church services of the British Consul, George 
 Aiken, Esq. Many interesting personal portraits 
 of individual members of the congregation might 
 be drawn, but this is hardly necessary. Suffice it 
 to refer only to one of the many who have mer- 
 ited and gained renown. 
 
 Among the members of the First Presbyterian 
 Church, enrolled in 1849, was Judge W. B. Al- 
 mond, who arrived from Missouri in the summer 
 of that year, Yery promptly after his arrival, he 
 called upon me and presented his letter of dis- 
 mission from the Presbyterian Church of Platte 
 City. The recognized ability of Judge Almond 
 secured for him the appointment of Judge of the 
 Court of First Instance in San Francisco, superior 
 to that of the Alcalde. Peculiar traits which 
 marked the character of Judge Almond have had 
 current notoriety. He was in many respects sui 
 generis. I knew him intimately. In public opinion, 
 also, he was respected for his intelligence and 
 plain, outspoken honesty. If, as has been said, 
 some make their moral sense the rule of judicial 
 action. Judge Almond could be trusted for both 
 his legal knowledge and moral sense. With a 
 ready intuition, he comprehended questions in 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 23 
 
 issue at his Court, and possessed the boldness 
 to declare and maintain his opinions. His in- 
 bred sense of right led him often to cut short, 
 by an abrupt interposition, protracted and irrele- 
 vant arguments of counsel, to the disgust of a 
 would-be flaming orator, and the saving of much 
 valuable time. Soon after the dissolution of his 
 Court, Judge Almond returned to Missouri. He 
 died some years since. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Introductories — General Persifer F. Smith and Commodore Thomas Ap 
 Catesby Jones — Sunday School and its Superintendent — Church 
 Choir — Wednesday Evening Prayer Meeting — An Excursion and 
 Wayside Labors — A Day at the Mission Dolores — Padi-e San- 
 tillan. 
 
 Congenial and special friendships formed en 
 route, gave to the First Church nucleus a favor- 
 able standing in San Francisco society. It is not 
 affectation, nor, I trust, a violation of good taste, 
 to claim for this Church the rank of, so-called, 
 '' social respectability." In addition to the privi- 
 lege of most agreeable companionships, enjoyed 
 during the two months of the voyage, it was my 
 happiness, and I esteem it also an obligation to 
 make the acknowledgment, that I was favored by, 
 and bore with me kind introductory letters from 
 distinguished friends at home. Of the fact I make 
 note, because my experience attests the value of 
 such introductories. Among these, it is due to 
 make mention of one furnished me by the Rev. 
 Dr. John Maclean, Vice-President and Professor, 
 and afterward President, of the College of New 
 Jersey. This letter was notably sympathizing and 
 friendly. Being intended for general use, when 
 the sharp eye of Dr. Robert Semple of Benicia 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 25 
 
 found in it an allusion to probable "difficulties" 
 in my undertaking, "Nothing of the kind," quickly 
 remarked the Doctor, "in a country where labor 
 is in so great demand." Another letter, which 
 availed me much, and which, with grateful recol- 
 lections, I feel bound in this connection to specify, 
 was kindly given to me by the Rev. Dr. Charles 
 Hodge, of the Theological Seminary, Princeton, 
 addressed to his Princeton College classmate, 
 General Persifer F. Smith, military commander- 
 in-chief in the Department of California and 
 Oregon. Of my newly formed acquaintances after 
 my arrival, hardly any were more helpful than 
 this distinguished soldier and statesman, in sur- 
 rounding me with agreeable influences. To the 
 commander of the Pacific squadron, Commodore 
 Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, I was also indebted 
 for an early, cordial recognition. 
 
 Thus, in these and other propitious circum- 
 stances which might be narrated, the young 
 Church which a kind Providence had permitted 
 me to plant, was not wanting in outward influen- 
 tial supports. In the changes of society, each 
 additional religious observance was marked by an 
 attendance of new worshippers. Some of these 
 identified themselves with the congregation, but 
 others were of the class of temporary sojourners 
 awaiting opportunities for going to the mines, 
 their ultimate destination. It is safe to say, dur- 
 
26 A. PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 ing the first year only of this history, many thou- 
 sands availed themselves, on their arrival in San 
 Francisco, of the opportunity of attending upon 
 our Sunday services. From that date onward, 
 even to the present, strangers have on meeting 
 me said, in our " Tent'' or other early places of 
 worship, they attended their first religious service 
 in California. 
 
 On the 4th of June, the second Sunday, after 
 the organization of the church, five persons, three 
 gentlemen and two ladies, were added to the 
 number of its members. 
 
 The Sunday School of the Church was estab- 
 lished on the second Sunday, the 11th, of June, 
 with thirteen scholars and a superabundance of 
 teachers. One of the scholars was "Sammy," a 
 Digger Indian boy, eight or nine years old, an 
 inmate of the family of Mr. C. Y. Gillespie. 
 Eight months afterwards, on the occasion of the 
 first administration of baptism in the church, 
 the "child Samuel" was one of three christened. 
 The choice of superintendent of the Sunday 
 School fell worthily upon the senior Ruling 
 Elder, Mr. W. W. Caldwell, who continued to 
 fill the office, except during a brief absence, 
 throughout the period of my pastorate, and for 
 a time afterwards. This good man and useful 
 member and officer of the First Church was pos- 
 sessed of remarkably winning manners — traits 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 27 
 
 which strongly attracted the young to himself 
 and the Sunday School. Here, as in other de- 
 partments of Christian effort, he was ready for 
 every good word and work. Essentially and en- 
 ergetically a lover and patron of the Sunday 
 School, he manifested his interest in the cause 
 to the end of a long, useful life. Having passed 
 beyond the allotted "three score years and ten," 
 his fatal sickness was contracted while minister- 
 ing to the gratification of the Sunday School of 
 the Church in Philadelphia, of which he was a 
 Ruling Elder. He died wearing the Sunday 
 School harness. 
 
 Special notice of the Sunday School of our 
 First Church is proper for various reasons ; chiefly, 
 because, under the blessing of God, it was favored 
 with the best instruction and nurture of a com- 
 pany, with the honored superintendent, of spe- 
 cially intelligent and competent teachers. Lib- 
 eral provision was always made for its wants, in 
 the supply of books and other accessories. Its 
 uniform and marked prosperity was attained in 
 the line of regular school exercises. It neither 
 knew nor needed the adjuncts of the modern 
 nostra of festive gatherings, picnics, and excur- 
 sions. The only special notoriety it received 
 was given in its usual happy Anniversary, and 
 its encouraging Reports of work done and good 
 accomplished. It is not boasting, but simple 
 
28 '4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 fact, that during my pastorate it ranked the 
 largest and most flourishing school in San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 It is proper to recall, also, the department of 
 music in the church services. Three years were 
 passed before a paid choir was introduced. Pre- 
 vious to the change, while singers, male and fe- 
 male, gratuitously served the Church, the organist 
 only receiving a compensation, economy, with ex- 
 cellence in musical performance, was the result. 
 For this grateful offering, the Church was brought 
 under deep obligation to the generous members 
 of the congregation, who so freely gave their ser- 
 vices. My own thankful heart does not permit 
 me to leave unmentioned the names of the kind 
 benefactors. A long time, as time was then 
 reckoned, we enjoyed the gratifying musical exe- 
 cution, with Mr. George F. Pettinos as organist, 
 of Messrs. James Gamble the leader, 0. D. Squire, 
 H. H. Haight, C. L. Kellogg, and S. G. White; 
 and, not less commendably, the chiming voices of 
 the female portion of the choir, Mesdames Plum- 
 mer, Gillespie, and Williams. 
 
 A Wednesday evening church prayer meeting 
 was instituted at the beginning, as it has ever 
 since continued among the regular appointments 
 of the Church. A faithful few at the first, with 
 increasing numbers as the congregation was en- 
 larged, gave prominence to this means of religious 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 29 
 
 growth. The prayer meeting was truly a centre 
 and stimulus of spiritual life, to which in an emi- 
 nent degree the intelligent and earnest Christian 
 zeal of this Church, in its many measures of 
 beneficence, must be attributed. Hence, there 
 was never wanting an agency for devising and exe- 
 cuting liberal things. The pastor, note-worthily, 
 ever found in the praying band, a fellowship of 
 well-doing to which he could appeal; and, know- 
 ing his ready helpers, appealing, he did not solicit 
 help in vain. 
 
 In this connection, I notice the fact that "Wed- 
 nesday evening is the usual time of holding the 
 weekly evening prayer meetings in the city. 
 "When, at the dedication of the First Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, the Rev. Mr. Taylor announced 
 the prayer meeting for that church on Friday 
 evening, "that it might not interfere with other 
 prayer meetings," I suggested to him the pro- 
 priety of having a common evening, leaving other 
 evenings free for occasional meetings. Mr. Tay- 
 lor at once changed his announcement, that his 
 church "might fall into line with the others." 
 
 Frequent changes of the place of holding pub- 
 lic services were not, to say the least, the most 
 favorable to church growth. Often, too, the place 
 of assembling was insufficient in capacity, and 
 sometimes wanting in comfort. Such inconven- 
 iences might be supposed to be, probably were, 
 
30 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 drawbacks. Yet the vitality of the church or- 
 ganization was maintained. If there may have 
 been reason for complaint on this account, none 
 was uttered. Cheerfully, all seeming untoward- 
 ness was borne. Strangers were not thereby hin- 
 dered from joining themselves to our company. 
 Still, in the novel conditions of the times, the 
 Church was not behind the average community 
 in outward conveniences ; and the deficiences were 
 hardly taken into the account in the estimate 
 made of the greater good, when the ''spread 
 table" was found for the refreshment of the 
 weary. 
 
 It is a very imperfect representation of pioneer 
 pastoral labor in San Francisco, if, beyond the 
 sphere of what is regarded as routine work, there 
 are not also portrayed, in somewhat real pictures, 
 the number and variety of extraordinary occupa- 
 tions, and even such as, in the divisions of effort, 
 are commonly regarded as outside of the profes- 
 sion. The pioneer clergyman, though not the less 
 a clergyman, was, by the force of circumstances, 
 more than his vocation in itself implied. He was 
 a public person, and was supposed to possess, in 
 no inferior degree, the humane instincts which 
 swell benevolent hearts. In this view, it is not 
 unnatural that the minister was often sought for 
 aid in the wide range of demands and interests 
 which ever and anon arose and made their appeal 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 31 
 
 to the sympathizing. Such, in fact, was the wide 
 field which presented itself, and of which only 
 outline touches can be given, as to the almost 
 countless calls for interposition w^hich in those 
 times were made upon myself and other clergy- 
 men in San Francisco. From abroad, far away, 
 came letters of inquiry, many of which could not 
 be answered by a dash of the pen, but required 
 search and much painstaking. In person, too, 
 often the newly arrived, with similar objects in 
 view, made, not unwelcome, their calls. Some- 
 times, not seldom indeed, these personal applica- 
 tions involved requests for assistance in obtaining 
 business employment or other relief. Increas- 
 ingly, day by day, such demands upon my own 
 attentions occurred. Often, too, came calls to 
 visit the sick and perform the last offices for the 
 dead — very many, most of these classes indeed, 
 being in the sphere of strangers. In such circum- 
 stances, when the pressure was so great, in ex- 
 citement, hurry, and overstrained activity, which 
 left for me little leisure undisturbed, often invol- 
 untarily I asked myself the question, when con- 
 trasting these with the quiet scenes of my late 
 New Jersey pastorate. What in the latter place 
 were my occupations? 
 
 If not the monotony, the pressure of the mul- 
 tifarious cares which usually came upon me, was 
 occasionally varied by a brief excursion. Such a 
 
32 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 one was made at an earlier date, in the usual 
 mode of land journeys, on horseback to the 
 Pueblo of San Jose. Following this, in July, I 
 made my first visit to quaint Sonoma. Prepara- 
 tory to the latter, I made arrangements for the 
 supply of my pulpit on the third Sunday of that 
 month, and took passage in a launch for Benicia 
 on the day previous, and spent Sunday in that 
 place, taking part with Mr. Woodbridge in the 
 services of his church. The usual duties of the 
 day over, it was proposed that we should ride 
 over to Napa and hold an evening service, which 
 was done. On Monday, we proceeded to Sonoma, 
 and were hospitably received and entertained in 
 the family of Ex-Governor Boggs. In the even- 
 ing, we held a religious service at the residence of 
 our kind host, whose large family circle, which in 
 1846 had together made the overland journey 
 from Missouri, formed a very considerable part of 
 the audience. Monday afternoon and Tuesday 
 morning were spent in walks about the town, 
 which still, with its almost exclusive adobe build- 
 ings, wore a Mexican aspect, and in a call upon 
 General Mariano Guadulupe Vallejo, whom I then 
 met for the first time. The General was thirty- 
 eight years of age, very affable and polite, and, 
 withal, frank in discourse, tolerant and liberal in 
 religion, and a strong advocate of popular educa- 
 tion. He conversed well in English. In his tones 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 33 
 
 a Castilian accent was prominent, which imparted 
 a heightened interest; as when, to my commenda- 
 tion of Sonoma scenery, he replied inquiringly, 
 " pict-u-resque, you call it?" Referring to his 
 capture, on the early morning of June 14, 1846, 
 by the Bear Flag party, the General remarked, 
 " In that affair I was caught napping." 
 
 Returning, our route was via Napa, crossing the 
 dividing ridge, into Suisun Valley. Again, in the 
 evening of Tuesday, at our lodgings with the 
 Berr}^ family, a small company having collected, 
 divine service was conducted. The next morning 
 we rode, sixteen miles, into Benicia. At the close 
 of the week I returned to San Francisco, with 
 pleasant impressions of a limited missionary tour 
 and its various incidents. General Yallejo made 
 tempting offers to Mr. Woodbridge and myself to 
 take charge of a school in Sonoma, the acceptance 
 of which our engagements prevented. 
 
 Soon after my arrival, I spent with a p?iYty of 
 friends an entire day in a visit to the Mission Do- 
 lores. With one saddle horse for the common 
 use of our party of four persons, our route lay 
 through St. Ann's and Hayes valleys, and over 
 intervening sand hills. St. Ann's Valley was over- 
 spread with a thick grove of scraggy, dwarf oaks, 
 from which, as likewise from other portions of 
 the towrx limits, was drawn a supply of fuel, sold 
 at $40 per cord. In Hayes Valley we paused to 
 c 
 
34 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 regale ourselves with its luscious wild straw- 
 berries. What with the ups and downs and wind- 
 ing courses, it seemed, as commonly held, a good 
 three miles distance to the Mission premises. 
 Here stood at the time the only Roman Catholic 
 church edifice for the worshippers of that faith in 
 San Francisco. The Mission was founded in the 
 year of American independence. Distinguished 
 from others of the same name, the selected pa- 
 tron of this Mission is St. Francis of Assissi. 
 Italy — the name also given to the Presidio, 
 established as an adjunct of the Mission, to the 
 magnificent Bay upon which both are situated, 
 and subsequently to the metropolis which has 
 overshadowed the early foundations. 
 
 A novel sight of old and new, Spanish and 
 American, was presented to our view. Changed 
 from the once busy scene of thronging Indian 
 neophytes, and their spiritual masters, the gray- 
 clad Franciscan friars, the principal Mission build- 
 ings still stood, their massive adobe walls crumb- 
 ling in decay; the church in partial ruin, its 
 interior dark, gloomy, and uncomfortable, an 
 earthen floor, and here and there a plain plank 
 bench, and the pictures upon the walls partaking 
 also of the general dilapidation. The apartments 
 next to the church, in the adjoining northern 
 wing, were occupied by the solitary Indian priest, 
 Francisco Santillan, whose name has become fa- 
 
A PIONEER PAS TOE ATE. 35 
 
 mous in connection with a defeated land claim, 
 involving the title to a large tract of city prop- 
 erty. The remaining portions of the buildings, 
 former residences of the Padres^ were occupied 
 by intruding adventurers, under color of squatter 
 right. 
 
 The ancient cemetery of the Mission, which for 
 three-fourths of a century had been the repos- 
 itory of the dead, with its unique monuments and 
 inscriptions, was an object also of special interest. 
 At intervals, in the vicinity of the church, were a 
 few adobe dwellings of California families. This 
 suburb of San Francisco, in its quiet, rural re- 
 pose, presented a scene in striking contrast with 
 the bustling activity of the city on the Bay. 
 
 Variously, the members of our party busied 
 themselves during the day. Two of the number 
 consummated a purchase of the fifty-vara lot on 
 the northeast corner of Clay and Dupont streets. 
 For myself, it seemed proper that I should pay 
 my respects to my clerical brother, Santillan, 
 and I did so. On making known my desire for 
 an interview with the Padre^ I was shown by an 
 attendant into his room, a plainly furnished apart- 
 ment, where I found him reclining, enfermo, sick. 
 On account of his illness, my visit was shortened. 
 The Padre received me very kindly. A small li- 
 brary case stood in a corner of his room. In the 
 shelves were some volumes in English; among 
 
36 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 them an English Bible. I noticed also a Latin New 
 Testament, and said, "You read Latin, Senor?" 
 Modestly he answered, ^^ Foco,'' a little. The im- 
 pression received in this interview was that Padre 
 Santillan, though imperfectly educated, and little 
 informed regarding the outside world, was a 
 simple-minded, sincere man. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Chui'ch Pilgrimages — The Teut — Church Edifice — Period of Great 
 Fires — Last General and most Destructive Fire — Church Burned 
 ^Temporary Place of Worship — Church Rebuilt. 
 
 Though beginning at the point almost of " hav- 
 ing nothing," there was given to the young Church 
 the sustaining assurance of "possessing all things." 
 I remember having been pressed, at that very 
 juncture, with what I could not regard as other 
 than a tempting question from one who, as a 
 Presbyterian, might consistently have taken part 
 with us: "Can you build a church?" The spirit- 
 ual temple is, and was, in our view, more im- 
 portant than the material. As the Tabernacle 
 was constructed and furnished in the Wilderness, 
 we could trust and go forward. 
 
 For a period, the congregation was led about in 
 a seeming pilgrimage, from its beginning to the 
 time of entering its own "holy and beautiful 
 house " 
 
 The Public School House had, until this time, 
 afforded the only place of assemblies. It was a 
 noted place. A small bell, surmounting a column 
 in the rear of the building, gave no uncertain 
 sound. As well, the venerable bell-ringer, who 
 
38 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 filled the offices of janitor and town -crier, and 
 perhaps sundry others, was a recognized, promi- 
 nent feature. In the straitened but sufficient 
 space of the School House, the Union religious 
 services, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Hunt, were 
 held, morning and evening, on Sundays. On the 
 secular days, the place was occupied by my " In- 
 stitute," and, on certain evenings of those days, 
 for the sessions of the Town Council, known as 
 the Ayuntamiento, and also of the District Assem- 
 bly, and for occasional public gatherings. 
 
 Opportunely, for the convenience of the young 
 church enterprise, at that instant the District As- 
 sembly, in the exercise of its rival authority, 
 organized an independent Court, distinct from 
 that of the Alcalde. For the holding of this 
 Court, a room was provided in a building on the 
 west side of Dupont street, between Jackson and 
 Pacific streets. An application which I made to 
 the officers of the Court, for the use of that room 
 for our Church services, Sunday School, and Wed- 
 nesday evening prayer meeting, was promptly and 
 gratuitously granted. Accordingly, the third pub- 
 lic religious service of the society, on the Sunday 
 following the organization, was held in that place, 
 and, uninterruptedly, we continued to occupy it, 
 as so generously permitted, until the time of the 
 dissolution of the District Assembly, and conse- 
 quent closing of its Court. A platform, which 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 39 
 
 was given to me by a gentleman doing business in 
 the vicinity, served both for the Bench and Pulpit. 
 
 A new place of worship was sought. In the 
 immediate neighborhood, on Pacific street, in the 
 second story of an unfinished building, we met 
 on the two following Sundays. 
 
 Incidentally, through a friend, I learned a large 
 tent, which had been the marquee of a military 
 company in Boston, the property of a disbanded 
 mining association, was oflfei'ed for sale. Con- 
 sulting with the gentlemen of the congregation, I 
 purchased it for the sum of two hundred dollars. 
 Just at that time, I had bargained for a church 
 site on the west side of Dupont street, between 
 Pacific and Broadway streets. Upon that vacant 
 lot, it was decided to "pitch" the Church Tent. 
 Nearly the whole of Saturday, the 18th of August, 
 was spent in its erection. The volunteers for the 
 work, with myself, were Mr. Alfred DeWitt, Mr. 
 Caldwell, Mr. Martin Robinson, and Judge Wood- 
 ruff. The handling of the large stretch of canvas, 
 and planting of the two heavy tent -poles, and 
 driving the stakes, and fastening the cords, and 
 attaching its walls, required no small exertion on 
 our part, unused as we were to physical labor. 
 But the effort was a cheerful one; all heartily 
 entered into it, and gladly bore their part, and 
 worked " with a will." Mr. DeWitt insisted he 
 
40 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 did it " for his wife's sake," a very good reason, 
 but not, I am sure, the only one. During the day, 
 Mr. DeWitt surprised as well as gladdened us with 
 the information that he had ordered from Xew 
 York, through his commercial correspondents, 
 John DeWitt & Co. of that city, a church build- 
 ing. This action at once led to the suspension of 
 measures for our own speedy erection of a church 
 edifice, and gave occasion for a sustained patience, 
 while waiting, as was necessarily the case, to ob- 
 tain a better structure than could, at the time, be 
 secured in San Francisco. The ground within the 
 Tent, being level and dry, was covered with neat 
 Chinese matting; and with the platform and desk 
 transferred from the late Court room, and a reed 
 organ, and chairs and benches liberally provided, 
 a comfortable and even tasteful place of worship, 
 with a capacity for about two hundred persons, 
 which the Church could call its own, was in readi- 
 ness for the interesting services, including the first 
 communion, on the following day. When, on that 
 bright Sunday morning of the 19th of August, the 
 crowding congregation, for the first time, worship- 
 ped in the Church tent, no lofty cathedral, with 
 nave, and aisles, and arches, and ornaments, could 
 have yielded more real delight. Tt was as when 
 the Royal Singer " prepared a place for the ark of 
 God, and pitched it for a tent," (I. Chron., 15, 1.) 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 41 
 
 And hearts were melted in melody of praise, and 
 souls were lifted upward from the earthly taber- 
 nacle to the heavenly pattern. 
 
 Later, upon a portion of the same lot, I had a 
 Chinese dwelling placed for my residence, which 
 was dignified with the name of " The Manse." 
 
 The early rains of the exceptionally rainy sea- 
 son of 1849-50 interrupted, and at length, in the 
 month of December, obliged a suspension of our 
 religious services in the Tent. For a short time, 
 accepting an invitation, the congregation worship- 
 ped on Sunday afternoons in the First Baptist 
 Church, on Washington street. 
 
 Again, an opportune favor was bestowed upon 
 us, when Colonel James Collyer, Collector of the 
 Port, and a member of our Church, offered for 
 our use an unoccupied wareroom in the Custom 
 House, the zinc-covered building still standing on 
 the northeast corner of Clay and Dupont streets. 
 The privilege was continued until the wareroom 
 was required for storage purposes, in the early 
 Spring of 1850. 
 
 The last removal, previous to entering the 
 church building sent from Xew York, was made 
 to the Superior Court Room, City Hall, the spa- 
 cious structure known originally as the Graham 
 House, on the northwest corner of Jackson and 
 Kearny streets. In that place the congregation, 
 having previously maintained a steady growth, in- 
 
42 ^ PIONEEB PASTORATE. 
 
 creased greatly, and particularly while the church 
 was in the process of erection. The attendance 
 upon the public services became so large, that the 
 adjoining Alderman's Room was also opened, and 
 both places were filled. 
 
 With all practicable dispatch, the church edifice 
 ordered was constructed in Xew York, and for- 
 warded via Cape Horn. It arrived in November, 
 1850. The cost of the building, including all the 
 fixtures, pulpit, pews, chandeliers, and rich-toned 
 bell, was all defrayed in New York, chiefly by the 
 friends of Mr. Alfred DeWitt, connected with the 
 Scotch Presbyterian Church, Dr. James McElroy, 
 pastor. The freight was defrayed from the trea- 
 sury of the church. A change of the church site, 
 for one more eligible on the west side of Stockton 
 street, between Broadway and Pacific streets, was 
 made, and a contract forthwith entered into for 
 the erection of the building. The work went on 
 apace. The frame was raised and partly covered, 
 when a most severe rain-storm broke upon the 
 city. Strenuous efforts were made to " stay" the 
 building, but in vain; and all was prostrated in a 
 heap of ruins. Nothing daunted, however, ar- 
 rangements were at once made by the trustees to 
 reconstruct the building. Many of the valuable 
 materials had been destroyed, but what with sup- 
 plying the deficiencies and the additional labor 
 and enhancement of expense, the happy comple- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 43 
 
 tion of the structure was effected. This church 
 edifice was a marked object of admiration in the 
 city. It was the first constructed according to 
 accepted ecclesiastical rules, a beautiful early 
 Gothic building, with porch and belfry. Its ca- 
 pacity, on the ground floor and in the gallery, 
 afforded seven hundred and fifty sittings. On the 
 19th of January, 1851, the church was opened 
 for dedicatory services. It was overcrowded on 
 the occasion. As many as entered were prevented 
 from attendance for want of room. In connec- 
 tion with the event, it was noticed that thirty-two 
 ladies were present, the largest number of the sex 
 ever before collected in one place of worship in 
 the city. My sermon on the occasion was preached 
 from Isaiah LYI., 6, 7: "Also the sons of the 
 stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to 
 serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to 
 be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sab- 
 bath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my 
 covenant; even them will I bring to my holy 
 mountain, and make them joyful in my house of 
 prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices 
 shall be accepted upon mine altar ; for mine house 
 shall be called a house of prayer for all people." 
 
 Highly prized as this church edifice naturally 
 was, more than this was its distinction, namely, 
 that it was the scene of marked progress in 
 
44 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 church interests, a growing prosperity in increas- 
 ing, permanent numbers and strength. 
 
 The destructive fires of San Francisco in the 
 early days were periodical inflictions, which seemed 
 to mark the city as doomed. They had their be- 
 ginning in '49, and made a part of the crowded 
 incidents of that eventful year. The destroying 
 element was the more sweeping in its effects by 
 reason of the combustible materials of its build- 
 ings, high winds, and an insufficient Fire Depart- 
 ment, together with a defective supply of water. 
 The most noteworthy fire of 1849 occurred at 
 the close of that year, on the 24th of December. 
 It broke out at four o'clock in the morning, in 
 an "Exchange" on Kearny street, opposite the 
 Plaza, consumed that large and costly building, 
 communicated with the adjoining larger structure, 
 known as the Parker House, and burned it, with 
 other smaller buildings in the vicinity, to ashes. 
 The fabulous incomes from the rents of those 
 principal buildings — from the Parker House 
 $10,000 per month, and from the Exchange in 
 proportion — show the great pecuniary losses sus- 
 tained. 
 
 The next great fires were those of the 4th and 
 14th of May, 1850. These swept over the cen- 
 tral business quarters of the city, and were suffi- 
 cient to crush the average courage of men. Yet, 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 45 
 
 while the ashes were still glowing with heat, re- 
 building was commenced upon the ruins. 
 
 The fourth great fire took place on the night 
 of the 17th of September, 1850. Again, to an 
 extraordinary degree, were the endurances of the 
 community tried. Before morning the fire had 
 done its completed work, and destroyed property 
 valued at millions. 
 
 So frequent and periodical were these fires, 
 that they came to be regarded in the light of 
 permanent institutions. Fears of a recurrence of 
 the dread evil, in view of the past, were not long 
 in waiting for fulfilment. On the anniversary of 
 the fire of the 4:th of May, 1850, came another 
 on the 4th of May, 1851pthe fifth general fire. 
 The city was appalled by these repeated calam- 
 ities. And more, it began to be a confirmed 
 conviction that they were not accidental, but in- 
 cendiary. On the 22d of June, 1851, the sixth, 
 and, happily the last general fire, and severest of 
 all, occurred. The fact that the point of the 
 beginning of this fire was in a locality quite des- 
 titute of water facilities, with other attending 
 circumstances, left hardly a remaining doubt of. 
 its incendiary character. 
 
 To the congregation of the First Church in 
 general, in the burning of its church edifice, and, 
 in addition, to a large number of its individual 
 members, many of whom lost their all in this 
 
46 ^ PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 fire, the event was deplorably ruinous. The fire 
 began in a small frame house on Pacific street, 
 between Stockton and Powell streets, in the rear 
 of the church, on the same block on which it 
 was situated. When first discovered, a bucket of 
 water might have extinguished the fire, but the 
 preventive was not at command, or timely eff'orts 
 to apply it were neglected. Tlie time was Sun- 
 day morning. At the first bell-ringing for the 
 eleven o'clock service, looking out of my north 
 study window, from my residence on California 
 street, I saw a dark cloud of smoke rising from 
 the region of the church. In anxious haste I 
 left for the threatening scene. On Stockton 
 street I met a friend, who reported the fire as 
 already beyond control, and our church beyond 
 the power of preservation. Yery many of the 
 congregation were on the way to the church ser- 
 vice at the beginning of the fire. The choir had 
 made special preparation for the music of that 
 day. I reached the church in time to assist 
 members of the congregation in saving the books, 
 organ, and other moveable articles, and last of 
 all, helped to detach the pulpit and bear it to 
 a place of safety. Meanwhile the fire had begun 
 its destructive work upon the west pulpit end of 
 the building, and from the burning masses around 
 had gained such power that in a few minutes 
 the entire structure was enveloped in the con- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 47 
 
 suming flames. The eastern Stockton street front, 
 supporting the belfry, last gave way, and the bell 
 loosened from its lofty height fell into the street 
 and was broken in the fall. In so brief a space 
 of time, the church for which we had waited so 
 long, and in the use of which so much gratifica- 
 tion had been derived, was entirely destroyed. 
 
 Of course, a conflagration so extensive, with 
 Broadway as its northern limit, southward to the 
 Plaza, and eastward to the line of the Bay, en- 
 tailed most oppressive losses, and was attended 
 with many striking incidents. Our friends, De 
 Witt and Harrison, saved their large warehouse 
 on Sansome street, with its valuable contents, 
 protecting it with blankets saturated with many 
 thousand gallons of vinegar. Others of our peo- 
 ple lost their all. Late in the afternoon, I went 
 outside of the burnt district, seeking such of my 
 congregation as had been extreme sufferers. Xot 
 to mention other cases of misfortune, I traced 
 one family, consisting of a father, mother, and 
 two daughters, to their place of retreat, a small 
 room, in the middle of which was the small rem- 
 nant of articles contained in a blanket, saved 
 from a fully stocked store and a dwelling pleas- 
 antly furnished, together with much prized heir- 
 looms from former generations. Only on the 
 previous day, an additional supply of goods had 
 been added to the stock of the store, all of 
 
48 A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 
 
 which, according to wont, was fully paid for, but 
 all in a moment was lost. 
 
 The lesson of this great fire was not neglected. 
 With the impression of risks from incendiaries, 
 and the fear of repetitions of what was believed 
 to be villainous incendiary work, hundreds of 
 citizens were organized as a cor2:)s for patrolling 
 the city, especially in May and June, 1852, as a 
 precautionary and preventive measure against in- 
 cendiarism. 
 
 Mechanical labor, building materials, and many 
 other articles of merchandise, rose to greatly en- 
 hanced values as a consequence, as had been the 
 case in other preceding fires. Rents were greatly 
 advanced, alike for stores and residences. In the 
 case of the latter, dwellings in the vicinity of, and 
 less commodious than my own residence, readily 
 commanded $300 per month. 
 
 Again the congregation was obliged to seek 
 temporary accommodations. Once, on Sunday 
 evening, June 29th, we worshipped, by invitation, 
 in the First Baptist Church. On the first and 
 second Sundays of July, service was held in the 
 Supreme Court Room, Marine Hospital building, 
 on Stockton street. The place was small, and a 
 change was made to the Superior Court Room, St. 
 Francis Hotel, larger but insufficient in capacity. 
 
 The spirit of sympathy and the appreciation of 
 religious institutions which prevailed in the com- 
 
A PIONEER FA ST ORATE. 49 
 
 miinity, found utterance in the public prints. 
 Unasked expressions of this interest appeared 
 editorially. One of the class represents so truly 
 the state of the case, including the plans of the 
 congregation looking to rebuilding of the church, 
 that I transfer it to these pages. 
 
 Presbyterian Church. — We learn that the congregation 
 which were accustomed to assemble at the Presbyterian 
 Church, which was consumed by the conflagration of Sun- 
 day last, are taking steps to rebuild, in a more permanent 
 manner, a Temple dedicated to the Most High. We are 
 glad to see this. We are well pleased to chronicle to our 
 friends abroad, that while crime stalks through our city, in 
 too many instances unpunished, while good citizens feel 
 constrained to band themselves together for the protection 
 of their lives and property, while it has been deemed neces- 
 sary in some instances, in different portions of the State, to 
 visit the guilty with the terrible penalty of death, in order 
 to strike terror into the breasts of scores of felons in our 
 midst, there are still so many amongst us who. remember 
 the duty they owe their Creator, who are willing to assist 
 with their means in tiie erection of a Temple to be dedicated 
 to the living Grod. Such a movement, made at a time when 
 nearly all are oppressed with heavy losses, will inspire a 
 greater confidence in us abroad than any other which could 
 be made. It will be seen and understood that we desire to 
 do our duty, and that we regard the amenities of life more 
 than we prize a few paltry dollars. Let the good work 
 progress, and our Avord for it, the money thus spent will 
 return fourfold to the generous donors. — T]ie Pacific Star, 
 Jan. 25, 1851. 
 
 A much longer delay than appears necessary 
 occurred before the rebuilding was accomplished. 
 It was at once decided to rebuild. Time was lost 
 D 
 
50 A PIOXEEB PASTORATE. 
 
 in the changing of plans. A brick or stone 
 structure, which would be fire-proof, was first 
 proposed. To this plan the great cost involved 
 was an objection which seemed insuperable. Xext, 
 it was suggested to erect a frame church, the ex- 
 act duplicate of that which was burned, a propo- 
 sition which was received with much favor. This 
 plan wss seconded by Mr. Thomas Chambers, of 
 the house of John DeWitt & Co., New York, at 
 the time in San Francisco, who offered to supple- 
 ment the contributions of the church for this 
 object, if necessary. On account of the supposed 
 great risk in the frequency of destructive fires, 
 objections against an elaborate Gothic style pre- 
 vailed. Finally, it was decided to erect a plain 
 building upon the church-site — hardly wisel}', I 
 thought — a very plain building it was, constructed 
 in eleven working days, and opened and dedicated 
 for divine worship on the second Sunday, 12th, 
 of October, 1851. In capacity for sittings it was 
 the equal of the former building. The pulpit 
 was that which I had assisted in saving from the 
 burning church; as also, many of the pews and 
 other furniture were relics of the past. This 
 building, unexpectedly, and almost undesired, 
 stood through all the remainder of my pastorate, 
 a witness of much spiritual growth and centre of 
 extended beneficent work. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Fii'st Visit to Sail Jose — Sau Francisco Protestant Churches in '49 — 
 Arrival of Roman CathoHc Priests — Frederick Buel — San Fran- 
 cisco Bible Society. 
 
 Keeping in view the interests of education, and 
 having secured a substitute teacher for a week, at 
 the close of May, 1849, in company with a friend, 
 I made my first visit to San Jose. The journey 
 was performed in the usual mode of travel, on 
 horseback. Barring the fatigue, the trip was very 
 gratifying. At San Jose, as in other places which 
 I had visited, the appreciation of the cause of 
 popular education was all that could be desired, 
 and encouraging hopes in its behalf were assured. 
 
 In this route, through the whole distance of 
 fifty miles, the opportunity was enjoyed of seeing 
 the country in its unchanged condition, as it had 
 come into the possession of the United States. 
 We partook of a noonday meal at the hospitable 
 residence of Don Francisco Sanchez, and rested 
 the first night at the house of Mr. Whistman, ten 
 miles distant from San Jose. In the morning of 
 the second day, we renewed the journey across 
 the proverbially fertile lands of Santa Clara Val- 
 ley, and through leagues of mustard, whose yellow, 
 flowering tops were, though we were mounted, 
 
52 A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 high as our heads. At no point of the way was 
 the travelled, hard-beaten road enclosed, and no 
 bridges spanned the intersecting creeks. Xor any 
 enclosures, indeed, were seen upon any of the 
 ranches by the way, save the usual California 
 corral. Near San Francisquito Creek, a plowman 
 was engaged, in very primitive style — with the 
 sharpened point of the bough of a tree drawn by 
 a pair of oxen, with yokes fastened by leathern 
 thongs to their horns — imperfectly, very super- 
 ficially disturbing a patch of ground in a seemingly 
 vain effort of husbandry. 
 
 San Jose, too, though astir with the common 
 gold excitement, was unchanged from its external 
 Mexican character. So also appeared the Mission 
 of Santa Clara, whose surrounding surfaces were 
 ridged with the ruins of the walls of adobe tene- 
 ments, which had served the purposes of dwell- 
 ings and storehouses in the times of thousands of 
 Indian neophytes. In San Jose, adobe public edi- 
 fices for the use of the constituted Pueblo, and 
 adobe residences with adobe enclosures, the in- 
 evitable open plaza, unique caballeros in serapes 
 and broad -brimmed sombreros, women in their 
 rebosas, gaily caparisoned horses, with here and 
 there the ctimbersome carreta, were the prominent 
 features arresting attention. 
 
 The Alcalde was Kimball H. Dimmick, Esq., 
 one of the late captains of Stevenson's Regiment. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 53 
 
 This official seemed quite at home in his chief 
 place of authority, to which not a little dignity 
 was imparted by reason of. the gold-headed staff 
 of official rank in his possession, which had re- 
 ceived the benediction of the Franciscan Fathers. 
 To this cane, as the Alcalde informed me, was 
 given such popular respect, that, in the hands of 
 a lad bearing an order of arrest, it was sure to 
 hold and unresistingly lead a culprit to the jus- 
 gudrdo. An instance of a special form, in the 
 exercise of judicial authority, occurred at the 
 time of this visit. A Californian in the vicinity 
 of San Jose was found guilty of a misdemeanor, 
 and the occasion was availed of to inflict the pen- 
 alty of banishment upon the offender, according 
 to a Mexican custom. Captain Dimmick seemed 
 not loth to follow this precedent; and, for some 
 reason, prejudice against the place or otherwise, 
 yet with a gratification which was undisguised, by 
 virtue of his authority, he sent the unfortunate 
 criminal, in banishment for one year, to Benicia! 
 
 The Rev. J. W. Douglas, Presbyterian, (New 
 School,) a passenger on board the pioneer steamer 
 California, was settled in San Jose, filling the two- 
 fold office of preacher and teacher. iS^ot remain- 
 ing over Sunday, I had no opportunity of witness- 
 ing the evidences of religious interest in the town. 
 Xot long afterward, I was gratified with the in- 
 formation that Mr. Douglas had organized a Pres- 
 
54 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 byterian Church, which, under its different pas- 
 tors, has ever maintained a prominent rank in the 
 Protestant family of churches. 
 
 As in reference to Sonoma, so to this visit to 
 San Jose belong reminiscences of novel scenes 
 and the increase of permanent, cherished ac- 
 quaintanceships. 
 
 The example furnished in the organization of 
 the First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco 
 had the effect of leading soon to other Protestant 
 Church organizations in the city. The first to fall 
 into line was the First Baptist Church, the Rev. 
 0. C. Wheeler, pastor, on the 24th of July. The 
 Church of the Holy Trinity, Episcopal, the Rev. 
 F. S. Mines, rector, was the next; then, the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal (now First M. E.) Church on Pow- 
 ell street, the Rev. W. Taylor, pastor; next the 
 First Congregational Church, pastor the Rev. T. 
 Dwight Hunt, in the organization of which, by in- 
 vitation, I took part, on the first Sunday, 2d, of 
 September. It has ever seemed strange to me 
 that Mr. Hunt, a Presbyterian, did not adhere to 
 the formation of a church of his own religious 
 faith. The last church formed in San Francisco 
 in 1849, near the close of the year, was Grace, 
 Episcopal, the Rev. J. L. YerMehr, rector. 
 
 In June, 1849, two Jesuit priests, Messrs. Blan- 
 chet and Langlois. arrived from Oregon, and laid 
 the foundation of St. Francis Church, on Yallejo 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 55 
 
 street. Their place was near my own residence 
 in the American House, on Stockton street, and 
 soon I made their acquaintance. Mr. Blanchet, 
 after a short time, returned to his former field. 
 With Mr. Langlois my acquaintance continued 
 and became intimate, as it was also agreeable. 
 He had been stationed at the posts of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company. iS^ot having enjoyed the ad- 
 vantages of a systematic education, he told me it 
 was his wish and purpose to seek such benefits in 
 an institution in Canada. He was unsophisticated 
 and earnest, and at all times ready to cooperate in 
 efforts to promote good morals and the public 
 welfare. At my invitation, he took part in a 
 temperance meeting held in the Public School 
 House, June 30th, but excused himself from speak- 
 ing in behalf of the cause, only on account of his 
 imperfect acquaintance with the English tongue. 
 In honor of his truly catholic spirit and pious 
 zeal, I recall his successful effort in causing the 
 suppression of a Sabbath-profaning circus near his 
 place of worship, and also his countenance given 
 to our Bible society, and his permission accorded 
 to the free circulation of copies of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, in the Spanish language, among the Spanish 
 Roman Catholic population. The edition used 
 was that issued from the press of the American 
 Bible Society, translated from the Latin Yulgate, 
 with the imprimatur of high Catholic authority. 
 It is a question whether it was wise to discontinue 
 
56 A. PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 the publishing of a version which found so free 
 circulation. At a later day, a friend of mine heard 
 in St. Francis Church the Protestant circulation 
 of the Bible publicly denounced. Many copies of 
 the Yulgate in Spanish, however, had passed into 
 the hands of Sonorians, sojourning in the city, 
 and were taken by them, on their return, to their 
 homes in Mexico. Of this version I had a supply 
 at my own residence in 1850, and I had frequent 
 opportunities of observing the avidity with which 
 the Sonorians, as they were made acquainted with 
 the fact by my young son, sought for copies, and 
 thankfull}^ received them. 
 
 When later, before the public prohibition, there 
 was an influence used to prevent the circulation 
 of these volumes, the tables were turned by the 
 challenging question, " Do you not know that the 
 United States flag flies here now, and the Bible is 
 free?" 
 
 In this connection, I may record the formation 
 of the San Francisco (since California) Bible So- 
 ciety, which took place on the 28th of October. 
 1849. The leader in this cause on the Pacific 
 Coast was the late Rev. Frederick Buel. Mr. Buel 
 arrived in San Francisco on the 10th of October, 
 1849. He came a lay member of the church; as 
 such he was introduced to me b}^ the Rev. S. I. 
 Prime, one of the secretaries of the American 
 Bible Society, and also in this capacity commended 
 as, in the view of that Society, "more likely to 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 57 
 
 be acceptable to the people of California." I refer 
 to this expression as one of the common mistakes 
 in judgment entertained respecting the actual 
 character of our early California population. For, 
 no class was then more heartily welcomed, and no 
 persons were more respected than the clergy. 
 Our Presbytery put emphasis upon this fact, in 
 its prompt action in receiving Mr. Buel into 
 orders. Having been received into my Church 
 as a member, by transfer from the Congregational 
 Church of Litchfield, Connecticut, I had the priv- 
 ilege of introducing him to the Presbytery, and 
 as a graduate of Yale and proficient in theology, 
 he was first licensed as a probationer, and after- 
 wards ordained to the ministry of the gospel. 
 
 The public meeting at which our Bible Society 
 was formed, was held in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, on Powell street. I was expected to 
 preside, but having been delayed beyond the 
 time of its opening, by what is technically styled 
 a "providential call," in this instance the marry- 
 ing of two couples, the Rev. Mr. Hunt presided. 
 Cheerfully and zealously this work was entered 
 upon, a hopeful promise of its future success and 
 usefulness. The first President of the Society 
 then organized was Mr. John M. Finley, a mem- 
 ber of our Church. The principal address of the 
 evening was made by Frederick Billings, Esq. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Disturbance of the Public Peace — "The Hounds" — First Vigilance 
 Committee — Trial and Punishment — Arrivals by Sea — "No More 
 Ta-tur" — Ministerial Association — Seamen's Friend Society — 
 Benevolent Society — Last Hours of Two Men — The Kev. F. S. 
 Mines — First Marriage Ceremony. 
 
 The re-opening of the "Institute." after my 
 week's vacation, was unexpectedly delayed. To 
 another, but necessary use the School House was 
 temporarily appropriated. On the Sunday of my 
 absence, most flagrant outrages were committed 
 by an association of young men, generally known 
 as "The Hounds," though they gave themselves a 
 substitute name of " Regulators." During the 
 preceding two or three months, sundry irregular 
 acts had been committed by them, though for a 
 time attracting little attention. Ignobly they 
 acted upon the rule that " the world owed them 
 a living." Entering stores, and selecting such 
 goods as they pleased, they settled the account 
 by ordering the bills to be sent to Tammany Hall, 
 a tent on Kearny street, called their Headquar- 
 ters. Growing more and more bold, while a busy 
 community hardly noticed their proceedings, they 
 gave a finishing stroke to their reckless and vio- 
 lent acts, in the afternoon and evening of Sun- 
 day, the 16th of July. In fantastic costumes, 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 59 
 
 with banners flying, and armed, these reckless ma- 
 rauders, with insolent effrontery, marched through 
 the town to the slopes of Telegraph Hill. There 
 was congregated a population of Chileans and 
 Mexicans, upon whom they made burglarious and 
 murderous assaults. The citizens then became 
 fully aroused. On the following Monday, a pub- 
 lic meeting was held on the Plaza. Addresses 
 were made by Mr. Samuel Brannan, Captain Sim- 
 mons, Colonel Spofford, and Messrs. Gillespie and 
 Howard. At once, two hundred and thirty gen- 
 tlemen enrolled themselves as a volunteer police 
 force. Of the offenders, nineteen were imme- 
 diately arrested. For safe keeping, the prisoners 
 were confined on board the United States ship. 
 General Warren, lying in the harbor. A grand 
 jury was empanelled. True bills of indictment 
 were found. Messrs. Wm. M. Owin and James C. 
 Ward were chosen as Associate Judges to assist 
 the Alcalde, T. M. Leavenworth, in the trial. 
 F. J. Lippitt, Hall McAllister, Horace Hawes, 
 and Frank Turk, Esqs., were appointed Prosecu- 
 ting Attorneys, and P. Barry and Myron Norton, 
 Esqs., were assigned as counsel for the defence. 
 
 The principal trial was the case against Samuel 
 Roberts, a leader of the ''Hounds," upon the 
 charge of assault with intent to kill. Other spe- 
 cific charges were conspiracy, riot, and robbery. 
 Full examinations of witnesses were made, the 
 
60 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 defence being allowed all proper privileges. Able 
 arguments for the prosecution and defence fol- 
 lowed, A jury, composed of true men, after 
 considering the case, gave a unanimous verdict of 
 guilty against the prisoner. 
 
 Following this case, the trial of the others was 
 taken up. The charges against these men were 
 similar to those in the case of Roberts. Their 
 trial also was in form the same. The result was 
 a summary conviction of the accused. 
 
 In passing sentence upon the criminals, the 
 Court exercised a considerate leniency. Although 
 the crimes might have justified severer punish- 
 ment, it was thought the ends of justice, as Mr. 
 Gwin afterwards remarked to me, would be suffi- 
 ciently vindicated, and order and peace preserved 
 b}^ the milder form which was pronounced and 
 carried into effect, in imprisonment for various 
 terms. 
 
 This episode of the crimes and punishment of 
 the "Hounds," it is to be observed, marks the 
 first quasi Vigilance Committee of San Francisco. 
 
 Again, these days of excitement ended, the 
 city resumed its accustomed quiet, and renewed 
 its active business. The experiences passed 
 through left the truthful and salutary lesson, 
 that the intelligent and energetic citizens of San 
 Francisco were able to maintain and enforce an 
 orderly govenment. The good effect, indeed, was 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 61 
 
 apparent in succeeding years. In 1853, at the 
 appearance of a renewal of acts of outlawry, a 
 simple public notice to convene a Vigilance Com- 
 mittee, caused a complete check to the incipient 
 violence and crime. 
 
 The "Institute" was, after the brief delay, re- 
 opened for the second and last term, after which 
 pressing parochial engagements obliged me to 
 relinquish secular teaching. 
 
 Increasing arrivals by sea became, in the 
 months of June and July, a very noticeable fea- 
 ture; and, in company with a fellow-voyager, 
 Mr. Charles A. Gurley. of New London, Con- 
 necticut, it was a pleasant pastime, at the close 
 of the day, to ascend Telegraph Hill, and mark 
 the changes taking place in the harbor. Seldom 
 did we fail to have a view of arriving ships com- 
 ing up from the Golden Gate, borne onward by 
 the usual favoring afternoon breeze, and, round- 
 ing North Point, their decks filled with a living 
 freight of earnest, hopeful gold seekers, ending 
 their long, tedious voyages from far distant ports, 
 at the anchorage in front of the city. When first 
 these excursions began, there were less than 
 a dozen square-rigged vessels in the harbor. 
 Steadily the number grew, until, at length, the 
 surface of the Bay was darkened by a crowd of 
 shipping at rest. 
 
 From the American House I removed in August, 
 
62 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 '49, to a small adobe building on Powell street, 
 and. as sole occupant, with invited guests at my 
 pleasure, I enjoyed greater quiet and independ- 
 ence. Here began my experience of taking meals 
 at a restaurant. A colored professional cook, with 
 an experience of many years as cook and steward 
 on shipboard, had opened an eating establishment 
 in a tent on Pacific street. The attractions of the 
 place acquired notoriety. By the favorable report 
 of friends, 1 was led to join them at the tempting 
 table. The variety of dishes was necessarily small, 
 but the paucity was compensated by the quality 
 of the expert, a la cuisine. An extra dish at any 
 time was a special gratification. As when, upon a 
 time, our sable host passed around the table be- 
 hind his guests, and with a fork in one hand, 
 transferred from a dish borne with the other, a 
 small boiled potato to each of our plates. The 
 size of the esculent was hardly greater than that 
 of an English walnut. Potatoes cost money then, 
 and "Uncle Peter" had graduated his supply with 
 mathematical exactness to the demand, of serving 
 all alike. The one distribution exhausted his 
 store. Of this we had assurance, for when my 
 esteemed friend, Mr. Caldwell, beckoned him to 
 his side, and in a subdued tone said, "Uncle, 
 another potato, if you please," he was answered, 
 " Plenty meat and bread; no more ta-tur." 
 . Not the least gratifying, among other Christian 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 63 
 
 fellowships at the time, and in such novel circum- 
 stances, were the cordial gatherings and inter- 
 changes of the brotherhood of Protestant clergy- 
 men in San Francisco. The sphere in which each 
 of us moved was wide, and on this account, all 
 elbowing and jostling were unknown. In his own 
 field, each one of us was sufficient!}^ occupied. 
 But this was not the only reason. If ever true 
 fellowship in a common cause existed, it had 
 place in this early intercourse of the pioneer 
 clergymen of 1849. Yery soon, and, as it seemed, 
 very spontaneous!}^, the friendships of our calling 
 took form in a cordiality of reunions. Distinctly 
 we were classed as follows: The Rev. J. L. Yer 
 Mehr and F. S. Mines, Episcopalian; the Rev. 0. 
 C. Wheeler, Baptist; the Rev. William Taylor, 
 Methodist, and the Rev. T. Dwight Hunt and my- 
 self, Presbyterian. But, in the frank communions 
 of our band, no distinctions were manifest. Every 
 Monday morning, we were accustomed to meet, 
 by turns, at the residence of one of our number. 
 These meetings were characterized by a harmo- 
 nious intercourse and fellowship, whose fruit ap- 
 peared in concert of action. Common plans of 
 usefulness were devised. Of these undertakings 
 was the formation of the San Francisco Seamen's 
 Friend Society, of which Captain Bezer Simmons 
 was President. Its object was chiefly to main- 
 tain a religious service for the benefit of the sea- 
 
64 -i PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 men of the port. By a division of labor, in 
 rotation, the clergy conducted divine service on 
 ships' decks, on Sunday afternoons, continued 
 statedly for a series of months, in 1849-50, un- 
 less prevented by the rains. 
 
 Another necessary and useful association which, 
 in the same manner, came into existence, was the 
 Benevolent Society, which extended its aid to the 
 various cases of want ofttimes presenting their 
 importunate claims. During the severe rainy 
 season of 1849-50, many were the demands made 
 upon the charitable by the unfortunate sick and 
 destitute. And not only generous contributions 
 from individuals were made towards the needed 
 relief, but it was also a most honorable act of the 
 city authorities which gave employment, at re- 
 munerative wages, to the unfortunate, who, with- 
 out these aids, might have perished. 
 
 In this connection, but not as included in the 
 special work of the Benevolent Society — only 
 one of many calls upon my time and attention — 
 [ recall the incidents of visits paid to two sick 
 and dying men, in September, 1849. Word was 
 sent to me by their kind benefactor, Mr. J. H. 
 Jones, who had provided them with shelter and 
 medical attendance, that, in an outbuilding at the 
 rear of his auction room on Sacramento street, 
 were two men lying dangerously ill. At once I 
 responded to the call, and found the report of 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 65 
 
 extreme sickness too true. One of the men was 
 a Scotch seaman from Fifeshire. He gave good 
 proof of the fact of his early religious training 
 and its permanent impressions. Still, called sud- 
 denly and unexpectedly face to face with death, 
 he was in deep anxiety as to his preparation for 
 the change awaiting him. The other was a Vir- 
 ginian, who had, from his early days, been a wan- 
 derer in various lands. Unlike his fellow-sufierer, 
 however, so great was his insensibility that little 
 if any concern about his approaching end was 
 shown, though my conversation with him was as 
 plain and direct as in the other case. After pray- 
 ers, I left them. It was then evening. The next 
 day, I again visited them. They were sinking 
 rapidly. I renewed my conversation and prayers 
 with them. The same contrast of mental states 
 was marked: the American, sad to say, was dull 
 and listless ; the Scotchman, on the contrary, 
 calm and peaceful, was communicative and happy. 
 His last words to me, on leaving, were thanks that 
 I had visited him, and a hope to meet me in a 
 better world. Thus the good old wa3's of his 
 Presbyterian parentage received the seal of bless- 
 ing in his last hours, as its teaching and the hold- 
 ing of it in faith had not been abandoned. Both 
 of the men passed away in the evening of this 
 last visit. 
 
 The first breach in the fellowship of our minis- 
 
 E 
 
ee A PIOXEEE PASTORATE. 
 
 terial association was caused b}- the lamented 
 death of the Rev. Mr. Mines, between whom and 
 myself special intimate relations existed, as fellow- 
 students in the Theological Seminary of Prince- 
 ton. AVhile in that institution, Mr. Mines was 
 among the most zealous of revivalists. When the 
 disruption of the Presbyterian Church took place, 
 his connection was chosen with the N'ew School 
 side. Later, he transferred his relation to the Old 
 School branch, and next to the communion of the 
 Episcopal Church, in which he ranked as a High- 
 churchman. Meeting in a common field of labor 
 in San Francisco, our former friendships were re- 
 newed, and continued until death separated us. 
 He used to say to me, "You are a High-churchman 
 as Dr. Miller taught us, regarding the divine right 
 of Presbyterianism, as I believe in apostolic suc- 
 cession." "Yes, I believe,' I replied, "in an apos- 
 tolic succession of principles.'' "A succession of 
 straw!" was his answer. I said," Oh, no! not so." 
 In the exercise of a patient submission and cheer- 
 ful hope, as consumption did its fatal work, my 
 brother awaited his looked for end. Often I vis- 
 ited him, at the breaking of his morn and the 
 passing away of earth's shadows. In my last in- 
 terview with him, his gentle, characteristic spirit 
 shone brightly; and on parting, he begged me to 
 convey to our ministerial brethren his love, 
 "though," he needlessly added, "I think them in 
 error." 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 67 
 
 The disproportion of the sexes was a marked 
 feature of the times. Hence marriages were few. 
 Circumstances render the first marriage ceremony 
 I performed in California memorable. The ob- 
 serving eye of Elder Caldwell noticed among our 
 congregation in the Tent a 3'oung gentleman and 
 lady, who passed to and fro in company. The 
 young man was an acquaintance of Mr. C, who 
 took occasion to suggest the propriety of his be- 
 ing married. "' Can't afford it," was the answer. 
 Mr. C. said, '' I will see that the ceremony shall not 
 cost you anything." The suggestion was heeded. 
 Shortly afterward, I was called upon to marry the 
 couple. Mr. C. remarked to me that he would 
 assume the obligation of the fee, the amount to 
 be determined by what I should afterward receive. 
 On the 22d of July, 1849, I joined in the bonds 
 of marriage Frederick Hathaway and Mary Eliza- 
 beth Smith. A second marriage service was per- 
 formed a month afterward. The happy groom 
 placed in my hand as a fee an ounce, sixteen dol- 
 lars. Mr. C, on learning the fact, said, "Let it 
 rest till the next, and then strike the average." 
 The next fee was $20, and following for the fourth 
 and fifth, I received $24 each, and '' striking the 
 average" myself, I considered the obligation of 
 Mr. C. discharg-ed. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Church Progress — Suftering Inamigrauts aud Relief — Captain C. M. 
 Weber, Stockton, and the Rev. James Woods— Town-Building 
 and Town-Sites — Visit to Sacramento — The Rev. J. A. Benton — 
 Mutineers of the Cutter Ew'mg — Attempted Homicide of Passed- 
 Midshipman William Gibson — Naval Court and Incidents — Clem- 
 ency of Commodore Jones — Execution. 
 
 A respected friend, once paid me the honor, 
 alludino; to the absorbing passion of the com- 
 munity in secular pursuits, to say to me, "Mr. W., 
 I do not see how you could have courage to 
 organize a church in such circumstances." The 
 end in view in our undertaking was sublime; the 
 means and work involved were not strange, but 
 the old, tried, and successful methods of the 
 Church of God in all ages. The organization 
 embodied energetic life. Its constituents were 
 happy and cheerful, and appeared to share in the 
 spirit of good Mr. Caldwell, who was wont to say, 
 he was "content to worship in a Tent, sitting upon 
 a bench." It was our custom to observe bi- 
 monthly communion seasons, at which, on each 
 recurring occasion, an increasing accession of 
 communicants was witnessed. Such manifest 
 favor, and growing numbers and strength, caus- 
 ing cheerful satisfaction, might well overcome 
 the temptations to discouragement from any ex- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 69 
 
 ternal sources. With a sincere and heartfelt de- 
 votion, it was our lot to experience an unhindered 
 growing progress, in all the essential elements of 
 church work and usefulness. 
 
 A rumor reached our city in the Autumn of '49, 
 that a body of overland immigrants had arrived 
 in the Sierra Nevada, in extreme want and ex- 
 posure. The tragic experiences of the ill-fated 
 Donner party were recalled, and at once our citi- 
 zens took steps to send forward necessary assist- 
 ance and supplies. Placards, the draft of my 
 pen, were circulated, calling a public meeting, 
 which was held. But while thus engaged in the 
 work of relief, General Smith, by appropriating 
 $100,000 for the object, superseded the benevo- 
 lent action of the citizens. 
 
 Many centres of population, old and new, in 
 the country, called for the services of clergymen. 
 The excitement in town -building prevailed ex- 
 tensively, and new town -sites, with promises of 
 future results, offered opportunities also for fore- 
 casting occupation. These facts were noted by 
 the Rev. Mr. Woodbridge and myself, and made 
 the subjects of communications to our Board of 
 Missions. We made these facts the basis of ap- 
 peals for a large reinforcement of helpers in this 
 growing field. And this, though we had informa- 
 tion that our brother, the Rev. James Woods, was 
 on his way to join us, making with his family the 
 
70 A PIOXEER PAST OB ATE. 
 
 long, tedious voyage, in a sailing vessel, around 
 Cape Horn. The delays of this route were trying 
 as well to ourselves as to our brother. 
 
 Yet, for Mr. Woods I had the good fortune to 
 be instrumental in preengaging an important po- 
 sition in the flourishing town of Stockton. In 
 the Summer of 1849, I made the acquaintance, in 
 San Francisco, of Captain Charles M. Weber, long 
 a resident in the country, the fortunate proprietor 
 also of the Stockton town -site. To that place. 
 Captain Weber gave me a pressing invitation to 
 transfer my residence. This my relations already 
 entered into in San Francisco did not justify. 
 Xor could I forego my many necessary engage- 
 ments to make the temporary visit which he 
 desired. The opportunity, however, I did avail 
 of. in that first and subsequent friendly inter- 
 views, to bespeak and preserve a patient waiting 
 for Mr. Woods. When, at length, in early Janu- 
 ary, 1850, this brother arrived, this preengage- 
 ment, together with letters which I gave and 
 procured from friends for him, prepared the way 
 for his favorable introduction to his successful 
 pioneer work in Stockton. 
 
 The business of town -building, on paper, was 
 signally brisk subsequent to and as the result of 
 the first yea-r's successes in the mines, and also in 
 the view of a rapidly increasing population. At 
 mining camps, along the watercourses, and gene- 
 
A PIOXEER PAS TOE ATE. 71 
 
 rally here and there, this form of enterprise showed 
 itself. A new town-site, projected, surveyed, and 
 advertised, was among the frequent new events of 
 early times. Each last promised, of course claimed 
 superiority over all predecessors and rivals. It 
 was a natural prompting, as opportunity offered, 
 to ask in those places, what was always cheerfully 
 given, a promise of a church site. In Benicia, 
 which afterward, in its failure of realizations, was 
 spoken of as the " City of Promises," this advan- 
 tage, by the wise action of Brother Woodbridge, 
 had been secured. Then Benicia was the rising 
 rival of San Francisco. But over its claims a 
 shadow was cast by another competitor, high- 
 sounding and triumphant, over San Francisco as 
 well, at the head of deep-sea navigation — Xew 
 York of the Pacific. It would have seemed a 
 flagrant dereliction of duty, if space for a Presb}^- 
 terian Church had not been obtained in the new 
 metropolis. Other incidents in connection with 
 like ephemeral enterprises it is unimportant to 
 mention. 
 
 With stronger grounds of hope and expecta- 
 tion, I made a brief visit to Sacramento, in Nov- 
 ember, 1849. From a so-called emharcadero, that 
 place had grown to be a town of importance, as 
 the centre of intercourse and trade with the min- 
 ing regions. A number of Presbyterians made a 
 part of its population. Their affinities for their 
 
72 A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 own denomination, it was supposed, would lead 
 them to welcome an effort to establish there a 
 Presbyterian Church. To further such a purpose, 
 if practicable, was the special motive of my visit. 
 I found the Presbyterians as reported : some of 
 them persons of high social standing in the com- 
 munity; but to the proposal to form a Presby- 
 terian Church the objection, and only one, was 
 made, that their connection had been already 
 formed w^ith the existing Congregational Church. 
 The object I had in view was reluctantly aban- 
 doned, and the founding of a Presbyterian Church 
 in Sacramento was postponed to a later period. 
 
 During this visit, I was pained to find the Rev. 
 J. A. Benton of the Congregational Church, with 
 other friends, particularly Mr. B., seriously ill 
 with malarious fever. At the time, I invited Mr. 
 Benton to accompany me to San Francisco, trust- 
 ing that the change would contribute to his re- 
 covery. Though not then, afterward, upon further 
 solicitations, I was pleased to receive him as a 
 guest of "The Manse," and especially to note, 
 that after a brief sojourn in our city and Monte- 
 rey, his health became fully restored. 
 
 This round trip was made the more agreeable 
 by the company of Commodore Jones and his son, 
 lieutenant, and Lieutenant Leroy, of the Ohio. I 
 first saw the veteran Commodore in the harbor of 
 Sausalito, where the sagacious commander of the 
 
.-1 PIONEER PASTORATE. 73 
 
 Oregon, after passing through the Golden Gate, 
 first anchored under the guns of the flag-ship. Xot 
 needlessy, Captain Pearson took this precaution 
 against an apprehended risk, which became a fact 
 in the mutiny of the crew, almost as soon as the 
 steamer's anchor touched bottom. Instead of lib- 
 erty which the men sought, in order to reach the 
 mines, by the consent of Commodore Jones, im- 
 prisonment was the lot of the mutineers, who were 
 transferred to the stronghold of the Ohio, and held 
 to complete their contract in the return voyage. 
 
 Often afterwards it was my privilege and honor 
 to enjoy the hospitalities of the Ohio and her 
 courteous Commander, as the frigate lay at anchor 
 in front of our city. I had frequent opportunities 
 for observing his watchful interest in public affairs. 
 For the preservation of order and peace, and the 
 sustaining of the local government, his services 
 deserve the deep obligations of the country. His 
 cooperation with the Military Commander, Gene- 
 ral Smith, and with the civil Governor, General 
 Riley, was uniform and effective. To his higher 
 honor, it is to be added, his influence was ever 
 exerted on the side of good morals and the vital 
 cause of religion. I cannot but retain the pro- 
 foundest sentiments of respect and admiration for 
 his intelligence, statesmanship, loyalty to his coun- 
 try, and an unswerving defence and support of the 
 right. 
 
74 -i PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 The word of Commodore Jones was law. His 
 requests enforced obligation. So I could not re- 
 fuse his invitation to me, in common with the 
 Rev. Messrs. Yer Mehr, Hunt, and Wheeler, to- 
 gether with the Chaplain of the flag-sliip Savan- 
 7iaJi, to a professional service, on board of which 
 vessel, in the harbor, five mutineers were con- 
 fined, awaiting the execution of their death sen- 
 tence. The unhappy criminals were a part of 
 the crew of the cutter Evjing, United States sur- 
 veying schooner, commanded by naval officers, 
 lying in the Bay of San Francisco. In the even- 
 ing of the 11th of September, 1849, a boat from 
 the Eiumg was ordered to land a party of visitors 
 in the town. The boat was manned by these five 
 men, in charge of Passed -Midshipman William 
 Gibson. The landing having been made, while 
 returning and in the stream, the men arose upon 
 their officer, and in a desperate struggle threw 
 him overboard, Mr. Gibson dragging one of the 
 men by his cravat overboard with him. The men 
 in the boat rescued their comrade. They repelled 
 every attempt of !Mr. Gibson to seize hold of the 
 boat and save himself; and, tauntingly leaving 
 him to drown, they rowed oft', eftecting a tem- 
 porary escape. Providentially the impending fate 
 of Mr. Gibson was prevented. Floating in an 
 ebb tide of four knots past the city front, when 
 in his exhaustion he was just ready to sink, his 
 
A PIOXEEB PASTORATE. 75 
 
 cries for help were heard on board a merchant 
 vessel, and from it a boat put off, and by the 
 flash of its oars was guided to his rescue, and in 
 a state of unconsciousness he was taken on board 
 and conveyed to the shore. Under the very skil- 
 ful treatment of Dr. A. J. Bowie and other sur- 
 geons, at four o'clock the next morning conscious- 
 ness was restored. 
 
 The escaping criminals were arrested near the 
 mouth of the San Joaquin river, brought to the 
 city, and tried on charges of desertion, mutiny, 
 and attempt to murder, and all convicted and 
 sentenced to suffer the penalty of death. 
 
 Two days only intervened between the date of 
 our summons to the service of ministering spiiit- 
 iial counsel to the doomed men and the time 
 appointed for their execution. They were all 
 young, and the sad spectacle of their condition, 
 in the freshness of their youthful manhood, was 
 painful in the extreme. Their crime, the guilt of 
 which they seemed keenly to feel, was the culmi- 
 nation of a purpose, it was said, formed at the 
 time of their enlistment in Valparaiso, of desert- 
 ing and seeking the gold mines. The brief two 
 days of preparation passed, issuing in the con- 
 fessed contrite penitence of the unfortunate men, 
 and their resignation to their doom. 
 
 The fatal morning arrived. To each of the five 
 clergymen one of the condemned was assigned, to 
 
76 A PIONEER PAS TOE ATE. 
 
 be attended upon in his last moments. Ten 
 o'clock came, an hour of life to the unfortunate 
 men remaining. At that moment the men were 
 presented before Commodore Jones, on the deck 
 of the Savannah, the flag- ship. In suppressed 
 tones the Commodore addressed them, announc- 
 ing that according to the request of two of their 
 number, self-confessed, as the more guilty, he had 
 decided to reprieve three of them, (naming them,) 
 commuting their sentence to a temporary penalty.. 
 The petition, it was understood, had been written 
 by Hall McAllister, Esq., one of the counsel in 
 the trial, and did honor both to his heart and 
 intellect. The reprieved, upon one of whom it 
 had been made my duty to wait, all fell upon 
 their knees at the feet of the tender-hearted 
 Commodore, and most earnestly thanked him for 
 his clemency. 
 
 The closing scene is soon told. Both of the 
 ill-fated men said they were prepared to die. 
 One, whose name was given as John Black, an 
 Englishman, twenty-eight years of age, was taken 
 in a boat to the cutter Ewing by a naval squad, 
 the Rev. Mr. Wheeler accompanying; the other, 
 Peter Black, so-called, a Scotchman, aged only 
 nineteen, on board the Savannah, was attended to 
 the staging under the yardarm by Dr. Yer Mehr, 
 whose tender words addressed to the youthful 
 victim, "Don't cry, don't cry," seem still to linger 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 77 
 
 in my ear. A gun fire — the swirling ascent — all 
 was over. 
 
 No words of mine are needed to add to the 
 sentiments of respect universally felt for the 
 brave and generous Commodore, who is so inti- 
 mately associated with the pioneer times of Cali- 
 fornia. Yet, in grateful appreciation, I desire to 
 be held as not the least in obligations, for many a 
 remembered token of friendly regard. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Climate aud Novel Exjierieuces — American House — The Humorous 
 Pope — "Good in All" — Sickness and Cemeteries — A Notable 
 Funeral — Day of Thanksgiving — Political Affairs — State Govern- 
 ment and its Inaiiguration — Earthquake — First Fire. 
 
 Every thing in ontwarcl conditions seemed 
 strange, and in some particulars the contrasts 
 with the Athantic seaboard amounted to oppo- 
 sites. The seasons seemed reversed: Winter ap- 
 peared to have usurped the place of Summer. 
 The dry season was regarded as an insuperable 
 drawback to the cultivation of the soil, and the 
 country, it was concluded, could not be agricul- 
 tural. For the pioneers who arrived by sea, and 
 had just passed through the heated tropics, and 
 who, by reason of a defective knowledge of the 
 country as well as their relaxed ph3"sical condi- 
 tion, were illy prepared to meet the chill, summer 
 trade-wind of the coast, excuses for their utter- 
 ance of grumbling complaints may be allowed, to 
 which those who arrived at a later date can lay 
 no claim. The mornings in San Francisco were 
 sunny and warm ; the evenings, foggy, blustering, 
 and chill. Warm flannels at all times, and extra 
 clothing in the evening, were an absolute neces- 
 sity. And this not only outside in the open air, 
 
,1 PIONEER PASTOBATE. ^Q 
 
 but also within doors. Xot only tents and canvas 
 houses, but, in general, the frame tenements, were 
 without the conveniences for fires to impart arti- 
 ficial warmth. A walk which I often made, from 
 the lower and central part of the town — in the 
 vicinity of Portsmouth Square — at the close of 
 the day, to my lodgings in the American House 
 on Stockton street, called also after the name of 
 the proprietor, " Merrill's-on-the Hill,"' in nearly 
 a direct course, across unoccupied portions of 
 blocks, was a test, in driving dense fogs and 
 against sweeping cold winds, of the discomforts 
 of Summer afternoons. Xor was the American 
 House — popular as a public resort — proof against 
 the general chilliness. For there too, in the ab- 
 sence of full protection, as the cold wind and the 
 fogs penetrated the crevices of the house, were 
 heard the not unfrequent depreciatory exclama- 
 tions: ''This is your Italian climate!" " This, your 
 new Eden!" ''Paradise!" 
 
 Yet withal, prejudices and complaints gave way 
 to a general satisfaction; and this more especially, 
 when it was found that no serious disturbance of 
 the healthy functions resulted, but, on the con- 
 trary, a bracing stimulus imparted effective vigor 
 to the constitution. A cheerful company often 
 gathered of an evening in the spacious dining hall, 
 which was also the sitting, and some times a sleep- 
 ing room of the "American." A humorous Eng- 
 
80 A PIONEER FAST OB ATE. 
 
 lish guest, Mr. Pope, ''the Pope," he was some- 
 times called, enlivened the intercourse with his 
 witticisms, not sparing a great, unsightly drum 
 around which the guests gathered, vainly seeking 
 warmth, of which it was the supposed receptacle 
 from a basement cooking stove beneath; as, for 
 example, when " the Pope" disturbed the general 
 equanimity by saying, " I would I were a pan- 
 cake," looking longingly at the drum. "Why, 
 Mr. Pope?" " That I might have a chance at the 
 heat inside." 
 
 In regard to this hotel, it may be said it was 
 marked by several striking features. The Ameri- 
 can, whatever the number of guests or applicants 
 for entertainment, was never full. Rooms filled, 
 the dining room was opened, and its tables and 
 spaces under the tables were occupied, beds being 
 supplied by the inevitable companion blankets of 
 travellers. The proprietor was also noted for 
 keeping things moving. The building was never 
 finished; guests were transferred from room to 
 room at will ; and the rooms themselves were sub- 
 jected to repeated overhaulings. If at any time I 
 went out for a few hours, I was never sure of 
 finding things the same on my return. On one 
 such occasion, I found my premises seized and 
 possessed by a carpenter, commissioned by the 
 obliging landlord to make alterations which he 
 considered needful. A conversation ensued. My 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 81 
 
 intruding friend was very communicative, told me 
 he had been in the country more than two years, 
 came with Kearney's regiment, etc. Then this 
 dialogue: Myself — Are you a Mormon? Car- 
 penter — Yes. Myself — From what part of the 
 country are you? Caipenter — Connecticut, near 
 Hartford. Myself — How did you become a Mor- 
 mon? Carpenter — Well, I was first a Methodist; 
 then I was a Millerite two years; and then I 
 jined the Mormons; I believe there's good in 
 all, do -ant y-e-u? 
 
 "A clean bill of health," it was the boast of 
 the times, was the possession of the country when 
 first entered by the pioneers. Such, in general, 
 was doubtless the fact. . Various causes led to 
 the introduction of sickness. Of those who made 
 the voyage via the Isthmus of Panama, and in the 
 transit had seemed to escape the malaria of the 
 region, some contracted the seeds of disease, 
 which afterward produced their fruits in a cooler 
 climate. Others were victims of exposures in the 
 gold mines, through the combined influence of 
 the heated atmosphere of ravines and the chilling 
 waters of the mountain streams in which the gold 
 washing was performed. Of this class I witnessed 
 many instances. The reward of labor in fabulous 
 returns of the precious metal was marred by the 
 entailment of intermittents and other complaints, 
 not the least afflictive of which appeared in va- 
 
 F 
 
82 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 rious types of rheumatism — the fruit of expo- 
 sures. At the opening of the Winter of 1849-50, 
 many miners were impelled by the storms of that 
 season to seek retreat in San Francisco, where, in 
 drenched tents and cloth houses, the dangers to 
 health and comfort were renewed and hardly less 
 severe. 
 
 That much sickness and frequent deaths oc- 
 curred in such circumstances — the usual fatality 
 of new colonizations — is not strange. My expe- 
 rience in visitations of the sick and dying, as also 
 in the burial of the dead, was various as the times. 
 In reference to burials, it was my lot to witness, 
 at different times, all seemingly possible degrees 
 of outward circumstance, from the lowest forms 
 with aspects of cold indifterence, to the most 
 showy of elaborate pageantry. Of the latter class 
 I may not give examples; of the former, rare it is 
 true, index of a phase of disintegrated society, 
 belonging to the incidents of 1849, was the fune- 
 ral of a young man, Mr. T., who had died on 
 board the ship Humholdt^ in the harbor of San 
 Francisco. He was not a member of the company 
 which owned the Himiboldt and rounded Cape Horn, 
 but had been taken on board at Acapulco, at which 
 port the ship touched. He was then ill of con- 
 sumption, the final cause of his death. In the 
 wareroom of Simmons, Hutchinson k Co., I per- 
 formed the funeral service, in the presence of a 
 
A PIOXEER PASTORATE. 83 
 
 considerable number of the Humboldfs passengers. 
 The coffin was then placed in a plain cart, and 
 driven, the driver only with myself accompanying, 
 to the burial place at North Beach, where our 
 number was increased by the solitary gravedigger. 
 Such was the end of a stranger. 
 
 The burial places of San Francisco have had 
 their succession of changes. In the infancy of 
 the city, though outside of business quarters, they 
 were near the centre. The most distant was one 
 already referred to, on the line of Powell street, 
 near North Beach. Another was on the south- 
 eastern slope of Telegraph Hill. Still another 
 was on Russian Hill, so called on account of the 
 use of its summit as a Russian burial place, in the 
 time of the Russian Fur Company's establishment 
 in San Francisco. All these were availed of in 
 1849, and later. The time came when the author- 
 ities, in view of the extension of the city, set 
 apart the large gore of land bounded by Market, 
 McAllister, and Larkin streets, for burials, and 
 gave to the plot the name of Yerba Buena Cem- 
 etery. When first opened, it seemed remote, and 
 as to access in any direction, could be reached 
 only by passing over a succession of sand-hills. 
 But this, too, has passed away, and the plot is 
 now, in part, the site of the New City Hall. 
 
 Before, however, Yerba Buena Cemeter}^ came 
 into disuse, a private corporation, consisting of 
 
84 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 Nathaniel Gray, Frank B. Austin, and William H. 
 Ranlett, was formed, and a large tract of one 
 hundred and seventy-three acres was obtained for 
 a city of the dead, and called (since changed to 
 Laurel Hill) after the name of the prominent 
 conical elevation near, Lone Mountain Cemetery. 
 This strikingly expressive and appropriate name 
 was chosen out of many different titles, and as 
 the conclusion reached in a council of advisors in 
 which I took part. A. notable event was the in- 
 auguration of this cemetery, appointed to take 
 place, under the direction of the proprietors, on 
 the 30th of May, 1854. Nearly the entire day 
 was given up to observance of the inauguration 
 The only available route to the cemetery, before 
 any of the direct streets were opened to it, was 
 along the Presidio road to a point near the garri- 
 son, and thence up and over the high dividing 
 ridge stretching out to Point Lobos. Throngs of 
 citizens, in carriages and on horseback, and some 
 even on foot, in succession, wended their way to 
 the scene of absorbing interest. 
 
 Although the scheme was under the control of 
 private persons, the occasion was considered one 
 of public interest; and accordingly, the Mayor of 
 San Francisco, C. K. Garrison, Esq., presided, and 
 in the name of the city, made an appropriate ac- 
 knowledgment of the occasion and its objects. 
 By invitation, it was deputed to me to take a 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 85 
 
 leading part in the devotional exercises. Appro- 
 priate chants were rendered in the intervals of 
 the different parts. Especially interesting and 
 ever-memorable was the eloquent oration deliv- 
 ered by our singularly gifted Pacific Coast orator, 
 Col. E. D. Baker. While every part of that ora- 
 tion was most fitting and impressive, and passage 
 after passage thrilled the hearts of the large as- 
 semblage gathered in " The Dell," especially sub- 
 lime was that of which the theme was the resur- 
 rection, and which was closed with a recitation, 
 in truest pathos, of the stanza from Dr. Watts : 
 
 God my Redeemer lives, 
 
 And often from the skies, 
 Looks down and watches all my dust, 
 
 Till he shall bid it rise. 
 
 Little did we think that so soon, in his own case, 
 would be fulfilled the prophetic description he 
 then gave: "Here future generations shall bring 
 the warrior who has given his life for his country; 
 here shall be brought the remains of the states- 
 man, who shall be remembered by the liberty 
 which he helped to create and the institutions 
 which he aided in bringing to perfection." 
 
 Calvary Cemetery, (Roman Catholic exclusively,) 
 situated south of Laurel Hill Cemetery, was estab- 
 lished in 1860. 
 
 A surprise and a pleasure, which was much ap- 
 preciated by many Californians, w^as the Thanks- 
 
86 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 giving service of 1849, appointed by Governor 
 Riley. It was understood that for this observ- 
 ance we were indebted as well to the suggestion 
 of the Governor's Secretary of State, Capt. H. W. 
 Halleck. The day, 29th November, was by many 
 duly observed. A thanksgiving service was held 
 by the First Presbyterian Church in its Tent, at 
 11 A.M. A good attendance. The text of my 
 sermon was: "He thanked God, and took courage." 
 Acts XXVIII., 10. Xor was the usual thanks- 
 giving dinner omitted by the good people of San 
 Francisco, in which all doubtless distinguished 
 themselves. But the best of all, I think, was en- 
 joyed around the hospitable board of Mr. C. Y. 
 Gillespie, at which, with Dr. Turner, Mr. Billings, 
 and Captain Macondray, I was an obliged guest. 
 The close of a sumptuous entertainment was en- 
 livened by one of Dr. F.'s bon mots, when in plea- 
 sant irony he rounded off the lively conversation 
 of the feast by saying: "About this time, our 
 friends at home are gathered together at their 
 thanksgiving dinner, and, their thoughts turned 
 toward us here, they are saying, ' Poor fellows in 
 California! they have nothing to eat or drink.'" 
 
 Not as a politician, but as a citizen interested 
 in all that concerned the rising conunonwealth, I 
 could not fail to share in the common solicitude 
 felt in the right ordering of public affairs. I had 
 watched the signs of unrest shown in a natural 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 87 
 
 impatience under the existing forms of civil gov- 
 ernment. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had 
 continued the forms of the Mexican Republic 
 when not in conflict with the Constitution of the 
 United States. To some holding office, under the 
 names and with the irresponsible authority of the 
 Mexican regime., the existing state of things may 
 have been satisfactory, but not so to all. Hence, 
 the attempts to establish more liberal institutions 
 in better harmony with American usages. The 
 rival governments, known as "District Assem- 
 blies," which sprang up in San Francisco and a 
 few other towns, were the expressions of an op- 
 posing sentiment of dissatisfaction. But all this 
 was brought to an end by the efficient action of 
 Governor Riley, who ordered the dissolution of 
 the "illegal" Assemblies, and at the same time 
 took the initiative towards the formation of a 
 State Government for California. On the 3d of 
 June, the Governor issued his proclamation pro- 
 viding for the election, on the 1st of August, of 
 delegates to a Constitutional Convention, to meet 
 at Monterey, the Capital, on the 1st of Septem- 
 ber, for the purpose of framing a State Constitu- 
 tion. The entire scheme of forming a State Gov- 
 ernment was also projected by the Governor; 
 voting of the people on the ratification of the 
 Constitution; the election of a Governor, Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, members of a State Legislature, 
 
88 -4 PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 and representatives in Congress; and the con- 
 vening of the Legislature on the 15th of Decem- 
 ber; all of which was carried into effect, with the 
 inauguration of the State Government in all its 
 departments. These important movements formed 
 the crowning civil exploits of the pioneer year, 
 and the setting in motion of the wheels of gov- 
 ernment was the fitting, final act of 1849. 
 
 With the cause of public education, I had a 
 special sympathy, and by suggestions to members 
 of the Constitutional Convention, contributed, I 
 believe, somewhat to the liberal views and action 
 of the body, which had effect in their noble ad- 
 vocacy and support given to the cause. The same 
 personal interest in a matter so vital to the wel- 
 fare of society, prompted me to desire to be pres- 
 ent at the opening of the Legislature in San Jose, 
 the new seat of government. 
 
 There were two routes to the Capital: by land, 
 on horseback, and by steamboat, on the Ba}' to 
 Alviso and thence by stage. The rainy season 
 had set in with uncommon severity, and rendered 
 the roads quite impassable. To meet the existing 
 demand, an extra effort was made, and two steam- 
 boats, so-called, were brought into requisition. 
 One was the little Mint, a miniature pattern, so 
 crank that she was nearly capsized in the trip. 
 The other, the Sacramento, was a scow, supplied 
 with an eiigine, originally intended for dredging 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 89 
 
 for gold in the Feather river, which proving im- 
 practicable, a deck and paddles were added, and 
 she was transformed into a passenger and freight 
 craft, and employed in trans-shipments from sail- 
 ing vessels on the Bay, between the mouth of the 
 Sacramento river and Sacramento City. In this 
 service, in the Summer and Autumn of '49, the 
 Sacramento played a useful part, notwithstanding 
 sundry witticisms perpetrated at her expense, one 
 of which was that, in one of her trips, "she had 
 put into the port of New York-on-the-Pacific in 
 ■distress, being out of wood and water." 
 
 Preferring the Sacramento rather than the Mint, 
 I committed myself to the former for passage, 
 with a company largely in excess of her meagre 
 accommodations. The only shelter was a small, 
 square cabin upon the stern. There, by turns, 
 were quartered members of the Legislature, and 
 candidates for various offices, among whom were 
 half a dozen or so aspirants for the United States 
 Senatorships, and, not least, a bridal party, Col. 
 E. J. C. Kewen's. 
 
 About nine o'clock on the morning of the 12th 
 of December, we left the wharf of San Francisco. 
 Progress was slow, about four miles per hour, but 
 all was well until mid-afternoon, when for a short 
 time almost a panic occurred, at the report that 
 the boat had sprung aleak and was filling with 
 water. Such was the fact, but the water entered 
 
90 ^^ PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 not by a leak in the hull, but through an opening 
 in the stern, around the rudder post. A westerly 
 wind had raised a "sea," and the waves beating 
 against the stern had gradually poured their 
 crests through the opening. Whereupon, the pru- 
 dent master ran the vessel under the lee of San 
 Mateo and anchored until the breeze abated. A 
 calm night followed, and resuming the voyage the 
 next morning — twenty-four hours out — found us 
 moored beside the mud bank of Alviso. Thence, 
 in sundry vehicles, we were ploddingly transported 
 through deep mire over the "stage" portion of 
 the route, and at four r. m. we were set down in 
 the ancient Pueblo, to find lodgings as best could 
 be done. 
 
 On Saturday, the two branches of the Legisla- 
 ture were partly, and on Monday following, fully 
 organized. During the first week, Governor Riley 
 having resigned the office which he had honorably 
 and usefully filled, Governor P. H. Burnett was 
 installed in office, as also the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor, John McDougall, and Colonel J. C. Fre- 
 mont and Wm. M. Gwin were chosen United 
 States Senators, and the business of legislation 
 was entered upon. 
 
 It seems needless to add, the pioneer year 
 1849 was crowded with important enterprises and 
 changes in the many "first things" of California. 
 The general facts, and not the details of those 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTOBATE. 91 
 
 events, need only to be referred to, while it is 
 proper to add, those only who witnessed and par- 
 ticipated in them can adequately appreciate the 
 reality. Change followed change, insomuch that 
 we became accustomed to change. A new sur- 
 prise was a usual morning experience. The per- 
 son who in a dark night stumbled, in one of the 
 streets, into a mortar bed, and gave an equivocal 
 utterance to his feelings on recovering himself, 
 exclaiming, "' I wish San Francisco were finished," 
 expressed a common desire for relief from excite- 
 ments, ofttimes a burden and weariness. 
 
 During the Summer of '49, a circle of my 
 friends, so they reported, one evening were con- 
 versing upon the teeming fullness of incidents 
 which had already occurred, and it was remarked 
 by one of the number that nothing but an earth- 
 quake was wanting to complete that fullness, and 
 at that very moment an earthquake shook the 
 house in which they were sitting. They felt the 
 tremor, biit unused to the sudden visitor, formed 
 many conjectures respecting the fact and its 
 cause, among which was the suggestion that it 
 was the dropping of Lieutenant Blair's foot upon 
 the floor from a chair, on which it had been rest- 
 ing, which caused the tremblor. 
 
 To the veritable earthquake must be added a 
 severe conflagration, in San Francisco, on the 24th 
 of December, 1849, forerunner of the terrible 
 
92 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 desolations which swept over the city, in 1850 
 and 1851. in no less than five subsequent, general 
 fires. 
 
 What with the surging masses of all national- 
 ities who entered California in '49, and the many 
 experimental and permanent schemes of industry, 
 and foundations of religious, social, and charitable 
 institutions, the incipient, progressive, and final 
 steps in the formation of a State government, with 
 its wheels set in motion, together constitute a 
 series of benign efforts and gratifj^ing results, 
 and, all in all. a full-rounded year of success. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Winter of 18i9-50 — Commimiou Season and Incidents — "A Kegular 
 New School Blue Presbyterian" — Anni;al Review — Presbytery of 
 California — The Press of San Francisco — The Watchman — Family 
 Reunion — Visit to Oregon — Dedication of the Presbyterian Church 
 of Clatsop Plains — Two Deeply Lamented Deaths — Cholera in 
 San Francisco — Ecclesiastical Councils — Second Meeting of the 
 Presbytery of California and Installation. 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate, in any attempt, 
 the story of the inconveniences incident to the 
 extreme rainy season of 1849—50. Streets which 
 were nsed by vehicles were miry, and most of the 
 tenements of San Francisco miserably uncom- 
 fortable. A similar condition of things prevailed 
 throughout the State. Although much suffering 
 was alleviated by the kind interposition of the 
 charitable, it was painful to witness the adverse 
 conditions of many suffering acute fevers, whose 
 best shelter was a tent drenched with the pelting 
 rains. Recovery in such circumstances seemed a 
 miracle. The City Hospital was a noble beneficial 
 institution, and the city's lavish assistance in be- 
 half of the dependent reflected upon the author- 
 ities the highest honor. The charities bestowed 
 through the Benevolent or Strangers' Friend So- 
 ciety, and by the direct action of the Masonic 
 
94 A PIOXEET! PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 fraternity and other social organizations, as well 
 as private benefactions, were all tliat could be ex- 
 j)ected in any community; in existing circum- 
 stances among strangers and for the relief of 
 strangers, the more praiseworthy because un- 
 selfish. Well do 1 remember, though I need not 
 relate, my own repeated exposures during the 
 stormy 1849-50. wlien duty called me to the 
 couch of the sick and the last rites oyer the dead. 
 Riding, if the means had been at hand, was out of 
 the question, and walking even, next to an im- 
 possibility. In the performance of these services, 
 I visited often, during his lingering sickness, Dr. 
 Bybee of Memphis, Tenn., a member of the church 
 of my friend, the Rev. Dr. John H. (Iray. In his 
 case, the value of "a good hope through grace" 
 was manifest, and in life and death he felt the 
 supports of the divine Savior in whom he trusted. 
 On one of the most stormy days of the season, 
 the 8th of January, 1850, his funeral took place, 
 from his place of residence on Jackson street. 
 Many friends of the deceased, including his breth- 
 ren of the Masonic Order, accompanied the re- 
 mains, borne by the only carriage employed on 
 the occasion, to his grave. The burial was on the 
 summit of Russian Hill, and our walk in the heavy 
 rain and through tlie miry way to the base of the 
 hill was both difficult and disagreeable. How dif- 
 ficult and trying the walk was I can testify, for 
 
A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 95 
 
 often, though selecting ni}^ way as best I could. I 
 sank in the mire to the top of my boots. In that 
 season of sickness, it was my own lot to contract 
 an intermittent fever, which proved a long con- 
 tinued affliction: yet not so affecting my general 
 health and vigor as to prevent me from the regu- 
 lar fulfilment of the duties of my office ; and this, 
 although a Monday's chill invariably followed 
 Sunday's exertions. 
 
 Often, in connection with the public services of 
 our Church, were seen striking instances of re- 
 ligious sensibility. Especially was this witnessed 
 in the case of devout persons for the first time 
 enjoying the privilege of Christian ordinances in 
 their new and strange home. Again and again, 
 have I seen, from among those who had just ar- 
 rived from a trying, long journey overland, or 
 from a no less trying experience of the sea, hav- 
 ing safely escaped the ravages of cholera and 
 fever, strong men bowed, overcome by their ten- 
 der and grateful emotions, and weeping with tears 
 of jo}' through the entire services. On one occa- 
 sion, perhaps the nature of the service contributed 
 to the effect — it was a communion season on the 
 first Sunday of February, 1850 — a gentleman wor- 
 shipping with us for the first time, and seemingly 
 wrought up to a pitch of uncontrollable emotion. 
 at the close, came forward, grasping my hand, and 
 introduced himself to me, Mr. J. McK., late from 
 
96 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 the good Presbyterian city of Pittsburg, as a 
 "Regular New School Blue Presbyterian," evi- 
 dently confused and hardly knowing what he 
 said. On the same occasion, we were permitted 
 to rejoice over the addition of a member to our 
 Church, by an original profession of faith — a very 
 interesting young Hollander, who, in an attend- 
 ance with us, was moved to make this Christian 
 consecration. 
 
 The following is the entry, as a review, in my 
 Note-Book: "February 5th, 1850. Just one year 
 has passed since I embarked at New York for this 
 new land. It was for many reasons a dark day^ 
 when I felt myself suddenly torn away from my 
 home and friends. But soon I was persuaded 
 that a wise and gracious hand was leading me 
 onward. The little which 1 have been enabled to 
 do in the cause of my blessed Master, during the 
 past year, although it does not satisfy me, yet 
 proves a source of conviction that I have been 
 led in the path of duty." 
 
 The Presbytery of California, upon the arrival 
 of the Rev. James Woods, in January, 1850, hav- 
 ing a quorum of members, at an early practicable 
 day, the 20th of February, 1850, held its first 
 meeting in Benicia. The opening sermon was 
 preached by the Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, from Ps. 
 LX., 4: "Thou hast given a banner to them that 
 fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 97 
 
 truth. Selah."' A very appropriate and excellent 
 discourse, settin^i; forth Christ as the banner, and 
 our denominational interest in bearing it forward. 
 The sessions were continued through two days, 
 occupied in forming plans of systematic effort, 
 and were closed with an interesting installation 
 service, constituting Mr. Woodbridge pastor of the 
 Church in Benicia. 
 
 With the advent of Americans and their posses- 
 sion of California, came the establishment of the 
 Press, index of their civilization and its essential 
 appendage. A little more than a month after the 
 hoisting of the United States flag, the Rev. Walter 
 Colton and Dr. Robert Semple, in August, 1846, 
 issued the first number of the Calif ornian in Mont- 
 erey. Nine months afterward, the publication was 
 transferred to San Francisco. At the close of 
 1846, Mr. Samuel Brannan began the publishing, 
 in San Francisco, of the Califorma Star. At a 
 later date, the two papers were blended in one, 
 and the publication continued to the beginning 
 of 1849, when, as its outcome, the Alta California 
 was established, the sole journal of the town, 
 and, happily surviving the fall of many others 
 which have had a temporar}^ existence, continues 
 still a leading commercial authority. Subsequent 
 to the Alta California in 1849 and onward, arose 
 the Pacific News, Journal of Commerce, Herald, 
 Courier, Picayune, and other papers. 
 G 
 
98 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Yery clever were the writers connected with 
 the early San Francisco Press, who are readily as 
 well as pleasingly recalled. Xot to exhaust the 
 list, I note the names of Gilbert, Kemble, Soule, 
 Lawrence, Livingston, Durivage, Brinsraade, Nu- 
 gent, Farwell, Ewer, Bartlett, Robb, Lull, Crane, 
 Wells, Washington, Nisbet, not omitting ever- 
 brilliant Lieut. Derby, (Phoenix,) whose letters 
 gave so great entertainment. With their numerous 
 gratified readers I was one, and not the least, in 
 obligation for the pleasure enjoyed, because, in 
 appreciation of the sacrifices of my profession, 
 some half-dozen papers, for a considerable period, 
 were gratuitously left at my door. 
 
 Early in 1850, prematurely perhaps, it occurred 
 to me to commence the publication of a religious 
 newspaper. That my motive and object in this 
 regard may appear, I transfer to the present vol- 
 ume my introductory leader: 
 
 When some months ago, the wishful purpose to issue a 
 religious newspaper from this jDoint was disclosed to a small 
 circle of ministerial brethren, the ready response was made, 
 " print it." Other fiiends have since said, "print it." And 
 now, though awhile hindered, we are permitted to execute 
 our cherished desire to "print it." Quite assured it is 
 both timely and encouraging to add a religious journal 
 to the issues of the periodical press in this country, we 
 entertain no apprehension of being regarded, in any quar- 
 ter, as an intruder; while, as an organ of intelligence to a 
 large body of friends of religion and sound morals, both 
 in this and other States, we cherish for the Watchman the 
 
A PIOyEER PASTORATE. 99 
 
 fond expectation of a kindly greeting. An assumed con- 
 cession of the benign influence of jDure religious faith and 
 morals in society is our high vantage ground, which we 
 take in combining with other ministries for imj^arting a 
 correct moral tone to social organizations, that acknowl- 
 edged instrument of power in modern times, the Press. 
 The field of Christian ethics is our aj)propriate and pre- 
 scribed province; and, embracing also whatever subsidiary 
 aids are found in congenial topics connected with the cause 
 of learning and matters of general intelligence, our aim 
 and desire alike are to contribute to the healthy and safe 
 advancement of the public welfare of this growing com- 
 monwealth. The true well-being of society, it is hardly 
 needful to say, cannot be secured without having regard 
 to the great moral truths and precepts inculcated in the 
 Bible. And our earnest wish is, that this new State may 
 early adopt for its motto the Bible truth: "Righteousness 
 exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 The design, which received the approval of my 
 brethren, I was enabled, upon the occasion of the 
 first anniversary of my arrival, to carry into effect. 
 On the 1st of April, 1850, I issued the first num- 
 ber of the Watchman^ a religious monthly of eight 
 pages. Many " pleasantly said things," as friend 
 Robb of the Stockton Journal put it, greeted the 
 appearance of the paper. The expense, $150 per 
 number, was almost entirely my own. Still, it was 
 my intention to persevere with the publication, 
 until hindered by a destructive fire, and, renewing 
 the effort, finally stopped by a second fire, which 
 also consumed the office in which it was printed. 
 With the fourth number, and copy prepared for 
 
100 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 another issue, the first religious newspaper pub- 
 lished on the coast came to an end. 
 
 At the date of my departure for California, so 
 little was known about the country, and so much 
 uncertainty existed as to the question of comfort- 
 able means of living, that it seemed best to make 
 the experiment alone, leaving the question of be- 
 ing joined by my family to further developments. 
 The return of my dear friend Captain Bezer Sim- 
 mons to " the States," for a brief visit, in the dis- 
 charge of a sad duty, was the favorable oppor- 
 tunity for the gratification of a cherished desire. 
 I was doubly obliged, indeed; for in making the 
 voyage to California, my wife and two children 
 were assisted by both Captain Bezer and his 
 brother. Captain Nathan Simmons, a better man, 
 he said, than himself — they were both good men; 
 and under their charge, my family was safelj^ 
 landed in San Francisco from the steamer Tennessee, 
 on the 20th of June, 1850. 
 
 With the increasing population of the cit}^ and 
 our own enlarged accommodations in the Superior 
 Court Room, the congregation was proportionally 
 increased in numbers. In these circumstances, 
 my parochial duties were multiplied. Church 
 growth and prosperity are not attained without 
 work — hard work. It is needless to say, such 
 effort the circumstances demanded. I could not 
 decline manifest calls of duty. Th^. *saying of 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 101 
 
 Cotton Mather, ''The opportunity of doing a duty 
 makes the doing of it a duty," I remembered, and 
 endeavored, as far as in my power, to fulfil. This 
 series of activity and constant draft upon my sys- 
 tem allowed no rest for recuperation, and a re- 
 currence of chills and fever continuing, an enforced 
 vacation was by medical advice regarded necessary. 
 In September, 1850, an invitation came to me from 
 the Rev. Lewds Thompson, of Clatsop Plains, Ore- 
 gon, through my friend Mr. W. H. Gray, of the 
 same place, to take part in the dedication of the 
 Clatsop Presbyterian Church. This request, in 
 connection with the seeking of health, led me to 
 take a voyage to Oregon. On the 23d of Sep- 
 tember, I embarked with my family on board the 
 steamer Panama for Astoria. Landing at that 
 place, we were hospitably entertained by General 
 John Adair, Collector of the Port, a firm Presby- 
 terian; and on the 28th were accompanied by him 
 in an Indian canoe across Young's Bay, and on the 
 peninsula to the residence of Mr. Gray. On those 
 fertile plains resided a community wdiose life and 
 habits were an exact likeness to the manner of 
 their late eastern homes in Xew York and Penn- 
 sylvania. Conspicuous among the number was 
 the venerable ruling elder, "Father" Condit, a 
 worthy example of the piety which he professed 
 and adorned. The youthful pastor, Mr. Thomp- 
 son, fresh from his theological studies in Ken- 
 
102 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 tucky, in a true missionary spirit, had crossed the 
 continent, and in that rural scene cast his lot, and 
 gathered as a faithful shepherd a spiritual flock. 
 The zeal of pastor and people was signalized by 
 the church edifice which they had reared, a mon- 
 ument of pious devotion to the God of their 
 fathers. And when, on the Lord's da}', they as- 
 sembled in their sacred edifice, formally to set it 
 apart for the worship of Almighty God, it was a 
 palpable fact that the house of God was dear to 
 them. If in any degree my visit proved a gratifi- 
 tion to those people, so also was my own pleasure 
 enhanced by meeting with them and ministering 
 to them in their church and homes. The object 
 I sought, a restoration of my health, was likewise 
 gained in that pure, mild climate. 
 
 Again we were the obliged guests of General 
 Adair in Astoria, and with him, in a small steamer 
 in which he had an interest, ascended the Colum- 
 bia, grand river of Oregon, and the Willamet, as 
 far as Portland. Our stay in Portland was brief. 
 The town was young and small. Only very lim- 
 ited clearing had been made, and primitive forest 
 trees shaded many of the buildings in the place; 
 and standing pools of water here and there were 
 more than probable, they were actual sources of 
 disease. Returning to our home and work, we 
 enjoyed the pleasure of a passage on board the 
 good steamer Oregon.^ which had landed me first 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 103 
 
 in San Francisco. This ship had brought on her 
 last voyage the important news to California of 
 her admission as a State into the Union. Copies 
 of the New York Tribune extra. September 11th, 
 1850, brought by the Oregon, contained the fol- 
 lowing announcement : 
 
 "We are at last enabled to send the news so long awaited 
 by our fellow-citizens on the Pacific Coast. California is 
 admitted into the American confederacy, and to-day takes 
 rank as the thirty-first State of the Union. The bill for her 
 admission was brought up in the House on Saturday, and 
 after a short discussion, passed as it came from the Senate. 
 The fifty-seven votes against the bill were all from the ultra 
 Southern members. The representatives from California, 
 who have been long in waiting, will probably take their 
 seats to-day. The news has been received everywhere with 
 the most unbounded satisfaction. At Washington, minute- 
 guns were fired on Saturday evening, followed by a display 
 of fireworks. In this city, many of the hotels and public 
 ofi&ces hoisted the national flag in token of rejoicing. 
 
 If in the Eastern States the admission of Cali- 
 fornia was welcomed with so great enthusiasm, 
 much more to Californians the fact, as it became 
 known, excited a more intensified interest. The 
 scene in San Francisco, as described to us by 
 Captain C. P. Patterson of the Oregon, upon the 
 receipt of the news among the enthusiastic citi- 
 zens, was one of the wildest excitement. Business 
 places and homes were vacated. At the mere 
 view of the approaching steamer with a display of 
 all her bunting, the entire population was in the 
 
104 A PIONEER PAS TOE ATE. 
 
 street, moved as by a common impulse. Rivals 
 and even enemies forgot their differences, grasped 
 each other's hands, embraced, and — as truth it 
 must be recorded — rushed, many at least, into 
 drinking places, and according to prevailing cus- 
 tom, ''more honored in the breach than the 
 observance," gave expression to their highly- 
 wrought cordiality in free convivial indulgences. 
 Our arrival at San Francisco was in time to take 
 part in the imposing pageant of the authorities 
 and citizens in celebration of the great event, on 
 the 29th of October. 
 
 During my absence, my pulpit had been regu- 
 larly supplied, and in other respects the interests 
 of the Church had been zealously fostered. Par- 
 ticularly, I may note a favorable change of our 
 church-site, preparatory to the erection of the 
 building soon expected, to Stockton street. 
 
 But, with much to gladden my heart on return- 
 ing with restored health, and meeting with evi- 
 dences of the prosperity of my Church, 1 was 
 deeply grieved to learn that in the interval of my 
 absence, we had suffered a painful bereavement 
 in the death of our esteemed Captain Bezer Sim- 
 mons. He was ill when I left the city, and the 
 evening before my departure, with my wife, I 
 visited him, little thinking it was the last time 
 we should see him on earth. Xor was this our 
 only bereavement. During the same period an- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 105 
 
 other valued friend and member of our congrega- 
 tion had died, away from the city — Mr. Knowles 
 Taylor, brother of the sainted James Brainerd 
 Taylor. This brother's prayers and addresses had 
 been especially edifying in our social religious 
 meetings. In the mutual confidences and hopes 
 of our society, we had looked to both of these 
 good men for support and encouragement; and 
 their loss to us could not be regarded as less than 
 a great and painful affliction. 
 
 Resuming my parochial duties, I had soon need 
 for an extra measure of strength, when, in that 
 Autumn of 1850, San Francisco was visited by the 
 fearful scourge of cholera. Already, at the date 
 of my return, reports had reached the city of its 
 progress overland and appearance in Sacramento. 
 A few days only elapsed, and the dreaded pes- 
 tilence was upon our community. One of its 
 earliest victims was a personal friend and promi- 
 nent merchant. Word of his dangerous condi- 
 tion came to me, and at once I repaired to his 
 bedside in the St. Francis Hotel. As in all sim- 
 ilar cases which it had been my lot to witness^ 
 the intellect of the patient was unclouded. In a 
 very brief space of time, he had been brought to 
 the gates of death, for his recovery was beyond 
 hope. The anxiety of his mind in regard to his 
 eternal state was intense. This was my first and 
 only visit, for I remained with him about two 
 
106 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 hours, and with 1113- own hands closed his eyes. 
 Yet, in that brief interview, it was ni}' happiness 
 to offer to my friend, upon the assured authority 
 of the divine word, the promise of everlasting 
 salvation through a crucified Redeemer. He was 
 attentive, and joined earnestly in my prayers. 
 His paroxysms were intensely severe, but the 
 strength of his will enabled him to rise above all 
 sense of pain, absorbed in a deeper involved 
 question. At my mention of his pious mother's 
 many fervent prayers in his behalf, his counte- 
 nance relaxed and brightened, and he said, "That 
 is the most encouraging word you have spoken." 
 Xot without reason I felt, when his spirit took its 
 flight, his prayer, "Lord, remember me in thy 
 kingdom," was heard and answered. Daily, and 
 hourly almost, during that cholera season, were 
 my visits made to the suffering, and daily I per- 
 formed the solemn rites of the burial of the 
 dead. 
 
 In December, 1850, the ladies of our congre- 
 gation, ever helpful in furthering its interests, in 
 order to assist in defraying the expenses incurred 
 in the erection of our church edifice, held a 
 Fair — the first Church Fair of California. The 
 effort was a marked success. The use of the 
 Armory of the California Guards was obtained. 
 The receipts on two evenings only, were, for ad- 
 mission, one dollar each, $570, and in donations 
 
A PIOXEER PASTOliATE. 107 
 
 and net value of sales, $3418. A desire for a 
 continuance of the Fair a longer time was ex- 
 pressed by friends of the cause, but grateful for 
 the generous reward of their labors, the ladies 
 were satisfied with the "enough" received. 
 
 The first Congregational Council I was unex- 
 pectedly called to take part in, met in San Fran- 
 cisco, June 26th, 1850. for the installation of the 
 Rev. T. Dwight Hunt over the First Congrega- 
 tional Church. Besides, there were present the 
 Rev. J. A. Benton and the Rev. S. H. Willey : one 
 Congregationalist and two Presbyterians, to con- 
 stitute a Presbyterian clergyman a Congregational 
 pastor. 
 
 A second Council I attended in Sacramento, on 
 the 5th of March, 1851, and assisted in the in- 
 stallation of the Rev. Mr. Benton over the Con- 
 gregational Church in that city. 
 
 The Presbytery of California held its second 
 session in San Francisco, in September, 1850, and 
 at tliat time my formal installation in the Pastorate 
 of the First Presbyterian Church was consum- 
 mated. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A Busy Period — Dedication — Orphan Asj'lum Society — Kenewal of 
 Crime — Vigilance Committee of 1851 — Executions — Whittaker 
 and Mackenzie — Keview of 1851. 
 
 During December, 1850, and January, 1851, a 
 busy scene of activity was witnessed at the site of 
 the First Presbyterian Church. All the materials 
 of the building had come to hand, complete in 
 quantity, and duly fitted and marked for its erec- 
 tion. Being the first church edifice in the city 
 constructed according to a strict ecclesiastical 
 design, the progress of work on the building was 
 watched with a lively interest, not only by the 
 members of the First Church, but by the com- 
 munity generally, by whom it was regarded with 
 pride, as a mark of progress. The style was of 
 the early Gothic order, and singularly tasteful. 
 The seeming disadvantage we had suffered in so 
 long a delay, compared with other congregations 
 which had for some time occupied their several 
 houses of worship, such as they were, was more 
 than compensated by the quality of our church 
 building. 
 
 At length, the finishing touches were given to 
 the sacred house. When, on Sunday, the 19th of 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 109 
 
 January, 1851, the congregation entered it for the 
 first time, I was permitted, with a joyful heart, to 
 take up the language of the Psalmist, and say, '' I 
 was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into 
 the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand 
 within thy gates, Jerusalem." The sitting ca- 
 pacity of the church provided for a congregation 
 of seven hundred and fifty, which number, long- 
 as the building stood, was the usual attendance 
 upon the Sunday morning and evening services. 
 The same period was marked by intense church 
 life and constant activity. Though highly favored 
 in its commanding position, its advantages were 
 not hoarded for selfish gratification, but employed 
 as means to useful ends. The zeal of the Church 
 was proof of the spirit which animated and 
 moulded its organization. All this was known 
 and felt. The employment of its strength in 
 beneficent work was a distinguishing feature. Its 
 income was in excess of its ordinary expenses, 
 and as a society and through its individual mem- 
 bers, aid was often rendered to new or struggling 
 churches, and other benevolent objects, outside, 
 as well as in behalf of causes connected with our 
 own denomination. Its charities were, proverb- 
 ially, broad and catholic. 
 
 In the review of those times, I recall the re- 
 mark made to me by an English gentleman, a 
 i^ember of the Independent Church, who, while 
 
110 A PIONEER FAST ORATE. 
 
 residing in the city some two or three years, 
 identified himself with the First Church. Speak- 
 ing of the general character of this Church, Mr. 
 H. said, "In all his extended travels and observa- 
 tion, he had never seen or known an instance of 
 such remarkable prosperity.'' 
 
 Among the incidents connected with visitations 
 of the sick in the Winter of 1850-51, was one of 
 special interest. The City Hospital, on the north 
 side of Pacific street, between Montgomery and 
 Kearny streets, was a retreat not only for the 
 sick supported by the city, but also for persons 
 possessed of means, who sought in its provisions 
 medical attendance and care. Of this latter class, 
 was Mr. William Crockett, of Nashville, Tennes- 
 see. This gentleman was stricken down with 
 fever, and became an inmate of the hospital in 
 February, 1851. He had warm personal friends^ 
 who gave him most friendly and careful atten- 
 tions. Of the clergymen visiting the hospital, the 
 Rev. William Taylor was the first to become ac- 
 quainted with him in his sickness. Mr. Crockett 
 had been reared a Presbyterian, and, true to the 
 peculiar faith of his fathers, he expressed a wish 
 to see a Presbyterian minister, and through Mr. 
 Taylor I was asked to visit him. He was all in 
 intelligence and culture that could be expected 
 in one whose family and associations ranked 
 among the most respectable in his native State. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. m 
 
 My visits were received with marked interest, and 
 from first to last the engrossing subject related to 
 his spiritual welfare. Though he had never been 
 a communicant, he was well informed as to the 
 saving doctrines of the gospel, and was thus 
 brought near to the kingdom of heaven. A more 
 sincere seeker of an assured interest in the saving"^ 
 grace of Christ, I think I never have seen. Dis- 
 ease, meanwhile was making steady, fatal progress. 
 His first desire, in the prospect of his approach- 
 ing end, was to be an accepted believer in the 
 Savior; and second to this, he wished to be re- 
 ceived into the communion of the Presbyterian 
 Church, the church of his fathers. The evidence 
 of his fitness to enter into this relation, I did not 
 doubt, and at his bedside, to myself, and Mr. 
 Caldwell, representing the Eldership of the First 
 Church, on the 18th of February, the formal pro- 
 fession of his Christian faith was made; and he 
 was enrolled a member of our Church, sealing his 
 covenant engagement by partaking of the Lord's 
 Supper. He departed this life in peace, and in 
 assurance of the life everlasting. 
 
 It is a lasting honor of our Church in its be- 
 neficent work, that it bore an important, indeed 
 the principal, part in the founding of the Protes- 
 tant Orphan Asylum of San Francisco. By its 
 prompt action, and in the favorable history of 
 that eminently popular and successful institution,. 
 
112 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 this Church is doubly distinguished. The origin 
 of the institution is the following. In January, 
 1851, Mrs. Nathaniel Lane, a respected member 
 of the First Church, during a call at my residence, 
 was the first to make the suggestion which led to 
 the organization of the Ladies' Orphan Asylum 
 Society. This lady spoke of the importance of 
 making provision, such as she had been familiar 
 with in Xew" Orleans, for the care of orphans. 
 The subject was at once taken up and communi- 
 cated to other ladies of our congregation. But 
 not confining the effort to ourselves, while the 
 prompting and first movements had this source, 
 the cooperation of ladies of all the Protestant 
 churches of the city was invited and secured. 
 A Protestant, undenominational association w^as 
 the result. It was agreed to hold a public meet- 
 ing, for the purpose of forming the proposed 
 society, January 31st, 1851, in the First Pres- 
 byterian Church. Due public notice was given. 
 I wrote for publication in the Alta California an 
 item on the subject, and also drew^ up a Consti- 
 tution for adoption at the meeting. The pro- 
 gramme was carried out as agreed upon among 
 the original advisers. The meeting was held, at- 
 tended b}^ a goodl}' number of ladies. I was 
 present by invitation. The Divine favor was in- 
 voked upon the undertaking, the Constitution as 
 prepared was adopted, and under its provisions 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. II3 
 
 the Ladies' Orphan Asylum Society was regularly 
 inaugurated, and put in operation by the enrol- 
 ment of members and the election of officers. 
 The first staff of officers was the following: Mrs. 
 Albert Williams, President; Mrs. S. H. Willey, 
 Vice-President; Mrs. J. Boring, Treasurer; Mrs. 
 J. H. Warren, Secretary. The Managers were 
 Mrs. R. H. Waller, Mrs. William Taylor, Mrs. 0. 
 C. Wheeler, Mrs. C. Y. Gillespie, Mrs. J. Joyce, 
 Mrs. A. Dubbs. Trustees: Charles Gilman, Ste- 
 phen Franklin, D. L. Ross. Matron, Mrs. Wilson. 
 Not too soon was this Society formed, for at 
 once it was needed to take care of a few de- 
 pendent orphans. During the first year, the num- 
 ber under its charge was eight. A dwelling on 
 the southeast corner of Folsom and Second 
 streets, belonging to Captain H. W. Halleck, was 
 occupied as an Orphans' Home, by the generosity 
 of the owner, free of rent, until 1854, when the 
 Asylum building was completed. The cost of 
 the Asylum was about $25,000, which amount 
 was contributed by the liberal friends of the 
 institution. The board of management, under 
 whose efficient supervision the old north wing 
 of the Asylum was constructed, was composed 
 of the following persons : Mrs. Albert Williams, 
 President; Mrs. J. Boring, Vice-President; Mrs. 
 R. H. Waller, Treasurer; Mrs. C. V. Gillespie, 
 Secretary. Managers: Mrs. Alfred DeWitt, Mrs. 
 
 H 
 
114 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 David Gillespie, Mrs. William Leffingwell, Mrs. 
 Henry Haight, Mrs. A. M. Pettit, Mrs. T. Dwight 
 Hunt, Mrs. F. W. Macondray, Mrs. S. R. Throck- 
 morton, Mrs. I. P. Rankin, Mrs. J. H. Titcomb. 
 Trustees: Charles Gilman, Stephen Franklin, D. 
 L. Ross. Matron, Mrs. Wilson. In 1854, the 
 number of orphans in the institution was twenty- 
 four. 
 
 This brief notice of facts, familiar to all con- 
 temporaries, covers a part only of the histor}^ of 
 the diligent and efficient efforts of the benevolent 
 ladies engaged in the good cause of providing for 
 the orphans. For a period of two years and 
 more, the officers were in the habit of holding 
 semi-monthly meetings at my residence; and for 
 the honor of all concerned, and not less the credit 
 due to the lady participants of the First Church, 
 I am liapp}^ to bear my humble testimony to the 
 zeal and fidelity with which their oversight of the 
 Asylum and its interests was maintained. 
 
 The Summer of 1861 witnessed, not only in 
 San Francisco, but also in the interior towns, an 
 appalling outbreak of violence and crime. The 
 lesson of the punishment of ''The Hounds" of 
 1849, was either unheeded or unknown. The 
 latter was more probably the fact; for a new 
 element of disorder and vice had entered the 
 country subsequent to those scenes of outlawry 
 and their punishment. 
 
.1 PIONEER PASTORATE. 115 
 
 With pleasure, I note the accession to the popu- 
 lation of the country of very many estimable 
 people, from '49 onwards, from ''the colonies" of 
 Australia. But from the same regions came also> 
 many of the worst specimens of ignorant and de- 
 based men and women ever witnessed within the 
 pale of civilized society. This class, with all it& 
 varieties, had been subjects of the strong penal 
 administration of the British government. In 
 San Francisco, they were congregated in that por- 
 tion of the city known as Sydney Yalley. They 
 were ex-convicts and ticket-of-leave persons, and 
 as a moral pestilence their advent was an unwel- 
 come infliction upon our community. From Syd- 
 ney newspapers, kindly sent to me by the Rev. 
 Dr. Lang, and others put in my hands by friends 
 in San Francisco, in making the rounds of my 
 visitations, I was able to identify, by name, in- 
 stances of the ticket-of-leave class; and could 
 not be mistaken as to the precedents of many, by 
 report, beyond the sphere of my own observation. 
 And more, the evil embodied in that class did 
 not cease with their own generation. That evil 
 parentage transmitted its kind to an evil descent — 
 a prolific source of an evil brood — from which, as 
 I have been informed, and as I believe, in large 
 part, the outcome is witnessed at the present day 
 in the genus hoodlum. 
 
 Referring; to the ex-convict classes of 1849 and 
 
116 A PIONEER PA.STOHATE. 
 
 1850, the liistorj of man}- of their number has 
 contributed to make a dark chapter of criminal 
 records and statistics, which have rendered the 
 times of the Vigilance Committee of 1851 mem- 
 orable. As in the case of ''The Hounds," the 
 outrages of the Sydneyites had a gradual develop- 
 ment, which more and more increased in boldness 
 and extent. Daring in design and reckless as to 
 measures, they became a terror in the community. 
 Burglary and murder were their crimes. The 
 slungshot and firearms were their weapons, and 
 the darkness of night was the cover sought for 
 their villainous deeds. The authorities being 
 powerless or indifferent in the circumstances, an 
 indignant body, composed of the best class of 
 citizens, formed a secret organization on the 8th 
 of June, 1851, determined to rid the community 
 of the base miscreants. The arrest of John Jen- 
 kins, a notorious criminal, quickly followed, and 
 on the early morning of the 10th of June, he was 
 hanged ft-om a projecting beam of the Custom 
 House on the Plaza. On the afternoon of the 
 11th of July, James Stuart, after a confession of 
 his man}- crimes, was executed on Market Street 
 Wharf, in the sight of a large concourse of people. 
 At Sacramento and other interior towns, the ex- 
 ample of San Francisco was followed, in popular 
 measures for the punishment and suppression of 
 high crimes. Two more executions took place at 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 117 
 
 the hands of the San Francisco Vigilance Com- 
 mittee. The notorious burglars, Whittaker and 
 McKenzie, were arrested and taken in charge by 
 the Vigilance Committee. By an adroit action, 
 they were wrested from the committee by the 
 Sheriff of the city and lodged in the Broadway 
 jail. 
 
 It was my habit, in the Summer of 1851, to 
 hold a religious service at 3 p.m. on Sundays at 
 the jail. On Sunday, the 24th of August, as 
 usual, I was at the jail, accomjoanied by Police 
 Judge Waller and other friends, as also, for this 
 once, by my young son and daughter. Upon 
 entering the jail, unexpectedly I met five or six 
 other visitors in the office, gentlemen of my ac- 
 quaintance, who, in order, as I suppose, to remove 
 any occasion of surprise and excuse their pres- 
 ence, remarked to me that they felt an interest in 
 observing the faces of prisoners. Unsuspecting 
 any risk, the prisoners were released from the 
 cells and seated, for the service, upon benches, in 
 the court, enclosed by a plank fence. After sing- 
 ing, while I was offering prayer, a gentle tap from 
 the outside upon the door of the court was re- 
 sponded to by one of the guards, that no admit- 
 tance was allowed during the service. But the 
 door being ajar and opening inwards, a pressure 
 from without made way for the immediate rush of 
 a number of persons, who at once, led by those 
 
118 A PIOXEEH PASTORATE. 
 
 who had been inside to watch and mark their 
 victims, seized the two men, and in a moment, in 
 the midst of great excitement, hurried them out- 
 side, placed them in a close carriage, and at a 
 fearfull}^ rapid rate, they were driven to the Com- 
 mittee Rooms on Battery street. There, from 
 projecting beams, without any delay, the two men 
 were hanged. These were the last of four execu- 
 tions at the hands of the San Francisco Vigilance 
 Committee. Other criminals who fell under its 
 power were banished by the committee from the 
 country, and many more dangerous characters, 
 alarmed hy the summary proceedings against 
 their class, prudently exiled themselves. Deeply 
 as the measures of the committe ma}- have been 
 regretted, in the view of their extraordinary char- 
 acter, their salutary effect was for a long time 
 visible. 
 
 In the early part of 1851, the occupied busi- 
 ness portion of the city was all on the north side 
 of California street. Residences, also, excepting 
 a few scattered instances, were confined within 
 the same district. It is an indication of this 
 state of things, that when, in the Spring of '51, I 
 purchased a building lot, and erected a dwelling 
 for myself, on the north side of California, above 
 Dupont street, an Elder of my church said to me, 
 ^'If you go so far away I will visit you as often 
 Jis I can, but cannot promise often to do so." 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 119 
 
 No feature of the early times of California 
 histor}^ is more marked than the every-varying 
 conditions which entered into the common ex- 
 perience. Not less checkered was the history of 
 our church affairs in the memorable year of 1851. 
 That year opened with brightest prospects, as we 
 were preparing to occup}' our beautiful church 
 edifice. The unwonted prosperity attained during 
 the five months of its existence — on some ac- 
 counts eminently successful period — constitutes 
 a portion of the history of the First Church pecu- 
 liarly pleasant to remember. Then came the sud- 
 den reverse caused by the destruction of the 
 church in the disastrous fire of the 22d of June. 
 The pecuniary loss to the congregation as a body 
 was severe. Much heavier losses of property fell 
 upon individual members of the Church. The 
 business houses and dwellings, with their valuable 
 contents, of many of our people were consumed. 
 Removals to other portions of the city — a special 
 incidental benefit to its southern portion — was 
 another of its results. It was also a serious 
 drawback to us, that no hall or room survived 
 the sweeping fire of sufficient size to contain our 
 congregation. The best accommodations possible 
 were found in the temporary Superior Court 
 Room, previously the dining room of the St. 
 Francis Hotel. Very distinct and grateful im- 
 pressions remain with me of the constancy shown 
 
120 -i PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 by the officers and members of our Church dur- 
 ing this trying period. At that time the United 
 States ship St. Mary's was lying in the harbor, 
 and her Christian commander, Captain Hudson, 
 was one of the most regular of attendants upon 
 our religious services. Mr. 0. D. Squire was the 
 faithful leader of our singing. And there was 
 still another, who then, as ever, gave us encour- 
 agement by his heartiness and helpful aid, F. H. 
 Wells, Esq., still held in highest esteem in the 
 list of friends. There our Church services and 
 Sunday School were held until the rebuilt church 
 was ready for our use. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 Christian Work among the Chinese — The Rev. Messrs. "W. G. Canders, 
 Robert McCoy, and Joshua Butts — Welsh Chiarch of San Fran- 
 cisco — Founding of the Presbyterian Chinese Mission — Sunday 
 School Third Anniversary — Church of Santa Clara — Synod of 
 the Pacific. 
 
 A new department was added to the list of 
 causes in which the First Presbyterian Church 
 was embarked, in supplementary foreign mission- 
 ary work among the Chinese. From the date of 
 the first public gathering of Chinamen in our 
 city, on the 20th of August, 1850, under the 
 auspices of a committee, consisting of Mr. Fred- 
 erick A. Woodworth, the acting Chinese Consul, 
 and Mayor John W. Geary, and myself, for the 
 distribution among them of Chinese books and 
 tracts, religious and secular, both the pastor and 
 members of the First Church were accustomed to 
 take an active interest in the welfare of these 
 people. We were in the habit from time to time 
 of visiting the resorts of the Chinese, distributing 
 the Chinese publications which had been for- 
 warded to us by our friends in China. In such 
 service we met, in general, a cordial reception. 
 Our gifts were rarely declined. Only one in- 
 stance, indeed, do I recall, in which either oppo- 
 sition or indifference even was encountered, and 
 
122 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 in that case logical consistency was maintained, 
 which held the shrewd recusant firm in his re- 
 jection of the proffer made of a portion of the 
 IS'ew Testament. In September, 1851, Mr. Buel, 
 Bible agent, and myself, made the rounds, one 
 evening, of the Chinese quarter in Sacramento 
 street. In a Chinese gambling place, among some 
 twenty persons, a young Chinaman gave us the 
 •exceptional rebuff, with the reply, "No good." 
 "We said, ''It is good." "Good for you," he an- 
 swered, "bad for me." On our further adding, 
 "Good for us, good for you," he ended the col- 
 loquy by saying, very politely in manner, " No 
 good, no bad; no bad, no good." 
 
 Of the number of Chinese then in the city, 
 were some who had been instructed in Mission 
 Schools in their own country. The first Christian 
 Chinaman I met with was Achick, who had been 
 about three years in the Morrison School, Macao, 
 under the charge of my friend, the Rev. Samuel 
 R. Brown, and two years more in the school of 
 Bishop Smith of Hong Kong, by whom he was 
 baptized. The intelligent answers of this young 
 man to questions regarding Christian doctrines 
 were peculiarly gratifying. Frequently he and 
 others of his acquaintance came to see me in my 
 residence. The next step in this interest was the 
 formation of a Bible Class connected with our 
 Sunday School, originally composed of Achick 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 123 
 
 and his three companions, afterwards considerably 
 increased, and taught by Mr. Thomas C. Hambly, 
 one of the ruling Elders of the Church. This 
 movement, undertaken in the Winter of 1851-2, 
 was initiatory to the establishment of the Pres- 
 byterian Chinese Mission of San Francisco. 
 
 The Rev. ^Ym. G. Canders, of Tennessee, was 
 added to the number of Old School Presbyterian 
 ministers in 1850. 
 
 In the expectation of further increase soon to 
 our number, in January, 1852, I wrote to the 
 Preshyterian newspaper, stating the possibility of 
 our having, in connection with our ministerial 
 force in Oregon, a Synod of the Pacific. The 
 Synod of the Pacific was constituted by the G-en- 
 •eral Assembl}' of 1852. At the same time, I 
 pressed "rather the want of more ministers, ac- 
 cording to former earnest entreaties." 
 
 On the 14th of April, 1852, the Rev. Robert 
 McCoy of Tennessee, and the Rev. Joshua Butts 
 of Xew York, were landed from the steamer 
 Northener in San Francisco. The day following 
 their arrival, I communicated the fact to the Pres- 
 hyterian, together with the following remarks: "A 
 wide field is open before these brethren. Their 
 places of settlement and labor will be soon, I 
 trust, determined; and still there will remain 
 many inviting locations for others, who I hope 
 "ivill speedily follow them. 
 
124 ^ PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 ''We are strangely impressed with the apparent 
 slowness of heart in your region, to believe the 
 reports which we have sent forward to you of the 
 spiritual wants of this land. At this date of the 
 history of our State, its geographical and social 
 character, we think, must be pretty well under- 
 stood. Whatever opinion may be held upon the 
 propriety of the emigration of business men 
 hither, it must seem there should be no question 
 as to the loud and earnest call for the exercise of 
 the true missionary spirit, in bringing to these 
 shores the blessed influences of the gospel of 
 Christ. 
 
 ''In regard to the number of our own citizens 
 expected to arrive the present season, we seem 
 not likely to be disappointed. Many, we know, 
 will come, expecting to remain only a year or two 
 at the farthest. But the result will be similar to 
 that which belongs to the history of the past. 
 Men change their minds sometimes; and in this 
 case especially with good reason. Indeed, it ha& 
 come to be a matter of so frequent occurrence^ 
 that we hardly heed the declaration, made by 
 those who leave us, after a brief sojourn here, of 
 an intention never to return again. A few months 
 only pass away, and their faces are seen again 
 among us. But even granting that the population 
 of California is and for a while may be transient, 
 as to individuals, in the aggregate it is permanent 
 
A FlOXEEIi PASTOIIATE. 125 
 
 and increasing. Hence the basis of our claims 
 upon the missionary zeal and efforts of the Church. 
 Who will care for the souls of these thousands?" 
 The constant growth of San Francisco made an 
 ever- widening scope for my own labors. In its 
 earlier and later periods, both the pastor and 
 members of the First Church were ready to wel- 
 come to a share in the responsibilities of their 
 arduous field cooperatiA^e undertakings. This 
 spirit of unselfish zeal was not confined to the 
 recesses of the heart, but showed itself, as the 
 further history of pioneer career proves, in corre- 
 sponding action when the opportunity came. 
 
 The beginning of the Welsh Presbyterian Church 
 of San Francisco was in the Summer of 1852, and 
 under the auspices of the First Church. The Rev. 
 William Williams, a Welsh minister, had arrived 
 in the city. There were in the First Church sev- 
 eral Welsh members, and these and others in the 
 city, cherishing their traditional attachment to 
 the language and religious forms of their ances- 
 tors, proposed to organize a Welsh Presbyterian 
 Church, under the ministry of the newly arrived 
 Welsh minister. This measure being submitted 
 to the consideration of our Church Session, a cor- 
 dial approval was given to it. First, a room was 
 hired as a place of worship on Dupont street. 
 There, whenever convenient, I met with, and, in 
 English, assisted in their religious services. Funds 
 
126 A PIONEER FA ST OB ATE. 
 
 were contributed, and at length, in the Summer 
 of 1854, a church building was erected for their 
 use. At the dedication services, it was my privi- 
 lege to preach the customary sermon. With some 
 interruptions to the continuity of its public ser- 
 vices, this church organization is still in exist- 
 ence, and exercising a happy influence in the 
 community. 
 
 The interest which the Church early manifested 
 in the spiritual welfare of the Chinese was con- 
 tinued. The Bible Class which had been formed 
 for their instruction was not regarded as suffi- 
 cient. A more extended scheme was called for, 
 and also a more ready and effective appliance of 
 instruction, through the instrumentality of a re- 
 ligious teacher skilled in the Chinese language. 
 Thus were we prompted, in the Session of the 
 Church, to open a correspondence with our Board 
 of Foreign Missions in New York, and propose 
 an extension of their Chinese Mission by estab- 
 lishing a branch in San Francisco. The proposal 
 was promptly acted upon and adopted, and we 
 were duly informed by the respected Correspond- 
 ing Secretary of the Board, the Hon. Walter 
 Lowrie, that the plan would be carried into 
 effect. A returned Missionary from China, the 
 Rev. William Speer, was commissioned to take 
 the charge of this Mission work. In October, 
 1852, Mr. Speer arrived. His own account of 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 127 
 
 his reception was communicated to an eastern 
 newspaper, the Presbyterian Advocate, as follows: 
 "The missionary work among the Chinese has 
 proved very interesting thus far. I have been 
 very cordially received by this people. Many of 
 our Mission scholars from Canton, Hong Kong, 
 and Macao, and merchants, and others that I 
 knew, are here engaged in trade or mining. I 
 have not yet opened a chapel, but am engaged 
 in visiting their sick, distributing tracts, and pre- 
 paring the way for future active labors amongst 
 them. The Chinese language comes back to me 
 much more easily than I had expected. Much 
 sympathy is expressed in the work by our Chris- 
 tian friends here." 
 
 A temporary chapel was soon after provided 
 and fitted up in an "upper room" on Sacramento- 
 street. Stated religious services and a Sunday 
 School were there maintained. A benevolent 
 lady of the First Church having volunteered to 
 teach in the Sunday School, Mr. Speer came to 
 me saying he felt embarrassed, in the view of the 
 prejudice of the Chinese against "the sex," about 
 accepting this offer. Yet he did accept it, and 
 the experiment was only favorable. Long since 
 that kind of prejudice here came to an end; and 
 more, I believe female teachers have the prefer- 
 ence now among the Chinese. 
 
 Next in order in the history of this Mission 
 
128 A PIOXEEB PASTORATE. 
 
 €ame the organization of the Presbyterian Chinese 
 Mission Church, which was effected on Sunday 
 afternoon, November 6th, 1853. in the First 
 Church, and in the presence of a large and 
 deeply interested assembly. The attendance of 
 Chinese on this occasion was also numerous. It 
 was my privilege to address the small Christian 
 band of eleven, the Rev. Mr. Speer my inter- 
 preter, and receive their solemn vow, "With the 
 help of God, I do;" and also, in the case of Lai 
 Sam, ordained the ruling elder, the same sacred 
 promise, with its added responsibilities. 
 
 In this connection, it may be also noted, that 
 as the need of a permanent Mission House, with a 
 chapel, was pressing, steps followed which, by the 
 earnest and liberal agency of the First Church, 
 with assistance of friends of the Mission belong- 
 ing!; to other communions, resulted in the erection 
 of the commodious Mission building on the corner 
 of Stockton and Sacramento streets, completed 
 and occupied at the close of 1853. A balance of 
 unsettled obligations remaining was met by the 
 generous donation of a liberal member of the 
 Board in Xew York, and the title of the entire 
 property was convej^ed to the Board of Foreign 
 Missions. 
 
 The history of this useful Mission among the 
 Chinese, not only of San Francisco but also 
 throuoiiout all the Pacific Coast, is alike inter- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 129 
 
 esting and honorable to the Church which origin- 
 ally led, and chiefly contributed to its establish- 
 ment. More I might add to the record of its 
 well-doing in this behalf; less would be charge- 
 able as an ungrateful omission. 
 
 The activity of the First Church, which could 
 not at any time be said to have been intermitted, 
 showed itself palpably in good works and results, 
 after we had become fairly settled in the rebuilt 
 church. Specially interesting was our large Sun- 
 day School — large for the times. On the occasion 
 of the third anniversary of the school, I addressed 
 to each scholar a printed circular letter as a token 
 of the design and hope of the school. 
 
 My Deae Children: 
 
 Just as if I were speaking- to jou, I now 
 write a short letter, to be printed for you, that you may 
 keep and often read it. 
 
 I have been glad to notice how well you have attended 
 upon the Sunday School. It must be, therefore, that from 
 your teachers, the superintendent, and myself as well, as I 
 have occasionally addressed you, you have received much 
 religious instruction. You can now remember, doubtless, 
 a great deal of scripture truth which you have learned 
 from your teachers and bible lessons, and other useful 
 knowledge from your Sunday School library books. I 
 trust, therefore, you feel it has been a great privilege to 
 be in the Sunday School. 
 
 What I write to you all, my dear children, I address to 
 
 each one of you particularly. I wish you often to think of 
 
 the reason why you are in the Sunday School. It is that 
 
 you may learn to love and obey the' Savior, who himself 
 
 J 
 
130 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 loves little children, and is ever ready to bless them. And 
 what you have often been told I repeat, hoping as you read 
 it in this letter, you will the better remember it: That 
 now is the time, while you are young, to learn the Holy 
 Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation; 
 and now also is the time to commit to memory the Shorter 
 Catechism, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, 
 and the Apostle's Creed. And do not omit, my children, 
 the duty of daily morning and evening prayer, and asking 
 God to give you what you pray for in the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is a great mercy that none of jomx number has been 
 called away by death during the past year. Yet, my chil- 
 dren, you should remember, you may at any time sicken 
 and die. Then strive to be ready at all times for death. 
 Many little children have died loving their Savior, and they 
 are now with him in glor}'. If you should die young, may 
 the same happy end be yours. Believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, repenting of and forsaking your sins, and you shall 
 be saved. I earnestly hope you will, every one, practice 
 what you here learn, and, as your lives shall be spared, 
 love the Savior and keep his commandments, so that when, 
 sooner or later, you shall die, you may all be taken up to 
 
 heaven. 
 
 Your Affectionate Friend, 
 
 The Pastok. 
 Third Anniversary of the First Presbytei'ian 
 Church Sunday School, 1852. 
 
 The general prosperity of the congregation, 
 after the temporary trial and depression caused 
 by the burning of our first church edifice, revived 
 and was manifest, as before in the time prepara- 
 tory to and during the occupancy of our first 
 church buikling. Though outwardly not ornate, 
 as the first was, within were tokens of the Divine 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 131 
 
 favor, in large assemblages and profitable religious 
 services. The spiritual fruits appeared in a larger 
 addition to the enrolled communicants of the 
 church, in 1852, than during any previous year. 
 Still my health and strength, equal to the de- 
 mands upon me, were continued, and, grateful for 
 these blessings, I was never more happy in re- 
 sponding to my many, many calls of duty. 
 
 At the request of a few Presbyterian families 
 residing in Santa Clara and its vicinity, I visited 
 the region and organized a society under the title 
 of the Presbyterian Church of Camden, (since 
 changed to Santa Clara,) so called after the name 
 of the former residence of a part of the members 
 in the State of Missouri. Soon after the organiz- 
 ation, the Rev. Robert McCoy, of Tennessee, be- 
 came the minister of the church. 
 
 An important advance in ecclesiastical organi- 
 zation was effected by the action of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in session 
 in Charleston, South Carolina, May 22d, 1852, in 
 passing an order for the formation of the Synod 
 of the Pacific. The Presbytery of California was 
 detached from the Synod of New York, and di- 
 vided by setting off a portion under the name of 
 the Presbytery of Stockton. The Presbytery of 
 Oregon was associated with these two, and thus 
 the new Synod was constituted. By appointment 
 also of the General Assembly, the first session of 
 
132 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 the Synod was held in the First Presbyterian 
 Church, San Francisco, and was opened with a 
 sermon by myself, from 1 Timothy, III., 15: ''The 
 church of the living God, the pillar and ground 
 of the truth." 
 
 The annual meetings of the Synod continued 
 to be held during my pastorate in 1853 and 1854, 
 in the same church, and notwithstanding the dis- 
 tance and expense involved, by a special effort, I 
 was able to secure a representation from the Pres- 
 bytery of Oregon, and thus complete a quorum. 
 The vastness of the field of the Synod, in connec- 
 tion with the comparatively small number of its 
 ministers, was suggestive of the great need of 
 more laborers, and of special earnestness and 
 fidelity on the part of the few whose lot w^as cast 
 in circumstances so commanding. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Period of Excitements over Laud Titles — Kainy Season of 1852-53 — 
 Flour Monopoly — Marriage Incidents — The Scotch. 
 
 In all the period embraced in the present re- 
 view, the excitements of the community upon 
 special disturbing questions were many and great. 
 Sensational surprises and embarrassments marked 
 distinctively the early times. A rapidly increas- 
 ing population, new social elements, greed, am- 
 bition, and competition, all the new lines of 
 enterprise and adventure, and, not least, monop- 
 oly, with all the resulting conflicts, may be well 
 supposed to have been, and indeed were, antago- 
 nistic to good order, quiet, and established sys- 
 tem, not to say also hindrances to the more vital 
 interests of morality and religion. More or less, 
 all social elements were in a state of agitation 
 prior to repose. Rest, all-pervading and complete, 
 was the exception ; unrest the rule. A month or 
 even a week free from excitements was a novelty. 
 Thus was our city distinguished by a periodicity 
 of disturbing events. 
 
 After the District Assembly of San Francisco 
 had been dissolved by Grovernor Riley, came an- 
 other rival power to that of the Alcalde, the Col- 
 
134 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 ton Judgeship, with its new distribution of land 
 grants; following this, the "Peter Smith Judg- 
 ment" and large sale of city property; and the 
 Santillan land claim, for which the subsidized 
 agency of my quondam acquaintance of the Mis- 
 sion Dolores was employed, and soon after the 
 fact, the simple-minded Padre sought a home in 
 Mexico; and then the Limantour land claim, 
 which attempted to overthrow a large portion of 
 the possessory titles of the city, a claim which 
 likewise kept the city in suspense, and involved 
 earnest work in defeating it, a result largely due 
 to the efficient service of Mr. E. F. Northam, in 
 collecting adverse evidence, but not settled until 
 many thousands of dollars had been paid, in com- 
 promise, to an attorney representing the claim. 
 
 The scenes of agitation and conflict enacted in 
 connection with questions of city land titles in 
 Alcalde grants and onward, if fully described, 
 might fill a volume. Into the particulars or 
 merits even of these questions, it is not in place 
 here to enter. As facts of history only are they 
 referred to at present. There were times in which 
 it was felt, there was no absolute certainty in any 
 of the city land titles. As I once heard the elo- 
 quent Gregory Yale, Esq., to whom I was ever 
 pleased to listen, in a legal argument, remark, 
 '• There is here no spot of ground whose title is 
 not clouded, as no summer day is without its 
 
.•1 PIONEER PASTORATE. 135 
 
 clouds." Mr. W. S. Clark once said to me, and 
 this was long before his adversaries had ceased 
 fighting his titles, that he had spent over two 
 hundred thousand dollars for defence in Court 
 expenses. The question of the "Peter Smith" 
 case involved not alone the indebtedness of the 
 city for hospital dues, but also the serious loss of 
 a valuable domain. Right or wrong — I suppose 
 it was right — it appeared to me at the time plainly 
 the interest of the city to pay the amount of Dr. 
 Smith's claim. My convictions on the subject I 
 endeavored to impress upon one of the members 
 of the Common Council, insisting upon the wis- 
 dom of such a policy of liquidating the judgment 
 in the case, (some sixty thousand dollars, I think,) 
 and save the valuable property at the time in 
 jeopardy. The final reply of the gentleman was, 
 "It is better that the city should own no prop- 
 erty." The day of sale arrived. It had been in- 
 dustriously urged that the judgment of the Court 
 was invalid. Bids were made in hesitation and 
 doubt, and property was sacrificed, in its prospec- 
 tive value, sufficient to constitute a princely 
 municipal endowment. 
 
 Other agitating questions arose in connection 
 with City Slip and Water Lot Sales, and Exten- 
 sions of the City Front, which invoked legislative 
 action and the authority of courts. Street grades 
 were ever subject to change, inasmuch as they 
 
136 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 were made in sections, and not with reference to 
 a general sj^stem. The "Hoadley Grades" were 
 the first established upon the basis of a compre- 
 hensive plan, and even these, the best ever made, 
 must needs be altered to subserve the interests of 
 property holders. Change of grades, indeed, was 
 so frequent, especially in the lower portions of 
 the city, that the very term became a by-word. 
 Upon one occasion the subject gave cause for 
 a witticism. A derrick was raised on Mont- 
 gomery street, for some purpose not easily com- 
 prehended, which, as a matter of course, attracted 
 the attention of passers-by. While one and an- 
 otlier gave expression to conjecture, a waggish 
 person solved the question by, "I guess it is to 
 raise the grade of Montgomery street." When 
 the city authorities passed an ordinance for the 
 opening of Merchant street, from Portsmouth 
 Square to the water front, an indignant objector 
 said, "With twenty-five thousand dollars I can 
 get any block in the city diagonally divided." 
 Thus the good and the bad were alike subject 
 to criticism. 
 
 Annoying as were the troubles in land ques- 
 tions when confined to the sphere of legal gen- 
 tlemen, courts, and entailed expenses, this was 
 not all. Scenes of violence and tragic conse- 
 quences, sometimes, colored these disputes. A 
 dark chapter of incidents in which a resort to 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 137 
 
 arms was had, might be written. When private 
 rights, or claimed rights, were invaded, and under 
 the cover of darkness, upon untenanted lands an 
 enclosure was made and a shanty erected, the in- 
 trusion provoked often a violent assault, with 
 force of arms and fatal result. Happily, the 
 milder measures of reason and law were the pre- 
 vailing methods of determining the knotty ques- 
 tions of land titles. 
 
 The Winter of 1852-53 was made memorable 
 by its extreme storms and heavy rains — a repe- 
 tition of the rainy season of 1849-50, with ad- 
 ditional trying experiences. In San Francisco, 
 again the streets more resembled quagmires than 
 proper thoroughfares. The incoveniences suffered 
 were indescribably great. In the State generally, 
 the season was attended with similar and, in some 
 respects, more trying scenes. Rivers overflowed 
 their banks, towns were flooded, Sacramento was 
 again inundated, an infliction the more disastrous 
 because the town had just previously been almost 
 wholly destroyed by fire. Communication be- 
 tween interior towns was interrupted, and in some 
 cases rendered utterl}^ impracticable. Miners in 
 their isolated camps were reduced to the point of 
 starvation. In the higher altitudes of the Sierra, 
 snow-shoes and packing upon the shoulders of 
 men were resorted to. As a consequence of 
 these untoward conditions, high prices of all ar- 
 
138 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 tides demanded for consumption and use ruled 
 extravagantly high in all the interior, and espe- 
 cially in the upper mining regions. Besides, the 
 Winter of 1852-53 was marked by a systematic, 
 strongly supported monopoly in the flour market^ 
 by which the ruling rate of that needed article 
 rose in San Francisco to fifty dollars per barrel — 
 an enhancement oppressively felt both at the 
 centre of the oppression and throughout the 
 country. Such were the anxieties involved in 
 this attempt — successful for several months — to 
 control the market, that a member of the asso- 
 ciation told me, although he had realized hun- 
 dreds of thousands in the scheme, he could not 
 be induced to subject himself again to such a 
 strain. At this time, in the more isolated por- 
 tions of the State, the current price of all the 
 ordinary articles of food, such as flour, rice, coffee^ 
 and sugar, commanded two dollars per pound. 
 As an incident of the times, it is remembered 
 that the Chinese laborers in our city, employed in 
 erecting the granite building on the northwest 
 corner of Montgomery and California streets, hav- 
 ing acquired a taste for ^' Melican'* bread, insisted 
 upon being supplied with that article, instead of 
 their common diet of rice, a full supply of which 
 for their consumption had been provided. 
 
 If my pastorate had been thus far a busy scene 
 of activity, it was not less, but more so, after the 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 139 
 
 era of special " events" in California history had 
 passed away. The later period of the pastorate 
 was marked by a more uniform routine character 
 of recurring duties. Yet, with the growth of the 
 parish and a constant increase of surrounding- 
 population, demands of service were in a corre- 
 sponding degree multiplied. The exposures in 
 outdoor engagements amid the rains of 1852-53; 
 so similar to the rainy season of 1849-50, were 
 an additional draft and burden upon physical en- 
 durance. In that trying period, my health began 
 again to give way, not strangely unequal to the 
 exhaustive power of both exposure and labor. 
 Here was the beginning of that loss of nervous 
 energy which, notwithstanding all medical appli- 
 ances, resulted in a state of extreme physical 
 prostration. The experiences of this illness, from 
 which an ultimate recovery, by a long continued 
 rest and change of scene, was attained, less in- 
 teresting to the reader than myself, I need not 
 relate. 
 
 Of the pressing character of the multitude of 
 professional services, which duty called me to 
 perform, a most vivid impression remains. Here 
 and there, in season and out of season, by day 
 and by night, time and services were sought for 
 and given. Some of those services, not strictly 
 in the line of my profession, I might have been 
 excused from performing, such, for example, as 
 
140 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 seeking and obtaining situations for persons who 
 were alike destitute of employment and means. 
 I would not advise my brethren of the ministry 
 to take upon themselves, as a rule, such a supple- 
 ment to their sacred vocation, though for them 
 and myself, I confess, the motive for the action is 
 very strong, if not irresistible,, when appeals espe- 
 cially urgent are addressed to us. It is due, how- 
 ever, to add that, besides my extended acquaint- 
 ance with citizens of standing and influence, which 
 lessened the degree of efforts necessary in indi- 
 vidual instances, the universal disposition was 
 shown to favorably respond to my applications; 
 and this, I have reason for believing, sometimes, 
 when places not existing were made in order to 
 afford needed relief. From first to last, such was 
 the noble generosity, in the wide sphere of my 
 acquaintance and intercourse, of the business men 
 of San Francisco. To name them, on account of 
 their number, were impossible; to select from 
 that large number for special notice and illustra- 
 tion, might seem invidious. 
 
 With an almost exclusive male population at 
 the first, the character of that population was dis- 
 tinguished generally by a high order of intelli- 
 gence and worth. Exceptions there were, a fact 
 not surprising, when it is considered that the 
 prospect and hope of gain, appealing to all classes 
 alike, gave impetus to the rushing tide of immi- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 141 
 
 gration. The persons and classes with whom it 
 was my happy lot to become associated, fresh 
 from the culture of their eastern homes, were fit 
 to found and adorn a State. These were mostly 
 in the prime of manhood. There were few, very 
 few gray hairs then seen. Such an assemblage of 
 educated, active, strong men, rarely brought to- 
 gether in any land, it was a pleasure to look upon, 
 as it was my own privilege weekly, in the congre- 
 gation gathered before me and justly prompting 
 admiration. 
 
 But the disproportion of males and females 
 was, year by year, changed. The married men 
 who came to the country alone, having deter- 
 mined to make their permanent residence in Cali- 
 fornia, either returned or sent to their former 
 homes for their families. Thus was our general 
 society, and in particular the First Presbyterian 
 Church society, made more and more to assume 
 the wonted aspect of civilized life, in the welcome 
 presence of pioneer mothers and daughters. N^or 
 were the youthful unmarried men behind their 
 seniors in a desire to improve their own condition 
 and that of their chosen new home. They, too, 
 either returned or sent for the gentle ones, their 
 selected brides. Often I was called upon to per- 
 form the marriage ceremony on board a newly 
 arrived steamer, or from the steamer at my own 
 residence. A gentleman, in view of the fact that 
 
142 A PIONEER PAS TOE ATE. 
 
 ladies were so soon taken possession of, while he 
 was left to pine in his solitariness, proposed to 
 ''anticipate his rivals by boarding an incoming 
 steamer outside the Heads.'' It was my privilege 
 in four years of the pastorate, 1851-54, to marry 
 one hundred and fifty couples, an agreeable ser- 
 vice which clergymen are generally prompt to 
 perform. The number of my marriages in 1849- 
 50 was proportionally less, ex necessitate rei. It 
 was largest at the close of my pastorate. In a 
 few instances, parties desiring to enter into the 
 marriage relation were not so fortunate as to com- 
 mand an official solemnization of the ceremony. 
 A case of this character was published in the 
 papers of the day, to wit: that at Rush Creek, 
 Butte county, in 1853, " a marriage extraordinary" 
 took place. IS'either a magistrate nor clergyman 
 was available in the exigency. But not to be 
 frustrated, in the presence of a company of more 
 than one hundred persons, with the accompani- 
 ment of a band of music, the marriage contract 
 was entered into as follows: 
 
 State of California, ] 
 County of Butte, \ 
 
 This Agreement, made aud entered into by and between 
 Kobert Eoss and Christiana Deitch — To all whom it may 
 concern: Know ye, that we have, this twenty-seventh day 
 of June, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and 
 fifty-three, taken each other as husband, wife, and hereby 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 143 
 
 acknowledge the same binding' in law and equity. In tes- 
 timony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and affixed 
 our seals, on the day first above written. 
 Done in the presence of witnesses. 
 
 Robert Ross, r seai. i 
 
 Christiana Deitch, [seai i 
 
 More fortunate were our San Franciscans, seek- 
 ing matrimony, in having at hand a clergyman or 
 magistrate. A point, this, of some importance, 
 when delay would have involved impatience. As 
 when, on a certain occasion, a Scotch friend called 
 upon me with his countryman, a shipmaster, in 
 middle life or more, for whose marriage he de- 
 sired to engage my services. In the course of 
 the ensuing conversation, and in order to bring 
 the negotiation to a definite form, I asked the 
 candidate the question, "When do you propose" — 
 referring to the ceremony; the would-be happy 
 Captain interrupting, evidently mistaking my do 
 for did^ while I was the innocent cause of betray- 
 'ing him into his confession, with a most becom- 
 ing, modest, and almost blushing frankness, re- 
 plied, "Two or three days ago." My intercourse, 
 I am here led to remark, with my numerous 
 Scotch parishioners was fraught with many a 
 pleasant incident, while on their part it was a 
 custom to appropriate to my parochial charge the 
 title of "The Scotch Church." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Increase of Church Officers — Church Organ — Young Men's Christian 
 Association of San Francisco — Yankee Eaterj^rise — New Church 
 Editice Proposed — Privileges of Travel — Commodore John D. 
 Sloat — Captain Patterson, the Cholera, Lieutenant Derby — Mis- 
 sion Church — Resignation — Organization of Calvary Church — 
 Religious Influences Appreciated. 
 
 In 1853, a culminating progress was visible in 
 the numbers and strength of the First Church, 
 and in its 2)ersoiinel^ likewise, including persons of 
 influence — the occasion and means afforded for 
 multiplying the number of its official representa- 
 tives, and thus augmenting its working force. 
 On the 6th of April, 1851. Mr. Xathaniel Gray 
 was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder of the 
 Church, and at the same time Messrs. J. B. 
 Roberts and C I. X. Monell were constituted 
 Deacons. This diaconate was opportune for the 
 administration of the Relief Fund of the Church, 
 as occasion demanded, in aid of the sick and un- 
 fortunate of the parish. Again, on the 26th of 
 January, 1852, the Church Session was increased 
 by the installation of Judge Royal H. Waller, 
 and Messrs. Thomas Hopkins and Thomas C. 
 Hambly; and to the Board of Deacons, Mr. E. R. 
 Hawley was added. Increased efficiency was, by 
 these appointments, imparted to the systematic^ 
 
.•1 PIONEER PASTORATE. 145 
 
 benevolent measures of the Church. The founda- 
 tion of a Missionary Fund was laid, on the first 
 Sunday of 1852, when, at the evening church 
 service, fifty dollars were contributed for the ob- 
 ject; and, thereafter, monthly offerings were made 
 in continuance of the scheme. From the avails 
 of this Fund, the Session was enabled, from time 
 to time, to make appropriations in aid of church 
 work outside of our own limits, yet confined to 
 California. Among those appropriations was one 
 of one hundred dollars, in aid of the erection of 
 the Welsh Presbyterian Church edifice in San 
 Francisco. Thus equipped with active leaders, 
 and liberally supplied with pecuniary means, the 
 beneficent efforts of our Church maintained a 
 steady progress, and were attended with gratify- 
 ing results. 
 
 The music of the First Church was improved, 
 in 1852, by the substitution of a pipe for a reed 
 organ, which until then had been used. I was 
 informed by the organist, Mr. Pettinos, that an 
 Erben organ was offered for sale in the city, Mr. 
 P. at the same time expressing a wish that it 
 might be secured for our Church, and offering 
 himself fifty dollars towards the purchase. I 
 bought the instrument for a reasonable sum — 
 eleven hundred dollars — and obtained the assent 
 of the Trustees of the Church for the making of 
 alterations in the building for its accommodation^ 
 
 K 
 
146 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 at an additional expense of one hundred and 
 thirty dollars. About half of the aggregate ex- 
 pense was reimbursed to me by voluntary gifts of 
 individual members of the congregation. 
 
 It was my privilege to be one of the founders 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association of San 
 Francisco. This cause, ever since I heard in Xew 
 York, in 1832, the strong advocacy of a Scotch 
 lay-brother in its behalf, had retained an abiding 
 interest in my mind. In view of the need of such 
 an instrumentality, especially in San Francisco, 
 I was prompt to give to the proposal of organiza- 
 tion a special attention. The meeting with this 
 object in view was held in the First Presbj^terian 
 Church, and the draft of a Constitution was made 
 by myself. At that meeting, July 18, 1853, the 
 Young Men's Christian Association of San Fran- 
 cisco was formall}-^ instituted. 
 
 In the present connection, it is not to be over- 
 looked that this season of religious progress in 
 our sphere as a Church was synchronous with a 
 period of specially marked prosperity in our city 
 and State at large. The paramount enterprise of 
 mining was at the time eminently successful. 
 Real estate commanded enhanced prices. Rapid 
 and great strides were made in improvements. 
 To some of my English acquaintances the activit}^ 
 and stretch of Yankee enterprise was simply won- 
 derful. Riding one day with an English party 
 
A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 147 
 
 over the Mission Plank Road — gratis then, be- 
 cause we were part of a funeral procession on the 
 way to Yerba Buena Cemetery, but at other times 
 subject, as with my one-horse rockaway, to a toll- 
 rate of a half dollar for the privilege — referring 
 to the telegraph line stretched along the side of 
 the road, and then reaching to San Jose, one 
 English gentleman asked another, " How long do 
 you think it would be before John Bull would 
 construct such a line?" and was answered, "I 
 think about twenty years." This plank road was 
 built, as also the first wharves of the cit}^, when 
 lumber commanded the astounding price of three 
 hundred dollars or more per thousand feet. The 
 gold product at the time was abundant, and cir- 
 culated freely. Large remittances, too, were 
 made abroad through established agencies, and I 
 remember being informed by a commander of one 
 of the Pacific Mail Company's steamers, that hav- 
 ing made careful inquiries, on his voyages to 
 Panama, he was certain returning Californians 
 bore away with them an average to each of three 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 It may not be thought specially meritorious to 
 be generous in gifts of money when it is abun- 
 dant; but it is noteworthy that in such circum- 
 stances, and should be remembered to the credit 
 of the times, the Church and its peculiar cause 
 and work were not neglected. At that time, and 
 
148 -4 PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 in its existing conditions, it seemed to me any 
 really good and commendable object could be 
 accomplished. So I thought and felt with refer- 
 ence to a needed new church edifice for the First 
 Church, and it is my pleasure to add, when, in 
 the Winter of 1853-54, it was proposed to carry 
 the matter into effect, a prompt and hearty favor- 
 able response from leading persons in the congre- 
 gation was given. The crowded state of our edi- 
 fice made such an undertaking a demand; the 
 financial ability of the congregation made it a 
 possibility. So the scheme became a subject of 
 general interest in the parish. Plans of proce- 
 dure were suggested. The question of a new and 
 larger church site for a new and larger church 
 edifice was mooted, these and all the points in- 
 volved were reviewed, and all under the convic- 
 tion of the necessity for the movement and with 
 the expectation that the object in view could and 
 would be attained. This work, however, for spe- 
 cial reasons, was postponed to a later but not 
 distant day. 
 
 My personal cares and burdens found occa- 
 sional relief in the enjoyment of privileges of 
 short trips and journeys, in the making of which 
 it is, as well, my pleasure to acknowledge the 
 great kindness shown to me by obliging, generous 
 friends. Doubtless, to other clergymen similar 
 favors were extended. I can never forget the 
 
A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 149 
 
 hearty hospitality of the owners and commanders 
 of the lines of steamers plying upon our inland 
 waters — Messrs. Charles Minturn, Thomas Hunt, 
 and Lieutenants Maynard and Blair, owners, with 
 the brothers Yan Pelt and Wood Hutchins, com- 
 manders. It seemed to be regarded by the gen- 
 tlemen named as a personal favor to themselves 
 to accept their standing, and occasionally special 
 invitations to feel at home on board their boats. 
 And this kindness was the more appreciated and 
 availed of, when in declining health I had need of 
 all the recreation possible. So, in the later period 
 of my pastorate, it was a relief and benefit, at the 
 close of day, to step on board a bay and river 
 steamer, and proceeding as far as Benicia, there 
 meet a returning boat, which landed me in the 
 early evening in San Francisco. 
 
 In a passage to Benicia, in May, 1852, on board 
 the steamship Golden Gate^ I had the honor of" the 
 company of the veteran naval chief, Commodore 
 John Drake Sloat, and received from him the ac- 
 counl!» of his grand exploit, with his flag-ship 
 Savannah^ in the race with Admiral Sir George F. 
 Seymour of the CoUingivood, and the great event 
 of his hoisting the United States flag in Monte- 
 rey, which I have retained for use in my history 
 of the " Conquest of California." And other ex- 
 cursions, shorter and longer, I made; two of re- 
 membered interest among the mining towns. 
 
150 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 At the close of 1853, by the invitation of Cap- 
 tain W. H. Dall, of the mail steamer Columbia^ I 
 joined a company of gentlemen on board that 
 ship, known as the Company's Yacht, ordered on 
 a cruise in search of the delayed steamer Golden 
 Gate. In this voyage we looked into all the har- 
 bors southward from Monterey to San Diego, and 
 at this place found the vessel in a disabled condi- 
 tion. Among the passengers of the Golden Gate 
 was the recently appointed Missionary Bishop of 
 California, the Rev. Dr. W. Ingraham Kip, who 
 completed his voyage with us on board the Colum- 
 bia. This trip was rendered specially agreeable 
 by the sociability of our own select party in so- 
 cial gatherings and after-dinner conversations. If 
 the wit and humor of our cheerful companions, 
 J. P. Haven and Thomas G. Gary, had possessed 
 the remedial efficacy of Lieutenant Derby's magic 
 verbal entertainments, I ought to have been re- 
 stored from all my bodily infirmities. 
 
 Referring to Lieutenant Derby, Captain C. P. 
 Patterson was accustomed to relate how deep 
 were his obligations to him for the part he per- 
 formed among a large panic-stricken company of 
 passengers during one of his voyages from Pan- 
 ama to San Francisco. Cholera had broken out 
 in his ship. At an intermediate port, the Lieu- 
 tenant took passage for the remainder of the 
 voyage. "Xever so glad in my life, Derby, to 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 151 
 
 see you," was the welcome given, and next came 
 a sumptuous lunch in the Captain's state-room. 
 "And now you must give a talk to my terrified 
 passengers." Seating himself upon a dining table, 
 the Lieutenant soon gathered around him a crowd 
 of listeners, who, by the remarkable power of di- 
 version he possessed, were made to forget their 
 danger and overcome the '"symptoms." "So," 
 said Captain P.. "I kept him telling stories to 
 the end of the voyage, and cholera and all fear 
 of it disappeared from the ship." Lieutenant 
 Derby said, he "never worked so hard in his 
 life." 
 
 Again, in the Spring of 1854, the First Church 
 took part in a new church enterprise in San Fran- 
 cisco. The Rev. James Woods having, on account 
 of ill health, been obliged to leave Stockton, took 
 up his residence in our city. And here he pro- 
 jected, and, under the auspices of the First 
 Church, carried into effect, the establishment of 
 a Mission Church. A lot was leased as a site 
 for a chapel on the southwest corner of Geary 
 and Mason streets, and a building, which still 
 stands, was speedil}^ erected and dedicated for 
 the uses of divine worship. Under the super- 
 vising authority of our Session, a Board of Trus- 
 tees for the Mission was appointed, also, consisting 
 of members of the First Church. Although this 
 enterprise was only temporarily sustained, having 
 
152 A PI ONEER PA S TO PA TE. 
 
 been discontinued on account of an unfavorable 
 effect of San Francisco climate upon Mr. Woods' 
 health, the effort was not in vain. 
 
 Another church enterprise, which has main- 
 tained a continuous and prosperous career, about 
 the time now under review, had its origin in the 
 bosom of the First Church. This was the organ- 
 ization of Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Fran- 
 cisco. The Session of the First Church was 
 advised of the proposed measure and asked to 
 give its approval, which was done; and also was 
 requested to address an ofi&cial letter, embodying 
 this assent, to the Rev. W. A. Scott, D.D., of New 
 Orleans, with whom a correspondence had been 
 opened with reference to his removal to San Fran- 
 cisco, and ])ecoming the minister of a new church, 
 which request also was complied with. And, 
 upon an intimation that a personal letter from 
 me was desired on this subject, I wrote to Dr. 
 Scott, assuring him of my acquiescence and cor- 
 diality in the plan of establishing another Pres- 
 byterian Church in our city. A visit of Dr. Scott 
 to San Francisco, in the Summer of 1854, re- 
 sulted in the organization of Calvary Presbyterian 
 Church, on Sunday, July 23, 1854. Of the sixty- 
 three original members of Calvary Church, nearly 
 every one had been connected for a longer or 
 shorter period with the First Church, either en- 
 rolled in its communion or enjoying its privileges. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 153 
 
 And yet, though parting with so many of its 
 influential members and so much substantial 
 strength, the First Church retained a strong or- 
 ganization, with its characteristic force of vital 
 energy, and still held its commanding position in 
 the sisterhood of Protestant Churches. 
 
 A crisis in ni}' incumbency of the pastorate, 
 which was for months foreseen, at length arrived. 
 Labors of such continuance and degree — a friend 
 called them fourfold — with their imposed bur- 
 dens, had issued in extreme bodily prostration. 
 I had literally no relief from my pastoral routine, 
 except for remedial effect, through the five and a 
 half years of this engagement. Indisposition had 
 become chronic. With most prudent care, I con- 
 tinued on my watchtower, and as I was able, met 
 my various calls of duty. My own convictions 
 and the judgment of friends, of the propriety of 
 my seeking relaxation, were confirmed by the 
 counsel of my esteemed friend and medical ad- 
 viser, Dr. B. B. Coit. 
 
 It was a question in my mind whether my re- 
 tirement should be temporary, or final by a disso- 
 lution of the pastoral relation. As to the former, 
 an uncertainty as to the length of time which 
 might be required for a renewal of health, if pos- 
 sible, seemed to render that alternative inexpe- 
 dient. The latter course, though it involved the 
 rending of ties of unusual interest, the rather 
 
154 ^ PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 commended itself for my choice, not alone from 
 family and personal considerations, but especially 
 from a regard for the interests of my beloved 
 Church, which might suffer loss on account of a 
 protracted absence. Accordingly, after mature 
 reflection, on the 1st of July, 1854, I addressed 
 to the Session of the Church my letter of resig- 
 nation, to be placed before the congregation, and 
 to take effect after the fall meeting of Presbytery. 
 
 While it was my habit to give to my pulpit in- 
 structions a comprehensive scope, and keep back 
 nothing which might be profitable, two points 
 especially I ever sought to make prominent. The 
 first was the importance of an intelligent concep- 
 tion of religious truth, in order that my hearers- 
 might be able to give a reason for the hope that 
 was in them; and secondly, the importance of 
 holding the religious principle, in holy scripture 
 described " the mystery of faith," in a pure con- 
 science, assured that whoever does this will not 
 be left to die in impenitence. I am persuaded 
 that my brethren of the evangelical ministry, con- 
 temporary with me, in all fidelity held forth the 
 great doctrines of divine truth, touching human 
 accountability in the present life, and the issues 
 of the future state. 
 
 Both the fact and practical bearing of early 
 church influences in San Francisco, and, as well, 
 in other portions of California, are matters of in- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 155 
 
 terest not to be overlooked in the sum of leading 
 characteristics of those times. Though some may 
 affect to treat these things with indifference, 
 nevertheless it is a truth that such influences 
 exercised a potent sway in the heterogeneous 
 communities which marked the early period of 
 American settlement. Not only Christian minis- 
 ters then present, but Christian laymen also, 
 bringing with them religious principles and 
 habits, and both associated in a common cause 
 of holding up to view the sublime standard of 
 religion, and cooperating in efforts to make it a 
 rallying point and its obligations a paramount 
 duty in individual and social life, were a real and 
 confessed and appreciated power for good in the 
 land. I well and gratefully remember that at my 
 first arrival, the spiritual labors of the Rev. T. 
 Dwight Hunt, during the previous five months of 
 his ministry in San Francisco, were spoken of as 
 highly beneficial in the community. It is also a 
 fact well known and acknowledged, that as other 
 clergymen became united in the labors of their 
 sacred vocation, and gathered communions of 
 faithful men, and earnest Christian work was seen 
 in the planting of churches and their affiliated in- 
 stitutions of sympathetic charity, the effects were 
 most salutary in the conservation of the best in- 
 terests, in order, morality, and government, of 
 the body politic. For a summary exhibition of 
 
156 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 leading facts in those early times, a paper of mine, 
 for the reprint of which it may be said it is a 
 fresh utterance of those times, is herewith pre- 
 sented, in the form in which it was adopted by 
 the Presbytery of California in its session in 
 Benicia, February 21, 1850. 
 
 EELIGIOUS CHAKACTEK AND CONDITION OF CALIFOKNIA. 
 
 Nan-ative of the State of Religion within the Bounds of the Presbytery of California. 
 
 We are moving amid strange scenes. The out- 
 lines even which our imaginations had drawn of 
 things expected, have been quite displaced by 
 other impressions which experience has traced. 
 We allude not here, in our position and circum- 
 stances, to the physical features of the country — 
 its more than anticipated beauty and grandeur, 
 and its more than anticipated supply of the con- 
 veniences of life and appliances of human enter- 
 prise — in regard to which a favorable change of 
 opinion has occurred ; but to the more gratifying 
 views, on the whole, of its moral and religious 
 condition, which, by a closer inspection and an 
 actual experience, has lost much of its foreboded 
 evil character. 
 
 First of all, as a Presbytery, it becomes us 
 gratefully to acknowledge the gracious care, hith- 
 erto, of that merciful Providence which turned 
 our faces, not without purpose and desire, hither- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 157 
 
 ward; and the sure guidance and protection of 
 the same Providence in bringing three* of our 
 number safely to the field of our labors; and the 
 signal favor by which we have been welcomed to 
 our different places of service, with a cordiality 
 both pleasant and encouraging, assuring us of a 
 desire and demand alike, for the ministrations of 
 the gospel. 
 
 "The harvest is truly plenteous." "The field 
 is white also unto the harvest." Many are the 
 localities now unsupplied with gospel ordinances- 
 and some in which though the permanent popu- 
 lation is small, opportunities are offered for the 
 dispensing of the word to vast multitudes in their 
 transient movements to and fro. A happy com- 
 pensation is thus possible for the untoward fea- 
 tures of an unsettled and a migratory people. For 
 if fewer persons are at any one time brought 
 under the influence of the gospel ministry, yet 
 within a given period, a much greater number 
 than in ordinary cases, will be reached. 
 
 With caution and difiidence, we venture to give 
 utterance to our opinion upon the question of 
 
 "* The Eev. Francis Hart, who was made by the General Assembly 
 the fourth member of this new Presbytery, has not yet arrived in the 
 country; and in respect to the cause of his absence there is not a little 
 degree of painful suspense. The Eev. Wm. G. Ganders, of the Pres- 
 bytery of West Tennessee, engaged in preaching in Sonoma and Napa 
 Valley, was present, and by invitation took his seat in the Presbytery 
 as a corresponding member. 
 
158 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 the moral and religious standard of California. 
 We are constrained, however, in the view of facts 
 as they have come under our observation, to de- 
 clare our belief that the character of the pro- 
 fessors of religion here, exhibits melancholy marks 
 of deterioration. With whatever good intentions 
 and resolutions all may have left their distant 
 homes, both on their way hither and now here, 
 many alas, have turned aside from the strictness 
 of the gospel of Christ. Probably not more than 
 one-half, to speak with qualification, of the pro- 
 fessors of religion now in the country, voluntarily 
 make themselves known as such; and of that 
 moiety, very many manifest no special interest in 
 the religious institutions and prosperity of the 
 countr}^; and consequentl}^ the burden of anxiety 
 and toil in sustaining Christian enterprises is de- 
 volved upon a very few church members, cooper- 
 ating with whom it is gratifying to state, in the 
 temporal support of the gospel, are many estima- 
 ble persons, who, though they make no profession 
 of a religious character, are pleased thus to show 
 their appreciation of these useful instrumentali- 
 ties. 
 
 Yet much good is to be expected, through the 
 efforts of those few alluded to, whom no allure- 
 ments of gain or pleasure have turned aside from 
 the simple purpose of their hearts, to subserve 
 the interests of the reign and glory of Christ in 
 
A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 159 
 
 the earth. In the midst of most exciting scenes, 
 and in actual contact with busy secular enter- 
 prises, they are enabled to hold on to their stead- 
 fastness, and retain the good reputation they had, 
 in other places and associations, for fidelity in 
 their Master's cause and service. They disguise 
 not their badge of Christian profession ; they are 
 not hindered in running well the Christian race; 
 and in all the duties of a holy vocation, they ex- 
 hibit pleasing examples of consistency and zeal. 
 The presence and influence particularly of Chris- 
 tian ladies in our communities, known by the 
 ornament of a sincere and exemplary piety, and 
 cooperating, as it is their characteristic habit, in 
 all pious and useful causes, we regard as one of 
 the most gratifying traits of our religious char- 
 acter and condition. 
 
 But much is required to be done. The moral 
 evils which cast their gloomy shade over the 
 social masses, though by some their picture may 
 have been overdrawn, are hardly liable to the 
 hazard of exaggeration. We have no apology to 
 offer for the vices which exist among us, and 
 which, in their luxuriant increase, are brought 
 forward with an astonishing rapidity ; nor do we 
 acknowledge any constraint upon our liberty, in 
 all suitable times and methods, to lift up our 
 voice against them. They exist; and under the 
 circumstances of the case, they are not other than 
 might be expected. They are the result of easily 
 
160 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 traced causes: the character of the motives which 
 prompted the greater part of the immigration to 
 this country; the classes of persons, as they are 
 the most susceptible of these influences, who 
 were first and most powerfully moved by them; 
 the various national character and habits of the 
 immigrants; the deficiency of customary external 
 restraints upon evil propensities ; and the cor- 
 rupting power of evil examples. In the view of 
 such a state of things, so portentous, as they also 
 prove, prolific of evil, vice, and crime, though 
 much to be deplored and not at all extenuated, 
 are not unlooked for existences; and only that a 
 special Providence, by means of vigorous and 
 stringent judicial administration, and the very 
 selfish regards existing, has interposed, might have 
 been far more painfully prevalent. 
 
 These are the aspects of a land now attracting, 
 and deservedly, the attention of a large portion of 
 the world. Commerce and the various branches 
 of human enterprise have, as by a divine hand, led 
 the way, in this movement, to the Church. Here 
 is a new scene of its progressive developments. 
 In such circumstances, it is called to the great 
 and responsible labor of localizing and diffusing 
 the influence of the gospel. We have among us 
 the elements and the foundation of a Christian 
 State ; and the germs of institutions and influences 
 designed doubtless to contribute in an unparal- 
 leled manner to the diffusion of the more liberal 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 161 
 
 principles and usages of free institutions, and the 
 blessings of civilization and Christianity through- 
 out the world. 
 
 But we are oppressed by a view^ of the mag- 
 nitude of the responsibility devolved upon the 
 Church, in the present state and progress of 
 affairs. The interests of a most rapidly increasing 
 population, and of such varied character, within 
 the limits of California; and more, the interests 
 of unnumbered multitudes upon the islands and 
 both shores of the Pacific, with whom a frequent 
 and an intimate intercourse is open, present a 
 field of philanthropic and Christian enterprise 
 such, we do not say as has never before been 
 spread before the Church, but such as we fear 
 the Church will neither duly appreciate nor ade- 
 quately occupy. Let the laborers, who are few 
 in this field, be increased ; above all, let ceaseless 
 prayer, in the view of the missionary aspects of 
 this new course of colonization, be made in behalf 
 of the kingdom of Christ; for, though checked 
 by many disheartening causes, we do still " thank 
 God, and take courage." And we urge upon our 
 beloved Zion and our fellow-Christians generally^ 
 the earnest and strong exhortation, " Let us go 
 up at once and possess it, for we are well able to 
 overcome it." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Close of the Pastorate — Note to the Session, and Reply — Resolntion of 
 the C'h\;ich, and Letter of the Trustees — Action and Kesohitions 
 of the Presbytery — Farewell Discourse. 
 
 Special ties of interest ever bind the relations 
 between a Christian pastor and his spiritual 
 charge. Intimate and sacred are their associa- 
 tions. Friendships and confidences and tenderest 
 sympathies are the interchanges of their fellow- 
 ship. If such are the marks of a pastorate, in 
 general, it is easy to suppose, in peculiar condi- 
 tions, it may partake of a heightened interest. 
 Such is indeed the fact, when the parties are 
 drawn and held together by mutual affinities; 
 when common labors and trials are undergone; 
 and when the same purposes and aspirations are 
 the animatino;, inspiring motives of action. The 
 pioneer pastorate, in five and a half years of mu- 
 tual friendly intercourse — on account of thickly 
 crowding events a seemingly prolonged period — 
 with hopes and expectations sometimes more than 
 realized, and results gladsomely cheering to the 
 heart — but not without an alio}' of smitten joys, 
 to impart a pensive coloring to scenes otherwise 
 onl}' happy — the pastor, in peculiar circumstances, 
 " calling"' his congregation, instead, in the con- 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTOllATE. 1G3 
 
 vential sense, of being "' called:" all these, and 
 more, served to invest this pastoral relation with 
 an enhanced import to all concerned. 
 
 The usual steps in dissolving a pastorate were 
 formally taken in order. The several papers 
 hereto annexed furnish the concluding histor}^ 
 These render further statements unnecessar3^ 
 The sentiments breathed in them are all that 
 heart could wish, and are cherished tributes to a 
 relation and its offices, to which ever and anon I 
 turn in grateful remembrance. Unwilling at the 
 time of the dissolution to let the occasion pass 
 without a special personal notice, in great bodily 
 weakness. I prepared and delivered my brief fare- 
 well sermon. 
 
 EESIGNATIOX. 
 To THE EULIisG ElDERS OF THE FiRST PrESBYTEKIAX ChURCH 
 
 OF San Francisco. 
 
 Beloved Brethren — As you are already' aware, the impaired 
 state of my health, requires rest and cessation, for a season 
 at least, from pastoi'al labors. Not knowing, in the Adew of 
 these circumstances, how long an absence may be neces- 
 sary, nor what changes of the future ma}' occur, I think it 
 best that my pastoral relation be dissolved, that both the 
 congregation and myself may be left at liberty; and accord- 
 ingly, I hereby signify my wish that the congregation may 
 unite with me in requesting the Presbytery- to which we 
 belong to grant this my desire, and terminate the connec- 
 tion I now hold with the Church which you represent. 
 
164 A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 With assurances of my best esteem and regards for your- 
 selves personally, and many thanks for your uniform kind- 
 ness in our pleasant official intercourse, and with a continued 
 affectionate and prayerful interest in behalf of the Church 
 over which we have jointly presided, 
 
 I renjain ever yours, in Christian bonds, 
 
 Albert Willl\ms. 
 San Francisco, July 1st, 1854. 
 
 San Francisco, July 4tli, 1854. 
 Rev. Albert Willl\ms. 
 
 Dear Brother — We have received your letter of the 1st of 
 July instant, signifying your desire, on account of impaired 
 health, requiring rest and cessation, for a season at least, 
 from pastoral labors, that the congregation over which you 
 preside would unite with you in requesting the Presbytery 
 to which we belong to terminate the j^astoral connection 
 you now hold. 
 
 We regret exceedingly that your health should render it 
 necessary, and more especially at this particular juncture 
 in the affairs of the Church, should compel you to retire 
 from the labors and responsibilities which you have so long 
 and abh' discharged, in the origin and continuance of the 
 first Protestant Church in this city. 
 
 But we have great comfort and satisfaction in looking 
 back over the five years and upwards in which you have, 
 with the most unremitting diligence, watched over the in- 
 terests of the Church and society, in all that concerned 
 their welfare and progress, both spiritual and temporal; 
 and have great pleasure in bearing testimony to your fidel- 
 ity and constant devotion to the best interests of the Church 
 and congregation. The sick have been visited, and those 
 who were in prison are witnesses of your counsel, warning, 
 and admonition; the poor and friendless have been objects 
 of your care and solicitude; the afflicted have been com- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 165 
 
 forted in their distress and anguish of rniud, and the dying 
 have been directed to the ' ' Lamb of God which taketh 
 away the sins of the world." 
 
 And in all the relations you have sustained in the Church 
 and congregation, your bearing has been honorable, manly, 
 and independent, and characterized by meekness, charity, 
 and a Christian spirit. 
 
 When we have, as a community', been passing through 
 scenes of unusual violence and bloodshed, you have re- 
 mained at 3'our post, unmoved by popular tumult and dis- 
 order, faithfully declaring " all the counsel of God." 
 
 In your deportment and intercourse with the world, your 
 ministrations in the pulpit, and in mingling and cooj)erating 
 in the various religious and benevolent enterprises which 
 have originated in San Francisco during your residence 
 here — in all of which you have been active, and in many a 
 leading spirit — your course, for its wisdom and disci*etion, 
 has been such as to commend the Presbyterian Church and 
 society to the public confidence and respect. 
 
 The Church, which was originated under the most un- 
 favorable circumstances, in the midst of the confusion and 
 bustle caused by the restless spirit of gain excited by the 
 discovery of gold in California, and composed at first of 
 six communicants, now numbers over one hundred and 
 fifty, besides those who have been removed by death and 
 those who have been dismissed and recommended to the 
 fellowship of other churches. "VVe have also a flourishing 
 Sabbath School, of one hundred and fifty scholars, under 
 excellent teaching, already bearing precious fruit, and 
 promising a rich harvest in the future. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, our own hearts constrain us to acknowledge 
 that you are making no ordinary personal sacrifice in sepa- 
 rating yourself from a field of labor so full of promise in 
 the future, and from a Church and congregation for whose 
 temporal and spiritual welfare you have so long and sue- 
 
166 ^ PIONEER FASTORATE. 
 
 cessfullj^ labored, and we most cordially sympathize witli 
 you in this painful trial. But regarding" it as inexpedient 
 in a country like this to leave the pulpit vacant for an un- 
 certain period, a sense of duty to the Church as well as 
 yourself, constrains us to accede to your request, at a con- 
 venient time, to bring the question proposed before the 
 congregation for their action. 
 
 We beg also to assure you of our high respect for your 
 uniform courtesy, kindness, and counsel, in the relation 
 you have sustained to us as members of your session, in 
 which unity and the most entire harmony have prevailed. 
 
 Feeling sure that should you leave us, you will carry 
 with you the best and kindest sympathies not only of the 
 Church and congregation, but of the community among- 
 whom you have moved and mingled in this city, we affec- 
 tionately commend you and your familj' to the Great Head 
 of the Church, praying that He will richly rcAvard your 
 labors of love among us, and do for you and them "ex- 
 ceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." 
 We remain truly and affectionately^ 
 
 Yours in Christian bonds, 
 
 W. AY. Caldwell, 
 e. h. w^allek, 
 Nath'l Gray, 
 Thos. Hopkins, 
 Thos. C. Hambly, 
 
 Elding Eldei's. 
 
 ACTION OF THE CONGKEGATION. 
 At a meeting of the congregation of the First Presby- 
 terian Church, August 20tli, 1854, the following resolution 
 was passed: 
 
 Besolved, That this congregation, in the view of the ill 
 health of their pastor, the Rev. Albert Williams, and know- 
 ing it to be his earnest desire to be released from his 
 pastoral labors, will not oppose, though with sincere re- 
 gret they acquiesce in the ajDplication he designs to make 
 before the Presbytery. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 167 
 
 Further, ou motion, a committee, consisting of G. "W. P. 
 Bissell and Frederick Billings, Esqs., and Dr. W. O. 
 Ayres, was appointed to address a letter to the Rev. Mr. 
 Williams, expressive of the feelings of the congregation in 
 this their action. 
 
 LETTEK OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 San Fkancisco, Cal., '22d A^ignst, 1854. 
 
 Rev. Albekt Williams. 
 
 Respected and Bear Sir — Yon are aware that the parish 
 of the First Presbyterian Church have voted to unite with 
 you in requesting the Presbytery to terminate the pastoral 
 connection w^hich has existed between yourself and the 
 Church since its organization. This action of the parish 
 was based upon your letter addressed to the Session, and 
 by them laid before the congregation. The letter made 
 known considerations of health, requiring, for a season at 
 least, that you should rest from pastoral labor, and in- 
 volving the necessit}' of your absence from the State for 
 an uncertain period. 
 
 The parish had no fear that their action, under the cir- 
 cumstances, would be misconstrued to indicate any want of 
 respect and affectionate regard for you, or any forgetfulness 
 of 3^our long, arduous, faithful, and successful efibrts in be- 
 half of their Church, and of Christian education in the city. 
 They knew that, as the first and only pastor of the early 
 established and first Protestant Church in San Francisco, 
 your consistent Christian character, your devotion to your 
 high and responsible office, your zeal, energy, and success- 
 ful labor, were too widely' known and well api^reciated, to 
 allow, either in the parish or out of it, a thought that 3"our 
 attachment to the Church, with which you had so long been 
 identified, had grown cold, or that the Church had lost its 
 affectionate regard for vou. 
 
168 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 But with this the parish were not satisfied. They were 
 unwilling that the pastoral relation should be dissolved 
 without a direct communication of the kind and friendly 
 feelings entertained towards you by them ; of their sense 
 of obligation to you, under Providence, for the establish- 
 ment of their Church, and its continuance during all the 
 vicissitudes and embarrassments of our city, and without 
 a hearty assurance of their respect and earnest good wishes 
 for the future. 
 
 "We have been appointed a committee of the parish to 
 address you a letter on their behalf, and we are happy to 
 be made the channel of assuring you that though you cease 
 to be the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of San 
 Francisco, it will never be forgotten that you were its 
 founder, and for more than five years its faithful guide; 
 that you have labored in season and out of season for its 
 prosperity ; and that under your zealous but prudent super- 
 vision, the Church, and the great doctrines of which it is 
 the exponent, have been commended to the people of San 
 Francisco and the State. "Wherever life may lead you in 
 the future, bear with you the conviction that your labors 
 with us have not been in vain; that your name will ever be 
 associated with our Church, and that those who have known 
 you here will remember you with grateful recollections. 
 
 Expressing, as well for the parish as for ourselves indi- 
 vidually, the earnest wish that you and your family may 
 ever enjoy health and happiness, and that a long life of 
 continued usefulness may be granted to you, 
 
 "We are, with much respect. 
 
 Your friends, 
 
 Geo. W. p. Bissell, 
 Frederick Billings, 
 "Wm. O. Ayres. 
 
A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 169 
 
 ACTION OF THE PKESBYTERY. 
 
 At a meeting of the Presbytery of California, held in San 
 Francisco September 21st, 1854, the Kev. Albert Williams 
 applied to be released from the pastoral charge of the First 
 Presbyterian Church of San Francisco. 
 
 Mr. Nathaniel Gray appeared in Presbytery as a com- 
 missioner from the congregation, and presented their action 
 in the view of this apJDlication. 
 
 Resolved, That this congregation, in the view of the ill 
 health of their pastor, the Rev. Albert "Williams, and know- 
 ing it to be his earnest desire to be released from his 
 jsastoral labors, will not oppose, though with sincere regret 
 they acquiesce in the application he designs to make before 
 the Presbytery. 
 
 Whereupon, the Presbytery passed the following pream- 
 ble and resolutions : 
 
 Whereaa, The Presbytery have heard the request of the 
 Rev. Albert Williams, for the dissolution of the pastoral 
 relation between himself and the First Presbyterian Church 
 of San Francisco, on the ground of enfeebled health, and 
 also the assent, through their commissioner, of the congre- 
 gation to this request; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the pastoral relation of the Rev. Albert 
 Williams to the First Presbyterian Church of San Fran- 
 cisco be and hereby is dissolved, on and after the second 
 Sabbath of October next ; and that the Rev. Frederick 
 Ruel preach in that Church on the third Sabbath of Octo- 
 ber, and declare the pulpit vacant. 
 
 Resolved, That in granting this request, the Presbytery 
 deeply sympathize with the Rev. Albert Williams, in the 
 afflictive providence which has rendered it expedient for 
 him to make this request. 
 
 Resolved, That this PresbyteiT bear testimony to the con- 
 stant zeal and devotedness with which Mr. Williams has 
 labored for the good of the First Presbyterian Church, 
 from its organization on the 20th of May, 1849; and ex- 
 press their earnest desire that God will continue to follow 
 his labors with rich spiritual blessings to the congregation 
 he has long and steadily served. 
 
170 -■! PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery commend, with their cor- 
 dial sympathies and earnest prayers, the Rev. Albert Wil- 
 liams and the First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco 
 to the favor and keeping of the Great Head of the Church, 
 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
 
 Resolved, That a report of these proceedings be furnished 
 for publication in the Pacific and Christian Advocate, of this 
 city, and the Freshyterian of Philadelphia, and the New 
 York Observer. 
 
 San Fkancisco, October 11, 1854. 
 Rev. Albert Williams. 
 
 Dear Sir — As the Trustees of the First Presbyterian 
 Church, and rej)resenting, we are confident, the wishes of 
 the congregation, and of all who listened to the interesting 
 and appropriate Farewell Sermon preached by you on 
 Sunday last, we ask a copy of the sermon for publication. 
 With assurance of respect and friendship. 
 
 We are your obedient servants, 
 
 Frederick Billings, 
 
 G. W. P. BiSSELL, 
 
 W. O. Ayres, 
 Royal H. Waller, 
 T. F. Gould, 
 James H. Hesse, 
 
 Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Sax Feaxcisco, October 12, 1854. 
 Gentlemen — I place at 3'our disposal my Farewell Dis- 
 course, not feeling justified in withholding it when requested 
 by 3'our authority. 
 
 I remain. 
 
 Yours respectfully and truly, 
 
 Albert Williams. 
 To 
 
 Frederick Billixgs, 
 
 G. W. P. BissELL, Esqs., 
 
 And others. Trustees, etc. 
 
,4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 171 
 
 FAREWELL SERMON. 
 
 UELIVEREU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8. 1S54. 
 
 For what is our hope, or joy, or crowu of rejoicing? Are not even ye in 
 the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory 
 and joy. — I. Thess. ii., 19, 20. 
 
 Christian Brethren: 
 
 The circumstances of our gathering this morning 
 are special ; and they warrant a special character 
 in the present discourse. In nothing, however, 
 which the occasion may prompt me to say, would 
 I divert your attention from the ever-appropriate 
 themes and reflections of the Sabbath and the 
 sanctuary. 
 
 Rather would I, on this occasion, in the use of 
 such inspiring and elevating words as these of 
 the Apostle, strive to invest everything I may 
 utter with a seriousness, and spirituality, and 
 eternal moment, which may preserve not only, 
 but heighten the tone of our sacred and devout 
 sentiments. For I trust, my brethren, that not- 
 withstanding the many imperfections of the past, 
 " I have not," in any important feature or degree, 
 "kept back that which was profitable to you;" 
 nor " shunned to declare unto you the whole 
 counsel of G-od." And therefore it is needless 
 for me, on this occasion, to occupy your time in 
 statements even of the outlines of Christian doc- 
 
172 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 trines and duties. I think you will bear me wit- 
 ness, that of the many sermons I have delivered, 
 in each one I have endeavored to embody dis- 
 tinctly and intelligibly some fundamental and 
 essential part of saving truth ; and in all of them 
 there has been a prominent exhibition of the 
 nature and grounds of our hope in Christ, as the 
 divine Savior. 
 
 But this is not to assume that I have preached, 
 or you have embraced these doctrines of the sav- 
 ing scheme of the gospel as heartily and improv- 
 ingly as should have been done. Alas, there is 
 much to regret in the misimprovements of the 
 past, which, if it were in the power of this day's 
 services wholly to amend, who that is here present 
 would not most earnestly strive after so desirable 
 a consummation? 
 
 The necessity of " redeeming the time," I trust 
 we shall see the more clearly, and feel the more 
 impressively, in the view of that high standard of 
 hopes and results which, as in all the gospel, so 
 especially in our text, is set forth as connected 
 with the design, and nature, and due effect of 
 Christian ordinances, through the efficient opera- 
 tion of the Spirit of all grace. " For what," asks 
 our Apostle, " is our hope, or joy, or crown of re- 
 joicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our 
 glory and joy." 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 173 
 
 What grounds of such blessed assurances the 
 Apostle had, in regard to the Thessalonian be- 
 lievers, you learn both from the account of their 
 conversion and exemplary conduct, given in the 
 history of the Acts of the Apostles, and also in 
 the commendatory notices of them in the Epistle 
 to the Thessalonian Church. We must dissociate^ 
 in our minds, from those who gave the Apostle so 
 great satisfaction, those others in Thessalonica^ 
 who, at the first preaching of the faith of Christ 
 in that city, not only remained in unbelief, but 
 violently opposed both the Christian cause and 
 its apostolic advocates and promoters; and not 
 content with resisting and endeavoring to subvert 
 Christianity at home, even followed the Apostles 
 to other cities of Greece, with the same evil in- 
 tent and open hostility, infusing into others' minds 
 their own persecuting hostility. 
 
 A blessed success, notwithstanding, attended 
 upon the labors of the Apostle and his associates, 
 as in other places, so also in Thessalonica. The 
 brief but expressive record of the fact is thus 
 given by the sacred historian: "And some of them 
 (the Jews) believed, and consorted with Paul and 
 Silas, and of the devout G-reeks (Gentile prose- 
 lytes) a great multitude, and of the chief women 
 not a few." St. Paul also, in his Epistle to the 
 Thessalonians, bears witness in a good report: 
 That he thanked God always on their behalf, that 
 
174 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 the gospel came not to them in word onl}-. but 
 also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in 
 much assurance ; that the word of God which 
 was preached to them, they received not as the 
 word of man, but (as it is in truth) the Word of 
 God working effectual]}' in them that believe; 
 that their example, in its happy influence, going 
 forth beyond their own neighborhood, became a 
 pattern and encouragement to all who believed 
 also in Macedonia and Achaia; that in the trials 
 and persecutions they were called to suffer, they 
 remained steadfast in the .Christian faith, so that 
 the Apostle coidd write to them, "We ourselves 
 glory in you in the churches of God, for your 
 patience and faith in all your persecutions and 
 tribulations that ye endure;" and that, looking 
 beyond the present, there was found in existing 
 faithful endurance, " a manifest token of the 
 righteous judgment of God, that they would be 
 counted worthv the kino;dom of God. for which 
 also they suffered;"" and more, there was a cer- 
 tain promise, that of the Lord they should receive 
 the reward of the inheritance, inasmuch as they 
 ''served the Lord Christ;" and finally, as a sum- 
 mary of all these exalted confidences and hopes, 
 that "in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ," 
 in the unerring judgment and sentence of the 
 Omniscient Judge, they would be the "hope," the 
 "joy," and "crown of rejoicing" — "the glory and 
 the joy" — of the apostolic ministry. 
 
A PIOXEER PASTORATE. 17 5 
 
 Let it not be accounted strange, my brethren, 
 if this day I should aspire to participate in the 
 exultation and joy of the Apostle, and all in the 
 gospel ministry, over any just occasions of grate- 
 ful satisfaction and hope. Have I not these 
 grounds of cheering encouragement in this Chris- 
 tian congregation ? With no constrained or im- 
 proper boasting on your behalf, my friends and 
 brethren, I cannot but express it as my honest 
 and sincere conviction, that from the first our 
 organization has been highly favored in having 
 embodied and connected with it so goodly a num- 
 ber, as I believe, of persons possessed of an intel- 
 ligent, firm, and zealous piety. With such a 
 conviction and grateful recollection, I look back 
 upon the incipient nucleus of this church. And 
 even now, I cannot repress a feeling of heartfelt 
 admiration, that at that earl}^ day, with so few 
 numbers, there was found the practical faith 
 which could then in the name of God set up 
 "our banner;" and when, with all that faith and 
 hope which found their safe reliance only in the 
 covenant grace of God, it was not foreseen by 
 an}" '' whereunto" in extent and usefulness that 
 infant germ and plant of piety would grow. And 
 I remember being asked about that time, by one 
 who was a looker-on and not with us, "How we 
 expected to build a church for our use?" I con- 
 fess I could hardly tell. But I could look back 
 
176 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 with some degree of confiding hope upon prom- 
 ises like the one made on board our steamer, as 
 she approached this our destination, by one of 
 the original members of our church, that he 
 would give one hundred dollars the first year 
 towards the building of a church in San Fran- 
 cisco — a truly liberal offer for the time — and, as 
 I publish no names, I may also add, in the view 
 of the motive and munificence of disposition 
 which prompted that offer, and then, as ever 
 since, have been witnessed in deeds of benevo- 
 lence, it is grateful to know that with the willing- 
 ness there has been bestowed, in the favor of 
 Providence, the ability to appropriate, not hun- 
 dreds only, but thousands to the Church and its 
 kindred charities. 
 
 From the first, a gratifying prosperity attended 
 upon this church organization. The number of 
 its communicants steadily increased, and in the 
 midst of all the changes occurring in consequence 
 of the transient character of our population, there 
 was a gradual increasing aggregation of strength 
 and numbers in the congregation. The trials of 
 new church enterprises, in such circumstances as 
 those of the earliest times of this city, it is diffi- 
 cult to exaggerate. None but those who have 
 passed through them can fully know them. What 
 with the ever-shifting character of the popula- 
 tion ; and hope disappointed in some ; and in 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 177 
 
 others the annoyance of much talking, and pro- 
 posing, and planning, with a little promising and 
 no doing; the excitement of business and the 
 eager pursuit of personal ends of gain and am- 
 bition; of many, the few only who could spare 
 the time, even if they had the disposition, to de- 
 vote their attention to these interests; and some 
 who made, or had made their religious professions, 
 but lamentably turned aside and far away from 
 them — with these and other interposing obstacles, 
 I have also the sad remembrance, that that de- 
 stroying hand which, sooner or later, cuts down 
 all our hopes, removed from us, in the early days 
 of the Church, those upon whom we leaned in a 
 warrantable confidence, and whom we felt, for the 
 sake of the Church, we could not spare from our 
 number. 
 
 Yet were the interests of the Church sedulously 
 cherished, a constant and growing regard for its 
 welfare was maintained, not to say the project of 
 the erection of a church edifice kept in view, and 
 at length, under many discouragements, yet with 
 wonderful success, consummated. 
 
 Highly favored was the congregation in all the 
 period prior to its entering our sanctuary, in hav- 
 ing the gratuitous use, though subjected to the 
 trouble frequently of change, of convenient places 
 for holding public worship. 
 
 It was not until the third Sabbath (the 19th) 
 
 M 
 
178 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 of January, 1851, that our first church edifice 
 was completed and opened for the worship of 
 Almighty God. For the prosperity wdiich at- 
 tended the congregation during the continuance 
 of that building, a gradual preparation had been 
 made in its increasingly flourishing condition up 
 to the time of entering the new church. To 
 many in San Francisco and California, that struc- 
 ture, tasteful and attractive, is well remembered 
 with the more pleasing impression and livelier 
 interest, from the fact that it was the first of 
 churches in this city and State erected with any 
 special regard to taste and style in architecture. 
 But it was not long spared by that devouring 
 element which so" repeatedly laid the greater and 
 more valuable portions of this city in ashes. As 
 a congregation, we were made to experience, how 
 sadly and heavily many now present will recol- 
 lect, the reverse which that last general fire, of 
 all the most widely felt by the resident popula- 
 tion, produced. The loss was not that of the 
 church edifice alone, though in that respect it was 
 by no means inconsiderable; but added to this 
 were the scattering of our congregation, the heavy 
 personal losses of many of our people, the want 
 of any suitable and commodious place of holding 
 religious services, and what was the most embar- 
 rassing of all, a pervading feeling and fact of in- 
 ability, in the kind which could have been wished. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 179 
 
 to rebuild. This plain and unpretending struc- 
 ture in which we now worship — with the pulpit, 
 and chandeliers, and a part of the pews saved 
 from the first church — while it has answered the 
 purpose of a sanctuary for the congregation, and 
 has been to the present time too good to be torn 
 down, is itself an evidence of the discourage- 
 ments of the Summer of 1851, subsequently to 
 the great fires of May and June of that year. 
 
 It is not, I trust, with any feeling of murmur- 
 ing or complaint, that I recite to you to-day that 
 darker portion of our history. The will of God 
 be done. And the piety which reared that " holy 
 and beautiful house," could and did, I believe, as 
 cheerfully present and ascend with the incense of 
 its costly sacrifice, an offering devoted and accept- 
 able to God. 
 
 From the time of the destruction of the first 
 church, the gatherings and services of the con- 
 gregation, awhile diminished in numbers, were 
 regularly kept up. Dating from the period of 
 the completion of this present edifice, the con- 
 gregation again rallied in numbers and strength, 
 and spiritually has since, more than before, pros- 
 pered; and, without boasting, but only in the 
 statement of a fact, I may add, has maintained, 
 in the number of its communicants, its leading 
 position among the Protestant churches of the 
 citv and State. And with less of outward cir- 
 
180 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 cumstance and show, than in these da3^s of im- 
 provement are wont to be desired in connection 
 with the public worship of the sanctuary; with 
 even less of external conveniences than many of 
 ourselves could have wished, yet have we not 
 learned, and well, in the heightened spiritual 
 pleasures of the house of prayer, in the word of 
 God, the prayers, and praises, and sacred songs 
 of Zion, that it is the truth which enlightens, and 
 the spirit sanctifies, and a pure spiritual devotion 
 alone bears the soul of the worshipper away and 
 upward from earth to heaven; while assuredly 
 
 'T is not the pageantrj' of . show 
 That can impart devotion's glow, 
 Or Sanctify a prayer. 
 
 Such, I am certain, has been the experience of 
 the worshippers in this humble sanctuary of the 
 Most High and his people. And were our Apostle 
 even present, he would, I am persuaded, apply to 
 such as you anew, as I am prompted to apply his 
 words of exulting congratulation: "For what is 
 our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are 
 not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory 
 and joy." 
 
 But this is not because you can worship profit- 
 ably and pleasantly, and thrive also, in a plain 
 sanctuary. I have other grounds of confidence 
 regarding you : 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 181 
 
 In your observing and attendance upon the 
 weekly prayer meeting, which has been to us 
 a blessed conservative and improving ordinance 
 and service. In your care of the religious in- 
 struction and training of the children and youth 
 of the congregation — it is an interest which could 
 not be too zealously cherished; and pleasantly 
 may we remember the constant labors of a score 
 or more in the sphere and duties of the Sabbath 
 School, and Bible classes in connection with it, 
 which, from the first, have furnished evidences of 
 your zeal ; and upon the Bible truth taught, either 
 directly from the word of God or indirectly 
 through our catechisms, pleasing proofs also of 
 the Divine blessing have been bestowed. 
 
 And while our distinctive character in doctrine 
 and polity has been well known, and we have 
 been careful to avoid all compromises with funda- 
 mental and essential error, not among yourselves 
 alone has your Christian zeal been manifested. 
 I rejoice in the fact that your sympathies have 
 not been so restricted, but rather that your hearts 
 and hands have entered, in union with others or 
 by yourselves, into all the projects and useful 
 walks of life, open before you. Some of the 
 charitable institutions of the city have had their 
 origin among you ; while, to further the interests 
 of education and missions, and the Bible and 
 Tract causes, and the City Sunday School Union, 
 
182 A PIONEEE PASTORATE. 
 
 you have not fallen behind the most zealous and 
 active in well-doing. In such things I do truly 
 rejoice, being most gratified in having seen you 
 ever aiming and striving to act upon the rule of 
 " doing the greatest good to the greatest number." 
 It is interesting to look upon this Church as 
 taking its place among "the first things" in the 
 modern history and improvement of California. 
 Many beginnings of new enterprises in this coun- 
 try has it been my lot to witness; many of our 
 mere social and civil organizations and institu- 
 tions, which have sought the alliance and foster- 
 ing care of religion. I regard especially the early 
 establishment of our churches here as auspicious 
 omens for this land, in its future prosperity, mag- 
 nificence, and glory. I look upon the great in- 
 stitutions of the country, with the government of 
 the Union over it, as the more interesting, be- 
 cause the institutions established have been in- 
 augurated under the high sanction and sacred 
 influence of Christianity. The august Convention 
 in 1849 acknowledged and invoked the aid of re- 
 ligion in forming a constitution for this State; the 
 first public Thanksgiving in November, 1849, a 
 most agreeable surprise, made proclamation of 
 our dependence upon the care of Divine Provi- 
 dence, and of the gratitude due for the blessings, 
 common and special, of our social and religious 
 welfare. So have our legislative bodies, and pub- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 183 
 
 lie occasions, in various pageants and celebrations, 
 proved that prayers here are not confined to 
 churches, but are proper and necessary, and this 
 is a prevailing public sentiment, for all times and 
 interests. These are happy omens for the future. 
 Indeed, beneath all the ruffled agitations of so- 
 ciety, and the strifes and excitements of the times, 
 there has been a deep, steady under -current of 
 morality and religion ; and though, as is usual in 
 this world, the best influences do not make the 
 most noise, yet is there the more silent yet power- 
 fully operative influence of the Church and its 
 institutions, continually helping forward, on these 
 shores, the great cause of truth and righteousness. 
 But upon these subjects I may not longer oc- 
 cupy your attention. I come before you to-day 
 in peculiar circumstances. This closing service, 
 in a relation which for five and a half years has 
 subsisted between us, but is now to be sundered, 
 tells me that henceforth my direct, active labors 
 among you cease. I have contributed as I could, 
 in my place, to the aggregate of those eff'orts by 
 which, hitherto, the interests of the cause of 
 Christianity, and with it of general morality and 
 virtue, have been maintained among us. I have 
 no overweening satisfaction or self-gratulation in 
 the little which it has been my part to do in this 
 peculiar sphere of service. But, looking upon 
 the results of the eff'orts of the Christian minis- 
 
184 A PIONEER PASTOBATE. 
 
 try {ind Christian people of this city — in the view 
 only of those results which are now visible, not 
 to speak of those right hand services which the 
 left hand may not know, and the many offices of 
 charity and friendly assistance, and visitations of 
 the sick and affl.icted, and burials of the dead, 
 which come within the sphere of the Christian 
 laborer — you must and will conclude that the 
 pastoral office among us is no sinecure. But none 
 of my respected associates in the Christian min- 
 istry in this city or State, nor myself, will com- 
 plain that the burdens upon us have been heavy; 
 that the cares and anxieties of our calling have 
 made constant demands upon our time and 
 strength; that, what with our pulpit services, 
 which have been only an inconsiderable part of 
 ministerial labor, and many other public and 
 private engagements, we should some of us need, 
 and Providence point to the necessity upon us, 
 to seek a temporary relaxation and repose. I 
 speak of these things, not as though you knew 
 them not, but because you have known them; 
 and to an extent which I cannot but say it is 
 grateful to remember, you have appreciated them 
 most favorably, and given many expressions of 
 the respect in which the Christian ministry in 
 this land is held. By the promptings of religious 
 instinct and principle, our churches have been 
 built and our asylums founded, and charity full- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 185 
 
 handed has bestowed her lavish gifts upon the 
 unfortunate. Such favor, as the common senti- 
 ment of the people, has been, from the beginning 
 of our sojourn upon this coast, shown towards 
 religious and benevolent causes. Thus an addi- 
 tional example is furnished to the world of the 
 reproductive power of religious principle, and of 
 the just grounds of confidence and hope which 
 accompany the colonization of a Christian people. 
 
 I cannot refrain, on this occasion, from giving 
 utterance to my heartfelt, grateful acknowledg- 
 ments of the many undeserved and unexpected 
 expressions of kindness and esteem towards me, 
 from this congregation and the community in 
 general. And I take this occasion to thank espe- 
 cially the congregation at large, and my esteemed 
 associates in the government of the church, the 
 Ruling Elders of the congregation, for their re- 
 spective communications recently addressed to 
 me, which, I have only to say, are filled with more 
 of commendation than I could have expected, not 
 to say desired. 
 
 I can hardly, even at this present moment, seem 
 sensible of the fact that the formal tie which has 
 so long, so harmoniously, and so pleasantly bound 
 us together, is so soon to be dissolved. But as- 
 sured that the providence of God has clearly 
 indicated this course and issue, I need not say 
 I have felt, and do feel, it is best that it should 
 be so. 
 
186 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 To all of you, beloved hearers, my early and 
 later friends; to the members of the congrega- 
 tion generally; to the Superintendent of the Sab- 
 bath School, its teachers and scholars; to the 
 members of the Church; to the Trustees of the 
 congregation ; to the Ruling Elders of the Church; 
 to each and all, I tender the assurance of my 
 respectful and affectionate regards. 
 
 And as my most deeply impressed and abiding 
 solicitude, it is the sincere and earnest desire of 
 my heart, that though henceforth our lives may be 
 variously directed, yet at length, when all our 
 wanderings shall have ceased, in that better land, 
 in which there are no farewells and no partings, 
 we may meet again. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Eejflectious on the Past — Early Immigration and Trials — Novel Fea- 
 tures—The Chief Place of 1849— Formation of the State Govern- 
 ment—High Wages and HonsekeeiMng — Fifteen per Cent, per 
 Month — Gumption— Moral Standard — Public Men and Leaders. 
 
 The past of California — not alone of the more 
 remote period of isolation and imperfect occu- 
 pancy of our brothers of the Spanish race — during 
 the time of its possession and development under 
 the genius of the flag and men of the great Re- 
 public, is not without its monuments of history : 
 some, in this changeful human life, of departed 
 friendship and worth. Many, very many of the 
 active generation whose intelligence and enter- 
 prise founded the State, have passed away. The 
 work of a high civilization and holy religion was 
 auspiciously begun by the pioneers. Upon the 
 proud fabric reared by intelligent skill, signal 
 contributions of effort, strength, and life itself, 
 have been bestowed. Some planned, and others 
 toiled. The foundation being laid, here a stone 
 was prepared and deposited, and secured with the 
 firm cement; there, a graceful arch was shaped 
 and a cheerful window added to the structure; 
 and higher and higher the work ascended. But 
 as it advanced, amid the long, busy lines of toil- 
 
188 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 ers, by the exhaustion of wearying exertion and 
 pressure of an insupportable burden, one and 
 another grew faint and fell. A pioneer has drop- 
 ped from his relaxed hand his implement of labor : 
 he sleeps his last sleep. And still the work has 
 continued, carried onward by other pioneers and 
 their associates towards completion, when every 
 beam and floor, roof and ceiling, support and or- 
 nament, in their several places, consummate the 
 noble work. The esteemed dead lived not, la- 
 bored not in vain. With the accumulations of 
 their agency, and over their ashes, a higher stage 
 of progress was attained, upon whose plane a 
 higher and still higher end is sought. Labor is 
 not in vain, though accompanied by pains and 
 tears. The great problem of the world is per- 
 formed in an onward march of individual and 
 social life, through life's manifold changes. 
 
 The loved, tlie lost, the absent, and the dead, 
 Were with me then. 
 
 The startling report of the gold discovery, 
 wherever heard, turned all eyes wistfully toward 
 the new field of fortune. Many essayed to un- 
 dertake the venture who did not. The antici- 
 pated trials which deterred multitudes from the 
 attempt and were borne by the venturesome, 
 though often referred to, have never perhaps been 
 fully comprehended by the inexperienced. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 189 
 
 Long and tedious voyages by sea, around Cape 
 Horn, were attended with unwelcome delays, 
 through storms and calms. Not less wearisome, 
 and even more vexatious, were the overland jour- 
 neys, which put to the trial all the powers of en- 
 durance, and bonds of obligation, and virtue of 
 patience and mutual forbearance ; and often broke 
 down the barriers of good-fellowship, and opened 
 up breaches of friendship, variances, feuds, and 
 final separations. For the journeys by sea and 
 land to the new gold regions, almost all of the 
 early adventurers were grouped in associated com- 
 panies. The reasons which induced such concert 
 were drawn from considerations of economy, pro- 
 tection, and mutual assistance, not only en route, 
 but in supposed benefits of cooperation in mining 
 and trading enterprises. Of the three hundred, 
 my fellow - passengers, in the Crescent City from 
 New York to Chagres, all except sixteen belonged 
 to fifteen variously named mining and trading as- 
 sociations, each numbering from seven to thirty 
 members. From December, 1848, onward, vessels 
 sailed from New York and other Atlantic ports, 
 bearing their complements of passengers, who, 
 generally, were also owners, and their assorted 
 freights, always including the last invented and 
 most improved gold-washing and gold-saving ma- 
 chines. The more provident of adventurers also 
 before their departure took the precaution to in- 
 
190 --l PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 form themselves concerning the use of chemical 
 tests, in order to prevent mistakes of gathering 
 base metals instead of pure gold. The Winter of 
 1849-50 was, to such as chose the overland route, 
 the season of preparation for their long and ar- 
 duous journey. Routes were selected, and pur- 
 chases made of wagons, teams of horses or oxen, 
 saddle-horses and pack-horses, and provisions and 
 arms. The preferable route, of course, to those 
 who were bold enough to face the inconveniences 
 of the Isthmus transit, and the more threatening 
 danger of Isthmus malaria, and bear its greater 
 expense, was the new steamer route so timely 
 opened. That great enterprise was a most wel- 
 come provision for an urgent demand, and laid 
 many voyagers to and from California under deep 
 obligations to its enterprising proprietors, Messrs. 
 Howland & Aspinwall; as the same great line of 
 steamers, continued by their successors to the 
 present time, not displaced by the magnificent 
 continental railroad, is yet a popular mode of 
 travel, availed of by persons of leisure and seek- 
 ers of variety and comfort. The Pacific Mail 
 Steamship Company must ever be held to occupy 
 a prominent place among the instrumentalities 
 for promoting the settlement and growth of Cali- 
 fornia. Trials along this route, incident to the 
 circumstances, may and do occur. But ample 
 provision being made for the convenience of tra- 
 
.4 PIONEER PASTORATE. 191 
 
 vellers, no just occasion of complaint was left, 
 and no cause of discomfort. 
 
 With rare exceptions, the early overland jour- 
 neys were attended with hardships and trials, 
 which descriptions, though often essayed, have 
 rarely, if ever, fully portrayed. It has been said 
 that these wayside experiences removed many a 
 doubt concerning the Bible doctrine of total de- 
 pravity, and taught the lesson how selfish, per- 
 verse, mean, faithless, and utterly unamiable and 
 formidable man may and does become, when base 
 passions are allowed to obtain the mastery over 
 him. A New York bookseller and publisher, 
 whom I had known in his business, called upon 
 me and gave the result of his overland troubles: 
 His company was disbanded, and there was not 
 one of his late associates with whom he would 
 be willing to be again brought into fellowship. 
 '•Not quite so,"' he added; "there is one excep- 
 tion — yet he in his rage killed one of the animals 
 belonging to the party, and in a fit of passion 
 threw a hatchet at one of the men." Trials to 
 which principles and character are subjected, are 
 not the least of the evils suffered in the present 
 life. 
 
 It was permitted to me, on account of my early 
 arrival, to witness not the very beginning, but the 
 first great wave of the incoming immigration, 
 which in 1849 swept over the country. The 
 
192 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 population on the 1st of January, 1849, and little 
 increased until after the first steamer arrivals 
 from two to four months thereafter, is estimated 
 to have been 26,000, to wit: Californians, exclu- 
 sive of Indians, 13,000, Americans 8000, and 
 foreigners 5000. At the end of 1849, the arrivals 
 during that year, aggregating from 80,000 to 
 90,000, made a total population at that date of 
 about 110.000. Those arriving by sea, generally 
 proceeded at once to the gold-fields, and there 
 met the overland immigration upon the open, 
 common ground, and in the common search and 
 struggle for gold. A trial, at least, of gold min- 
 ing, which was their original object, was made 
 by nearly all, whatever may have previously been 
 their employment — in the professions, or in mer- 
 cantile, mechanical, or agricultural pursuits. Thus 
 new communities, temporary or permanent, were 
 formed in the interior, while at the ports and in 
 the valleys of the seaboard, the settlements and 
 towns were at first only slightly augmented. 
 
 California seemed, indeed, to Americans, in 
 many of its aspects, a foreign country. The pres- 
 ence, at the centres of population, of a propor- 
 tionally large number of native Californians, re- 
 minded us of the fact of their recent ownership 
 of the land. The Spanish language, too, was 
 heard in familiar speech, acquired as a whole by 
 such of our people as had been for a longer time 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 193 
 
 residents, or caught up by others recently arrived, 
 in its familiar phrases: esta hueno — it is good; si, 
 senor — yes, sir. The strange coloring of physical 
 features and of social life gave an air of romance 
 to scenes of daily observation. All was excite- 
 ment in business, in the new and strange, in hope 
 and ambition — a whirling maelstrom almost; a 
 scene upon which strangers looked wildly, as they 
 beheld it for the first time. And with reason 
 might the question have been asked, Can settled, 
 fixed purposes coexist with the manifold interests, 
 aims, and projects of communities without any 
 seeming bond of union? 
 
 With the confidence which facts and history 
 inspire, there is claimed for the year 1849 a chief 
 place for eventful incidents, stirring changes, and 
 accomplished designs. Its history of progress is 
 not that of barbarous, savage hordes, by a gradual 
 process of improvement and growth. The germs, 
 the life principles of government and order, were 
 borne with the adventurous pioneers, and were an 
 essential part of themselves. All that was re- 
 quired was the work of selection and combination 
 to form symmetrical and stately civil and social 
 institutions. These, in due time, arose out of the 
 seeming, but only seeming chaos. In the midst 
 of the wildest of natural scenery and promiscuous 
 gatherings of men, if necessity required, as a 
 friend related to me in his own case, for the 
 
 N ' 
 
194 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 adjustment of private rights and redress of in- 
 juries, a court could be suddenly constituted, 
 with all essential forms, to define and enforce the 
 behests of justice. 
 
 The truth of the general statement, that order 
 and quiet, and security of life and property, were 
 characteristic in the country, is confirmed, as by 
 other authority, by the official reports of Governor 
 Mason and Governor Riley, the latter of whom I 
 quote in his letter to the Secretary of War, Aug. 
 30, 1849: "Before leaving Monterey, I heard 
 numerous rumors of irregularities and crimes 
 among those working in the jplaceres; but on 
 visiting the mining regions, I was agreeably sur- 
 prised to learn that every thing was quite the 
 reverse from what had been represented, and that 
 order and regularity were preserved throughout 
 the entire extent of the mineral districts. In 
 each little settlement, or tented town, the miners 
 have elected their alcaldes and constables, whose 
 judicial decisions and efficient acts are sustained 
 by the people, and enforced with much regularity 
 and energy." In San Francisco, valuable prop- 
 erty, exposed in frail structures not onl}^, but 
 lying by night as well as day unprotected on the 
 street, was undisturbed. It was dangerous, it was 
 also accounted mean, to steal. 
 
 Universal doubt and uncertainty existed at the 
 date of my arrival with regard to future steps 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 195 
 
 towards the establishment of a general govern^ 
 ment over the territory. Congress had failed to 
 provide a government. California was agitated 
 over the question. What was probable, or even 
 possible, could not be foreseen. Tentative mea^ 
 sures, originating in a desire to change the exist- 
 ing Mexican forms, had been put forth in some 
 half dozen towns, by the establishment of District 
 Legislative Assemblies. But these were felt to be 
 insufficient, if not positively objectionable. Very 
 soon after my arrival, spending an evening at the 
 residence of Mr. C. Y. Grillespie, I there met a 
 number of gentlemen, residents of San Francisco. 
 Among them was the lamented Edward Gilbert, 
 of the Alta California. Inquiries were made of 
 me respecting the probable course of the Taylor 
 administration at Washington towards California. 
 I was able to reply that just before leaving the 
 East, I heard the new government would proba- 
 bly suggest an independent movement of the 
 people of California for the formation of a State 
 Constitution. A marked surprise followed this 
 announcement, expressed by all present, and 
 especially by Mr. Gilbert, who remarked, "Such 
 a procedure, without the usual mediate territory, 
 being without precedent, is impossible." Yet, a 
 month or two afterward, the arrival of the Hon. 
 Thos. Butler King, charged from Washington to 
 further this scheme, confirmed the truth of my 
 
196 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 report, not to say, the measure became sooner 
 than expected an accomplished fact. 
 
 Referring to minor but not indifferent matters, 
 labor in general, being in demand', exacted ex- 
 treme wages; often, in necessary cases, these were 
 beyond the means of employers, or of adjudged 
 propriety. " Carry it yourself, then," was the oft- 
 heard answer of an independent porter, refusing 
 the offer of a half dollar from one just landed in 
 the city, and asking three dollars for the insignifi- 
 cant service of removing a trunk a short distance. 
 More heavily the burden of high wages pressed 
 upon housekeepers, when cooks commanded one 
 hundred and fifty dollars per month. When in 
 my own family I had need of help, I began by 
 paying ninety dollars per month, and ended, at 
 the close of my pastorate late in 1854, with the 
 rate of sixty dollars per month. My family ex- 
 penses for water and milk were equal — each, one 
 hundred and fifty dollars per annum. The fact of 
 high servants' wages in '49, together with the 
 scarcity of supply of servants, deprived our San 
 Francisco society of three of our justly admired 
 ladies, Mrs. Colonel Geary, Mrs. Major Ogden, 
 and Mrs. General Persifer F. Smith. The incon- 
 venience to the family of General Smith was the 
 more annoying, because a domestic was brought 
 under an engagement from the East, and not only 
 her own passage was defrayed, but in addition 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 197 
 
 that of her brother, which ought to have secured 
 the performance of the contract, but failed under 
 the first tempting offer of advanced wages. When 
 making my farewell call upon the ladies of the 
 military family, on the eve of their departure, a 
 conversation occurred, in which a gloomy fore- 
 boding of our future was expressed. General 
 Smith remarked to his wife, " I think, forty years 
 hence, the situation will be so changed that you 
 can return and live in California." "Yes," was the 
 answer, "in about that time." 
 
 New York, it was remarked, gave shape to the 
 modes of mercantile business. And yet the 
 skilled, careful merchant, from old established 
 marts, looked with astonishment at what he con- 
 sidered reckless in transactions and ruinous in 
 results. Very young persons, too, embarked in 
 business, occupied the places, and did the work 
 usually in the hands of men of mature age and 
 large experience. The current speech about 
 "thousands," was a temporary check upon hope. 
 Happy, it was thought, was the man who had 
 "money in his purse" or what was even better, 
 a fortunate holding of merchandise in demand; 
 or, wanting these, was well furnished with phy- 
 sical strength, and a resolute, courageous heart. 
 In the circumstances, often I was reminded of a 
 conversation which I overheard in New York, 
 when "California" first began to be an exciting 
 
198 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 topic. Two gentlemen, sitting near me in a res- 
 taurant, were discussing the 7>?^o and con of the 
 question, and referring to one and another ac- 
 quaintance who had caught the "gold fever," the 
 conversation was closed by the remark of one, 
 "Well, I think whoever goes to California should 
 have plenty of money, plenty of wind, and plenty 
 of gumption." The order in which the several 
 conditions were stated, was wisely given in the 
 climax of the scale. Mr. John M. Finley once 
 said to me, "Did you ever hear of a country 
 whose rate of interest was fifteen per cent, per 
 month? — and yet we can pay it." In many 
 tilings, the situation was unparalleled. The move- 
 ments of the times were often like the progress 
 and effects of a tornado. Causes in operation 
 were singularly powerful. By irresistible forces, 
 men were borne onward. Some were caught in 
 whirling eddies. The excitements were too pow- 
 erful for imperfectly controlled minds. The more 
 conservative instincts and restraints were over- 
 borne. As in a storm, tender trees of the forest 
 fall, and the sturdy, deep-rooted stand; so the 
 morally strong of the early times survived, while 
 the irresolute and weak became prostrate wrecks. 
 Of the evil and the good, each had its place. 
 Whatever departures from the right occurred, 
 a standard of just principles was recognized. 
 Though the Church and religion received not 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 199 
 
 from all the heed which was desired, neither the 
 one nor the other was spoken against; both were 
 commended. The sacredness of Sunday was ac- 
 knowledged. On secular days only, in the times 
 referred to, were lines of travel in operation. On 
 one occasion, I noticed the sailing of the Panama 
 steamer advertised for Sunday, and meeting the 
 agent, Mr. R., referred him to the customs pre- 
 vailing at the East. A day or two afterward, 
 meeting the gentleman on the street, I was ac- 
 costed with the words, '' Mr. W., the steamer will 
 leave on Monday." It is not denied that secular 
 work was performed, but it is also true that when 
 it was the case, an apology was felt to be due to 
 prevailing religious sentiment, such as the excuse 
 of necessity. As to the consideration of gain, 
 the miner was one of the majority who charged 
 another with "meanness" for mining on Sunday, 
 as if not satisfied with the profits of work on 
 secular days. 
 
 As events group themselves in eras and epochs, 
 so likewise in social movements, classes and in- 
 dividuals become conspicuous. Looking back- 
 ward through a period dating from the dawn of 
 an awakened interest of the American govern- 
 ment and people, looking to the extension of 
 their territory to the Pacific, many names of men 
 distinguished in the line of events, stand out in 
 bold relief. In 1792, Captain Gray of Boston 
 
200 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 discovered and entered the river Columbia, so 
 called after the name of his ship. President 
 Jefferson, after the purchase of Louisiana, com- 
 missioned Lewis and Clarke to traverse and ex- 
 plore the Far West. American trappers and hun- 
 ters made still more extended excursions. Astor 
 and Hunt established a trading post on the Col- 
 umbia. Bonneville explored and mapped a con- 
 tinental belt. The example of explorers and 
 hunters led the way of other adventurers. Chris- 
 tian missionaries were among the foremost in 
 proving the practicability of a route to Oregon. 
 The scientific expeditions of Fremont and others 
 followed in the train. Permanent settlements of 
 Americans and Europeans began, and were in- 
 creasingly made on the seaboard and in the valleys 
 of the west. California became the scene of civil 
 revolutions; Americans were involved in them, 
 and rose to prominence in the commotions of the 
 country. The Bear Flag of independence was un- 
 furled and triumphant in the northern district of 
 the territory. The American navy, with the aid 
 of this revolutionary movement, in a brief, effec- 
 tive war of conquest, acquired full possession of 
 California in behalf of and for the United States. 
 More and more, as time rolls on, the heroes of 
 these successive events will be appreciated. More 
 especially will those who figured in the scenes of 
 the American acquisition claim due recognition. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 201 
 
 These are herewith referred to, not all, but lead- 
 ing representative men, who deserve all honor for 
 their courage, firmness, and devotion in the cause 
 of liberty and equal rights. Of the earlier names 
 may be mentioned — Stearns, Larkin, Warner, 
 Wilson, Williams, Wolfskill, Dana, Graham, Rich- 
 ardson, Leese, Spence, Hartnell, Yount, Lassen, 
 N"eal, Semple, Merritt, Ide, Ford, Leidesdorfi', 
 Reading, Hensley, Snyder, Bidwell, Walker, Mel- 
 lers, Howard, and the prince of pioneers, ever- 
 honored Sutter. The heroes of the conquest 
 under the flag of the Union were Sloat and 
 Stockton, the chief, with Mervine, Beale, McLane, 
 Marston, Minor, Renshaw. Of the army, were 
 Kearney, Fremont, Gillespie, Burton, Stevenson, 
 Sherman, and Halleck. In the succeeding naval 
 command were Shubrick, Biddle, and Jones; and 
 in military and civil control, Kearney and Fre- 
 mont, ending the military government of the 
 territory, by the exceptional aid of Halleck as 
 Secretary of State, under the administration of 
 Mason, Smith, and Riley. 
 
 Nor should I omit to record the gratifying fact, 
 that in the transition of California from the au- 
 thority of the Mexican flag to that of the United 
 States, native Californians vied with the heartiest 
 of Americans in loyalty to the new rule over 
 them and their territory. When resistance to the 
 invading power could no longer avail, party, strife, 
 
202 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 and opposition were all suppressed. Thencefor- 
 ward, in power and office under the provisions of 
 the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and as well in 
 forming a State Constitution and administering a 
 State government, were seen, side by side with 
 their new associates, Yallejo, Covarrubias, Castro, 
 Pico, Carillo, Coronel, De la Guerra, Dominguez, 
 Rodriguez, Pedrorena, Bandini, Arguello, Noriega, 
 Alvarado, and Sepulveda. The native Califor- 
 nians, a part of those here recited, as members of 
 the Constitutional Convention were valuable co- 
 adjutors in that body of intelligent men. Their 
 speeches were brief and pointed, and the good 
 sense and appreciation of the work proposed 
 which they manifested, with their earnest desire 
 for harmony and union, gained for them deserved 
 respectful attention. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Predictions, Sombre and Bright— San Francisco : A Dream— Increasing 
 Productions— Statistics of Agriculture, etc.— Trade and Com- 
 merce — California and the Orient. 
 
 The early, rapid growth of San Francisco was 
 a wonder to its own citizens, as it has ever seemed 
 a wonder to all the world. Its wastes became the 
 scene of busy men, hurrying to and fro. At once 
 it took rank as the metropolis by the sea, at the 
 gateway of the Orient as of the Occident. The 
 mountains from their golden streams poured into 
 it their rich treasures. The great oceans were its 
 highway of commerce, and from all lands the 
 merchandise of the nations supplied the means 
 of its material changes and advancement. Cali- 
 fornia without industrial arts and products was 
 a dependence of commerce. Thus by means of 
 foreign supplies, not only San Francisco, but all 
 the towns and camps of the country grew apace. 
 
 Many were the predictions of the times respect- 
 ing the future of California. They were of all 
 degrees and colors, from the deeps of distrust, 
 and forebodings of sudden general collapse, to 
 the most extravagant fancies of prosperity and 
 fortune. Some foresaw the end of gold mining; 
 others feared a famine; on account of the Sum- 
 
204 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 mer dry season there could be no agriculture, 
 only a general failure was foretold. On the other 
 hand, was the fond dream that success in every 
 hope and expectation would assuredly fall to the 
 lot of all who were so fortunate as to touch the 
 golden shore. A fellow -passenger of mine was 
 troubled by the estimated cost of commissions he 
 would be obliged to pay for the transportation of 
 his gold. Nearly every gold-seeker set a limit to 
 the time necessary to realize his fortune, when he 
 would return with his weight in gold to the happy 
 home he had left. Highly -wrought fancies of 
 what San Francisco and California would become 
 in the vastness of their opportunity were likewise 
 indulged — day-dreams of the imagination, as fleet- 
 ing as they were unsubstantial. 
 
 Is California, indeed, a fairy-land, that it gives 
 such scope and prompting to flights of fancy ? 
 By the stimulus of its surroundings, all Califor- 
 nians, all visitors in California, grow more or less 
 sentimental. Nor is this a recent fact. There is 
 inspiration in all its variety of scene in nature. 
 The real is sufficiently poetic, without resorting 
 to the fictitious. So a gentleman, denying the 
 charge of untruthfulness from a California source, 
 remarked, he believed no one could spend two 
 days or more on the Isthmus without contracting 
 the vice of story-telling. In fact, he found him- 
 self exaggerating a little. Ere the gold discovery, 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 205 
 
 there came to the denizens of California glimpses 
 and visions of a glowing future, in new creations 
 of convenience, taste, and beauty. Such is the 
 following remarkable prophecy regarding San 
 Francisco, a reprint from the Californian of De- 
 cember 8, 1847, an offering from the graceful pen 
 of Mrs. Dr. Y. J. Fourgeaud. 
 
 SAN FEANCISCO — A DEEAM. 
 
 On a calm and lovely November evening, a weary and 
 travel-stained pilgrim from the far Atlantic shore, borne 
 onward by that restless and indomitable spirit which char- 
 acterizes the Anglo-Saxon race, laid himself down on a 
 solitary spot on the shore of a vast and beautiful bay. No 
 living thing was visible, save the wild bird, as it winged its 
 flight through the air, a few deer grazing quietly on the 
 hills, and occasionally a timid rabbit leaping from thicket 
 to thicket. Exhausted by fatigue, and lulled by the gentle 
 ripple of the bay and the distant murmuring of the Pacific 
 waves, he soon slept. He dreamed, and lo! "a wilderness 
 of building" rose before him; a stately city, thronged with 
 busy multitudes; its streets bordered with noble edifices; 
 its wharves crowded with the merchant princes of every 
 land; its harbor filled with the vessels of all nations. 
 Here, the bold eagle of America, beside its well known 
 ally, tri-colored France — there, the proud pennon of Eng- 
 land beside that of China; the flags of Kussia, Holland, 
 Spain, Turkey, all flaunting gaily in the fair sunlight. 
 Steamers were wending their way in every direction ; and 
 not the least conspicuous among them was the little Fairy, 
 the first which ever puffed over these waters. A confused 
 jargon of many tongues was around him, requiring a 
 
206 ^ PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 learned blacksmith, master of fifty languages, for an in- 
 terpreter. "Where am I?" demanded he of one near him. 
 A stare was the only reply of an "elliptic-eyed" inhabitant 
 of the land of many letters and few ideas. He turned to 
 another, a brisk and vivacious little man of a very mercurial 
 appearance. "Je ne vous comprend, Monsieur," said he, with 
 a gracious smile and bow. Perplexed and bewildered, he 
 wandered on, and soon entered a magnificent public squai-e. 
 "Where am I?" again asked he of one whose visage re- 
 minded him of home. "Where are you? Why, Old Rip, 
 you must have been taking a twenty years nap among the 
 mountains not to know that. Why, man, this is Ports- 
 mouth Square — that the theatre — this is the Bank of San 
 Francisco — yonder the University of California — the Court 
 House, with the learned lawyers around it; there is the 
 principal road to Monterey; here Orleans and Boston, via 
 Tehuantepec, and here come the rail -cars rattling on." 
 "What news from the East?" "Read for yourself," re- 
 plied a passenger; " here is a New Orleans j)aper, only 
 thirteen days old. That'll do. But there's the gong of 
 the City Hotel." "Do jou stop there, stranger?" "What, 
 there! in that splendid building?" asked he, in looking up 
 to the fifth story of an elegant edifice, whose classic front 
 extended along the entire square; "why yes, and nowhere 
 else can such good fare be found: truffles, oysters, mush- 
 rooms, jyafes a la mode de Paris, birds' nests, etc., a la mode 
 de Chinois; beef, beans, and potatoes, a la mode d'Amerique; 
 hock, burgundy, and champagne; besides wines from the 
 vineyards of our own California— all that a man can desire. 
 Come!" From the dinner table he was conducted through 
 brilliantly illuminated streets to the opera. There, in a 
 luxui-iantly cushioned and elegantly draped box, he Avas at 
 once rapt in elysium, by those "linked notes of sweetness"^ 
 which would " create a soul under the very ribs of death," 
 and at the same time transported to the seventh heaven by 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 207 
 
 the varied loveliness which surrounded him. While thus 
 astonished and entranced, the cry of "Fire!" "Fire!" 
 "Fire!" broke upon his ear. The engines soon rushed to 
 the rescue; the vigilant firemen poured in a stream of water, 
 which suddenly dispersed the dream of our pilgrim stran- 
 ger, and lo! he was again on the solitary shore, with a 
 pitiless storm beating on his unsheltered head. "Coming 
 events" had but "cast their shadows before." 
 
 And yet it must be admitted, the moderate 
 forecasting of sober minds has been accomplished, 
 and perhaps more than fulfilled. The country 
 has been gradually filling up with an enterprising 
 population ; great areas of land have been brought 
 under cultivation, and made to yield golden har- 
 vests; industry and art, in multiplied forms, have 
 made rapid strides of advancement; established 
 cities and towns, and rural cultivation as well, 
 have given permanency to business and comfort- 
 able homes. The history of California, as a whole, 
 is one of transcendent prosperity. Wonderfully 
 have the energies of the people been exercised, 
 and with surprising consequences. Within the 
 bounds of vision, from an elevation in San Fran- 
 cisco, the eye sweeps over a marked scene of 
 grandeur and beauty: the magnificent bay, the 
 hill-ridge of Contra Costa, and the extended, 
 undulating plain beneath and bounding the east- 
 ern shore of the harbor. That view often arrested 
 attention in the early days, when no ferry across 
 the water made it accessible. There lay the vast. 
 
208 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 untrodden wilderness of green oaks, while out- 
 side, very few and far between, could be seen the 
 low, tile -covered casa of a Castro or Estudillo. 
 There, in that large grove of oaks, we said, is the 
 site of the future "Brooklyn" of San Francisco. 
 And so it has proved. There has risen, not 
 "Brooklyn," but fitly -named Oakland, a city of 
 forty thousand inhabitants, with its many impos- 
 ing churches, schools, and other public buildings, 
 and with Berkeley on its northern border and the 
 State University, crowning with gems of structure 
 its landscape. 
 
 What of improvement is seen from this stand- 
 point, by enlarging the boundaries of vision and 
 taking into view the entire State, differences or 
 contrasts between the present and the past every- 
 where appear. So soon, within a period of thirty 
 years, large, prosperous towns have been built up 
 at intervals in all parts of the land — San Fran- 
 cisco, the metropolis, of three hundred and fifty 
 thousand inhabitants, with Oakland, Sacramento, 
 Stockton, Marysville, San Jose, Los Angeles, Santa 
 Cruz, Monterey, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and others, 
 centres of surrounding settlements and industries. 
 Harmless and in vain were all the ill omens uttered 
 by unhappy croakers. Often the vulgarism was 
 heard, " The bottom is dropping out," as applied 
 to the production of gold. When gold was re- 
 duced in quantity, silver was discovered, and pro- 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 209 
 
 duced sufficiently to make good deficiencies. 
 Were gold and silver together lessened by di- 
 minished production, there has arisen more than 
 a supplement of that loss in the accumulated ag- 
 ricultural productions of the State. And 'still 
 more, were these last and the others to fall off in 
 quantity, by the sum of fruits of various kinds, 
 the total value of products throughout the State 
 will be more than maintained. 
 
 According to latest reports, the total amount 
 of acres of land inclosed is 6,319,864; and of 
 land cultivated, 3,576,366. The product of wheat 
 raised upon 2,352,213 acres, 35,385,579 bushels 
 of barley, from 678,957 acres, 13,224,060 bushels 
 and from 125,442 acres, 1,958,737 bushels of oats 
 of rye, from 12,517 acres, 204,608 bushels; from 
 78,511 acres, 1,620,743 bushels of corn; of buck- 
 wheat, from 1629 acres, 45,010 bushels; from 
 4667 acres, 252,337 bushels of peas; from 616 
 acres, 468,025 pounds of peanuts; of beans, from 
 6708 acres, 142,333 bushels; of castor beans, 
 255,000 pounds, from 255 acres; 160,024 tons of 
 potatoes, from 36,499 acres; of sweet potatoes, 
 from 1859 acres, 11,129 tons; from 1047 acres, 
 71,745 bushels of onions; of hay, 1,432,593 tons 
 from 726,088 acres; from 270 acres, 308,070 
 pounds of flax; of hops, 2,666,648 pounds, from 
 1573 acres; from 301 acres, 201,300 pounds of 
 tobacco; of cotton, 12,800 pounds, from 50 acres; 
 
 
 
210 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 of sugar beets, 14,152 tons, from 1681 acres. 
 Butter, 10,188,818 pounds; cheese, 3,199,420 
 pounds; wool, 24,031,047 pounds; honey, 1,036,- 
 490 pounds. Value of fruit crop, $4,454,914; 
 bearmg lemon trees, 12,460; bearing orange trees, 
 55,606; bearing olive trees, 5603; acres of grape 
 vines, 82,661; gallons of wine, 6,194,292; gallons 
 of brandy, 237,495; breweries, 182, and gallons 
 of beer, 14,442,191. Horses, 232,539; mules, 
 23,864; horned cattle, 679,268; sheep, 6,171,644; 
 cashmere and angora goats, 64,729; hogs, 363,842. 
 Grist mills: steam-power, 86; water-power, 69; 
 barrels of flour made, 1,961,880; bushels of corn 
 ground, 437,512. Saw mills: steam-power, 229; 
 water-power, 106; feet of lumber sawed, 492,263,- 
 130; shingles made, 116,222,700. Quartz mills, 
 261; tons crushed, 631,065; mining ditches, 1053, 
 and miles in length, 5549^; irrigating ditches, 
 772; acres irrigated, 199,080. Woollen mills, 11; 
 pounds of wool used, 3,003,000. Coal, 137,278 
 tons mined. Railroads, 74, and 1857i''o1) miles in 
 length. Assessed value of real estate, $317,330,- 
 063; of improvements, $103,124,361 ; of personal 
 property, $126,240,281; total valuation, $546,- 
 694,705. Gold and silver production received in 
 San Francisco in 1878, from the Pacific Slope, 
 west of the Rocky Mountains, $81,154,622. In 
 the same year, coinage at the San Francisco Mint, 
 $50,186,500. Estimated total population, (1876,) 
 905,583; registered voters, 195,300. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 211 
 
 To this exhibit of industries, compiled from 
 the Report of the Surveyor-General of the State^ 
 1876-7, must be added in an average of the whole, 
 in order to cover the present condition, probably 
 ten per cent, of gain. With an increase of the 
 population of the State, has been more than a 
 proportional advance in the development of its 
 available resources. Improvements are often upon 
 a magnificent scale; but in both great and small 
 areas, collectively, marked strides of progress have 
 been made. The variety and extent of produc- 
 tions from the soil, already of large proportions, 
 are constantly extending. Nearly all the Euro- 
 pean species of grapes have been introduced. 
 Cinchona, tea, and coffee are under cultivation, 
 the last now fruited. Melons of large variety, 
 peaches, plums, pears, figs, and olives, berries of 
 the different kinds, strawberries throughout the 
 year, all thrive in perfection. Orange belts have 
 been increasingly discovered and occupied. On 
 the slopes of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, 
 in the latitude of San Francisco, oranges, lemons, 
 and limes are grown, untouched by frost, when it 
 has occasionally blighted these fruits in the 
 southern counties. Bananas thrive in the south- 
 ern districts, and also in picturesque Sonoma 
 Valley. Chestnuts of American, Italian, ^nd 
 Spanish varieties, almonds, English walnuts, the 
 French prseparturiens walnut, the kaki or Japan 
 
212 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 persimmon, with the tropical cherimoyer, grena- 
 dillas, and sapota fruits (experimental,) and many 
 other fruits and nuts, have been transferred to a 
 new home on the Pacific shore. Not without 
 reason, it is predicted that soon the united pro- 
 duction of fruits and nuts will equal the wheat 
 product. Dried fruits of California — raisins, figs, 
 prunes, not to name more — are conspicuous in 
 our markets, and in considerable quantities find 
 sale abroad. It need not be accounted strange, 
 with such facts before him, that a Californian 
 stops to think of the great difference and contrast 
 between the present and past, separated by hardly 
 one-third of a century. 
 
 As commerce and trade were essential parts, 
 with mining for the precious metals, of the early 
 enterprise of California, so still, with agriculture 
 and the mechanic arts, they hold their place, and 
 an enhanced position in the plans and measures 
 of the country. Once, ships brought all our mer- 
 chandise to our ports, and carried nothing away. 
 Far different is now the fact. Once, as the people 
 of all lands came to our shore, they brought with 
 them the necessaries and conveniences of life — 
 food, clothing, houses, and implements of indus- 
 try. Still the representatives of the nations flock 
 hither, but in changed conditions. Imports no 
 longer hold an exclusive place, as once the preci- 
 ous metals were the only exports. By degrees, 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 213 
 
 home production has arisen. The fact began to 
 be palpable and make its impression when the 
 soil yielded to the husbandman its teeming pro- 
 duct of golden wheat. Chilean and Richmond 
 bread stuffs long since disappeared from our mar- 
 kets. Facts and figures, indicating the marked 
 turn affairs have taken in commerce and trade are 
 herewith given from the annual review of the 
 San Francisco Commercial Herald, of January 30, 
 1879: Wheat product of 1878, 22,500,000 centals; 
 wheat and flour exports in 1878, 9,530,673 centals; 
 wheat and flour exports for twenty - two years, 
 100,000,000 centals; merchandise export values 
 by sea in 1878, $34,155,400; tonnage movement 
 of the Central Pacific RR. in 1878, 2,190,000,000 
 pounds. Values of exports of merchandise, other 
 than treasure, for 1878, from San Francisco to 
 diff'erent ports: New York, $4,315,919; Great 
 Britain, $16,076,668; Germany, $109,176; Aus- 
 tralia, $814,667; Xew Zealand, $231,155; Ha- 
 waiian Islands, $1,582,747; Japan, $596,176; 
 China, (including 209,611 barrels of flour,) $3,- 
 109,320; France, $1,342,272; Belgium, $46,169 ; 
 South America, $660,410; Mexico, $1,696,086; 
 Victoria, $1,365,716; Panama, Central America, 
 South Africa, Brazil, Russian possessions in Asia, 
 Singapore, Manila, Calcutta, Penang, Batavia, and 
 Society, Marquesas, Navigators, Fiji, Flint, La- 
 drone, Gambler, Fanning, and Marshall Islands, 
 $1,708,913. 
 
214 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 This showing of the amount and relations of 
 California commerce, speaks volumes for the pro- 
 ductive resources of the State, and the wide and 
 far-reaching extent of international trade. The 
 place our State occupies among the producing 
 and commercial communities of the world was 
 not overstated in early times, and the point it 
 has reached already in the march of advancement 
 is sufficient to satisfy the most hopeful expecta- 
 tions. Its relations are with all the world. 
 
 The names of foreign ports embraced in this 
 summary statement show the far-reaching extent 
 of the commercial relations of California. In her 
 magnificent harbor, each season, are gathered 
 fleets of grain-bearing ships, seeking freights for 
 distant voyages. More important still are the 
 many lines of steamers from San Francisco as a 
 centre, coastwise and across the Pacific, keeping 
 open constant communications and furthering, 
 systematic exchanges. First to be noted, de- 
 servedly, is the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 
 whose ships still hold their connection, touching 
 at Mexican and Central American ports, via Pana- 
 ma, with New York, and also maintain regular 
 lines with Yokahama and Hongkong, with British 
 Columbia and the ports of Puget Sound, and 
 Honolulu, Auckland, and Sydney. The Occi- 
 dental and Oriental Steamship Company, alter- 
 nating with the P. M. S. S. Co., run semi-monthly 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 215 
 
 ships to Japan and China, connecting at Yokahama 
 with steamers for Shanghai. The Oregon Steam- 
 ship Company and the Pacific Coast Steamship 
 Company dispatch every five daj^s one of their 
 ships to Astoria and Portland, and the latter 
 Company run almost daily steamers to California 
 ports south of San Francisco. The California 
 Steam Navigation and other Companies keep open 
 communication by steam with different points on 
 the coast and inland waters. The railroad enter- 
 prises of the State, in addition to the Central and 
 Southern Pacific Companies, bring nearly all the 
 interior towns into close communication with 
 each other and with San Francisco. The changes 
 produced b}^ the two thousand two hundred miles 
 of railroad facilities, now in operation within the 
 State, are far more and greater than the present 
 limits can describe. 
 
 Very naturally the trade of California with the 
 opposite shore of the Pacific originated. Soon as 
 the news of the discovery of gold reached its 
 ports, ships lying in them were loaded and dis- 
 patched to the California market. Arriving at a 
 time when goods of all kinds almost were in de- 
 mand, cargoes were readily disposed of, and the 
 vessels returned for second loadings. Here was 
 demand, there supply. An active though limited 
 trade with China engaged leading mercantile 
 houses in San Francisco. Finley, Johnson & Co., 
 
216 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Osborn & Brannan, Gr. B. Post & Co., and others, 
 embarked in the trade. Articles of American and 
 European growth and manufacture, in the Chinese 
 market found their opportunity to meet the new 
 demand. Products of China, tea, sugar, rice, and 
 fruits, were sent in quantities. This course of 
 trade became settled. The importance of the 
 business was felt and commented upon. At length, 
 communication with China by steamships was 
 mooted. Mr. J. W. Osborn, of San Francisco, 
 was foremost in urging upon the United States 
 government the establishment of a mail steamship 
 line between San Francisco and Hongkong. The 
 end was accomplished. 
 
 Looking back to its commencement, it is seen 
 that in the track of the newly-opened trade, the 
 Chinese themselves came to our shores. At first 
 this number was few — so few as hardly to attract 
 attention. Like other immigrants, they came as 
 adventurers. They were importers and jobbers. 
 Very few were in other employments. Nearly 
 all were merchants. They were intelligent, and 
 by their orderly demeanor they commended them- 
 selves to the public confidence and respect. Their 
 number steadily, though slowly increased. In the 
 Summer of 1850, there were about one hundred 
 Chinese in San Francisco. The first public recog- 
 nition of their presence in our city was made 
 an occasion of general interest. Consignments of 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 217 
 
 Chinese books and tracts, secular and religious, 
 having been sent to us, it was suggested by their 
 consular agent, Mr. Frederick A. Woodworth, that 
 a public distribution should be made of the pub- 
 lications among the resident Chinese. Arrange- 
 ments were accordingly made by a committee 
 consisting of Mr. Woodworth, Mayor Geary, and 
 myself. In the afternoon of the 28th of August, 
 1850, their entire number assembled, and were 
 conducted in procession, two by two, to a large 
 platform on Portsmouth Square. In their rich, 
 national costume, not omitting the costly fan to 
 shelter them from the sun, they were objects of 
 marked observation. In turn, they were addressed 
 through Ah Sing, the interpreter, by Mr. Wood- 
 worth, Mayor Geary, the Rev. Mr. Hunt, and 
 myself. The several speakers united in express- 
 ing the pleasure shared in common by the citizens 
 of San Francisco, at their presence, the encour- 
 aging omen of opening friendly intercourse with 
 their country, the hope that more of their people 
 would follow their example in crossing the ocean 
 to our shore, and finally charging them with a 
 message to their friends in China, that in coming 
 to this country they would find welcome and 
 protection. The dignified manners and general 
 attractive bearing of the "China boys," as Mr, 
 Woodworth familiarly styled them — others said 
 they bore the appearance of Mandarins — called 
 
218 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 forth universal commendation. The California 
 Courier., making note concerning them, expressed 
 the general sentiment: "We have never seen a 
 finer looking body of men collected together in 
 San Francisco. In fact, this portion of our popu- 
 lation is a pattern for sobriety, order, and obedi- 
 ence to laws; not only to other foreign residents, 
 but to Americans themselves." 
 
 Such sentiments continued to be held concern- 
 ing the Chinese sojourning in San Francisco. The 
 interest felt and shown in their behalf was com- 
 mon to our citizens — to business men, to poli- 
 ticians, if there were any, and to the humane 
 and philanthropic generally. The First Presby- 
 terian Church led in efforts to throw around the 
 strange people Christian influences, by attracting 
 them to its Sunday School. The establishment 
 of the Presbyterian Chinese Mission of San Fran- 
 cisco followed in 1852. A second general expres- 
 sion of interest in the Chinese was shown by a 
 numerous attendance of merchants and other 
 prominent persons upon a course of lectures on 
 the Chinese by our Missionary, the Rev. William 
 Speer, in the Winter of 1852-53. That favor, at 
 the end of the course, was embodied in a series 
 of resolutions, unanimously adopted by a large 
 assemblage of the solid men of the city. One of 
 the resolutions, in keeping with the rest, was the 
 following : 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 219 
 
 ''Resolved, That we regard with pleasure the 
 presence of a great number of this people among 
 us, as affording the best opportunity of doing 
 them good, and through them of exerting our 
 influence upon their native land." 
 
 The import of this resolution is apparent. A 
 high ground of social and moral relations to the 
 strangers from China on our soil is here assumed. 
 Special opportunities are recognized, and peculiar 
 obligations confessed. These look beyond the 
 narrow sphere of private and selfish aims and in- 
 terests. The opportunity consists with the very 
 presence of the people, and the obligation to 
 confer benefits upon them accompanies this privi- 
 lege. In whatever respect they are inferior to 
 us, it is acknowledged to be our duty to impart 
 to them, for their own better civilization and the 
 elevation of their countrymen, our own advan- 
 tages. Such being the principle involved in the 
 resolution, its practical effect at once was wit- 
 nessed in the meeting which adopted it. Liberal 
 subscriptions were made towards the establish- 
 ment of a Mission in which secular and religious 
 teaching would be furnished to the Chinese. 
 
 In the business relations of our city at that 
 early day, it was considered a most important 
 point to secure the trade of the Orient. The 
 position of California, facing the great oriental 
 countries, was regarded as most favorable for 
 
220 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 such an achievement. So, in the ordering of 
 events, every step towards such a result was 
 hailed as a valued acquisition, and every expedi- 
 ent which could be devised with that object in 
 view was earnestly sought after, and, if possible^ 
 secured. The material advantages to California 
 and the United States of friendly relations and 
 active business with China have, of course, been 
 influential considerations in regard to this whole 
 question. Under the influence of such motives, 
 worldly but not sordid, the opening of more 
 Treaty ports in China, amended Treaties, and 
 finally the Burlingame Treaty, were successively 
 approved and welcomed, without a dissenting 
 voice, all over our land. 
 
 And now, forsooth, a change, an agitation, an 
 incipient revolution shall I call it, has happened. 
 The new attitude on the Chinese question, with 
 all respect to those who have espoused it, seems, 
 in comparison with the past, only a palpable con- 
 trast and contradiction to former professions and 
 commitments — a dissent, amounting to a denial, of 
 convictions once held unimpaired. One is led to 
 inquire. Have principles once regarded sound and 
 established become obsolete and void? For my 
 own part, I have endeavored to look calmly and 
 impartially upon this question and its pending 
 conditions, and can see no reason for the aban- 
 donment of the ground heretofore confided in as 
 holding eternal principles of right. 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 221 
 
 The present review of the Chinese question will 
 resolve itself into the form of statements, and by 
 their logic leave issues to be determined. An at- 
 titude of the present will be compared with one 
 of the past. It cannot have escaped observation, 
 that in the stages of the present controversy, the 
 old mistake of multiplying reasons has been com- 
 mitted by partizans warring against Chinese im- 
 migration. For example, the Chinese will not 
 become permanent residents, and they are not 
 desired to become such; they will not assimilate, 
 and are not wanted to assimilate ; they are an in- 
 ferior race, and they supersede the Caucasians in 
 labor; they will not be naturalized, and are pre- 
 vented from becoming naturalized. 
 
 The opponents of Chinese immigration call for 
 a radical change — a modification of measures may 
 be admitted, if needed, for restraint — the undoing 
 of all the past in international negotiations and 
 their results. 
 
 In the past, the Chinese were invited and en- 
 couraged to come to our shores: now they are 
 opposed in their coming, and are unwelcome in- 
 truders. 
 
 In the past, the Chinese were asked to come as 
 laborers: now their competition in labor is an 
 evil, and only an evil. 
 
 Thus the issue is joined as to numbers and 
 labor ; or, in another form, labor as the chief, and 
 numbers the subordinate question. 
 
222 -4 PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 In 1876, the Joint Committee of the two Houses 
 of Congress met in San Francisco to investigate 
 the Chinese question. The committee was com- 
 posed of Senator Morton, chairman, and Messrs. 
 Sargent, Piper, Meade, Cooper, and Willson. 
 One hundred and thirty witnesses were exam- 
 ined, and their testimony is contained in a report, 
 covering over twelve hundred printed pages. The 
 committee make, in the view of the whole, as 
 their own conclusion, the following remarks: 
 
 Although the subject by this means was pretty fully cov- 
 ered, and the inquiry, perhaps, exhausted, the conclusions 
 to be drawn from the mass of testimony may be different to 
 different minds. In the opinion of the committee, it may 
 be said that the resources of California and the Pacific 
 Coast have been more raj^idly developed with the cheap 
 and docile labor of Chinese than they would have been 
 Avithout this element. So far as material prosperity is con- 
 cerned, it cannot be doubted that the Pacific Coast has 
 been a great gainer. 
 
 From the sworn testimony before the Joint 
 Congressional Committee, some views of promi- 
 nent and influential citizens regarding the labor 
 question are selected. Alfred Wheeler, land- 
 owner and farmer, stated as his belief, "that the 
 immigration of the Chinese has been vastly bene- 
 ficial to the growth of California, and is greatly 
 beneficial to every white man, woman, and child 
 in the State; that the white laborers are vastly 
 benefited by that immigration instead of hurt by 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 223 
 
 it; and that Chinese labor has greatly increased 
 the demand for white labor, opened avenues to 
 white labor which never would have existed but 
 for it, and can be illustrated in a dozen matters." 
 William F. Babcock testified, "in a new country 
 cheap labor is absolutely necessary. The effect 
 has been beneficial, and will continue to be bene- 
 ficial; instead of driving out labor by cheap labor, 
 it increases it. Labor begets labor. The strong 
 feeling or prejudice against Chinamen here, arises 
 from politicians, office-holders, and foreigners as 
 a general thing. Very many of our politicians 
 pander to this low taste, you may call it, and 
 join in the outcry, in order to get the foreign 
 vote and popularity among them. There is no 
 real conflict between Chinese labor and white 
 labor in this State. As to cleanliness, if you go 
 down to Battery street, at four o'clock in the 
 morning, you will see two or three hundred China- 
 men waiting to go into the factories; and if you 
 will look at their hands and feet and necks, you 
 will see them as clean and neat-looking people as 
 you ever saw in the world. They are different 
 from the lower white classes." Donald McLellan, 
 of the Mission Woollen Mills, said: "We pay our 
 white men from one dollar and seventy-five cents 
 to six dollars a day, and we pay the Chinamen 
 ninety cents a day. The Chinese are large con- 
 sumers of the goods we manufacture, blankets 
 
224 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 and underclothing. Cotton can be raised here 
 very well, but is not, because the price of labor 
 is too high." Dr. Arthur B. Stout stated that 
 " the frugal life of Chinamen gives them more 
 immunity from disease. The death-rate is greater 
 among the whites than among the Chinese." W. 
 W. Hollister testified: "As to the proprietors, I 
 think there is a common sentiment and feeling in 
 favor of the Chinamen. They are our last resort. 
 They fill the places which other laborers will not 
 willingly fill. They perform the menial labors of 
 our households, and in general do so much of our 
 commonest toil, that they pave the way for the 
 higher labors of the better races. Without them 
 we would, if not actually come to a standstill, 
 suffer extreme embarrassment in all departments. 
 With the labor of these Chinamen, numbering 
 from fifteen to thirty in different branches of my 
 business, I am able to give work to twenty to 
 fifty laborers of other nationalities. The}^ do not 
 often fill the positions sought after by others." 
 S. H. Dwinelle said: "The prejudice against Chi- 
 nese immigration is strong among the laboring 
 classes. Outside of them, I do not think it is 
 very strong. I find that farmers in the interior 
 are always ready to employ Chinese, and in many 
 instances they tell me that they prefer them to 
 white labor. I have heard some of them say they 
 could not move their crops without the assistance 
 
A PIONEER PAST OB ATE. 225 
 
 of the Chinese. I do not know that there is any 
 more perjury among the Chinese than among some 
 others." Charles Crocker said: ^'I think the 
 presence of Chinamen here affords to white men 
 a more elevated class of labor. I think if the 
 white laborer understood and realized his true in- 
 terest, he would be in favor of the present pro- 
 portion of Chinese labor in this State. I believe 
 the law of suppl}' and demand will regulate itself 
 if the}^ are left alone. I believe eight-tenths of 
 the people would vote for the amount of Chinese 
 labor there is here now, if the question was ar- 
 gued calmly and deliberately before the people." 
 F. W. Macondray and R. C Sneath testified that, 
 in ver}" large mercantile transactions with Chinese 
 merchants, they '^ never lost a dollar by them." 
 B. S. Brooks testified : " The proportion of foreign- 
 born voters in San Francisco is about 55 per cent. 
 It is mainly in that element that this violent op- 
 position exists, but not all of that class are in 
 this opposition. A good many of them are quite 
 content to take their chance with the Chinese or 
 an}^ other immigrant who conies here. In the 
 country, those who are opposed to Chinese immi- 
 gration are a very small minority. In this city, 
 the Chinese are insulted, assaulted, beaten, and 
 killed. In the interior, probably, they have suf- 
 fered more than even here." Frederick F, Low 
 said: "Chinese labor here is free; in my opinion, 
 p 
 
226 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 there is no surplus of labor; Chinese labor is not 
 any cheaper in comparison than white labor in the 
 eastern States. The Chinese do not come here as 
 peons, under contract." 
 
 On the other hand, in strong terms, it is, on 
 medical authority, declared that disease, in most 
 loathsome forms, prevails among and is propa- 
 gated by the Chinese. Portions of the Chinese 
 quarters in San Francisco are referred to for 
 proof of their offensive mode of life, their over- 
 crowded spaces, uncleanly habits and conditions, 
 and a generally disgusting state. On the labor 
 question, opponents charge that the Chinese in- 
 terfere with and prevent white labor; that by 
 their cheap living and economical habits, they 
 reduce the price of labor, degrade labor in gen- 
 eral, and as a class, should not be allowed to com- 
 pete with the labor of those whose mode of life 
 is more expensive. The large number of Chinese 
 already in the country, and the probability that 
 many more will come, are looked upon with 
 alarming apprehension. In every aspect of the 
 case, the presence of the Chinese is regarded by 
 their opponents as undesirable, and demanding 
 prevention. Such, in substance, are the views on 
 this subject held and expressed by many at the 
 present time. 
 
 What the policy of our people should have 
 been towards the Chinese among us, is suggested 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 227 
 
 by one who has had a long residence in China, 
 and made frequent visits to California. S. Wells 
 Williams says: 
 
 No measures were taken by the rulers of California or 
 San Francisco to compel the immigrants to live with some 
 regard to their own health and the public comfort; but 
 when they became " nuisances" to others from their over- 
 crowding, then the whole blame was put upon them^ 
 whereas the chief fault lay with the municipality for not 
 teaching them how to live properly. Further, a wise pohcy 
 would have led the city and State authorities to educate 
 suitable men in the Chinese language, who could have acted 
 as their interpreters and translators, and thus maintained 
 an intelligent intercourse with these people. This reason- 
 able course would have shown them that their condition 
 was understood, a way prepared for them to improve, and 
 proper persons appointed to help them in all suitable w^ays. 
 Nothing of the kind has ever been done, though measures 
 are taken in several other States to aid Grermans, Norwe- 
 gians, etc., in understanding our laws in their own tongue, 
 so that no mistakes may be made. Yet no class needed it 
 so much as the Chinese, and none would have been more 
 likely to accept the laws when they understood them. 
 
 Great changes have occurred in the past thirty 
 years, not alone on our Western shore, but as well 
 in the Orient. Japan has taken position in the 
 family of nations, with grand auguries of future 
 advancement. Exclusiveness has run its career 
 in China. That vast country has thrown open its 
 door to the commerce of the world. Western 
 science has been enthroned in Peking. Its gov- 
 ernment has acknowledged the value of Western 
 
228 A PlONEEli PASTORATE. 
 
 literature and art, by sending forth her sons to 
 draw light from other suns in America and 
 Europe. California has proved an efficient helper 
 of so great changes. Her opportunity for sub- 
 serving the ends of a providential mission, in this 
 regard, was never greater than now. A retro- 
 grade movement is not to be so much as enter- 
 tained in momentary consideration. Our policy 
 and our duty alike are to adhere to our early 
 determination; and under the inspiration of our 
 resolve, "that we regard with pleasure the pres- 
 ence of a great number of this people among us, 
 as the affording the best opportunit}^ of doing 
 them good, and through them of exerting our 
 influence upon their native countr}'-," discharge 
 our whole duty to the once strange people, but 
 now so no longer, whom a sovereign Providence 
 has sent to us. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Benevolence — Sanitary Commission and Incidents — Systematic Chari- 
 ties — Common Schools — Colleges — Libraries — Literature and 
 Music — Distance and Time — Religious Societies — Presbyterian 
 Churches — Concluding Remarks. 
 
 The generosity of the people of Sau Francisco 
 and California requires no eulogy. Its marked 
 example in this regard has received due apprecia- 
 tion. Particularly was this the case with refer- 
 ence to the part taken in the interests of the 
 noble Sanitary and Christian Commissions during 
 a pressing emergency. The occasion of the first 
 meeting, held September 14, 1862, for the pur- 
 pose of organizing a branch of the Sanitary Com- 
 mission, is memorable. It was on a Sunday 
 evening, in Piatt's Hall. The spacious building 
 was crowded. It fell to my lot to open the 
 meeting with prayer to Almighty God, the God 
 of our fathers, for his favor and blessing upon 
 the undertaking. Most eloquent and stirring pa- 
 triotic speeches were made by Eugene Casserly 
 and Frederick Billings, Esqs. The enthusiasm of 
 the grand assemblage was wrought up to the 
 highest pitch. J. McM. Shafter and Edward 
 Tompkins, Esqs., followed with short, pointed 
 speeches. The eloquent Rev. T. Starr King was 
 
230 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 upon the programme to make the closing address. 
 What can he say after the speeches already de- 
 livered? was whispered through the house. The 
 truth is, he did not attempt to make a •speech, 
 and yet what he said gave a culminating effect to 
 all preceding efforts. He remarked, it was not 
 intended to ask for subscriptions at that time, 
 but a committee would call upon those present at 
 an early date, and receive their donations. Then, 
 turning towards the chairman, Mayor H. F. Tesche- 
 macher, he added: The President will give one 
 thousand dollars; the Pacific Mail Steamship Com- 
 pany will give one thousand dollars; the Califor- 
 nia Steam Navigation Company will give one 
 thousand dollars; Ophir Mining Company will 
 give one thousand dollars; and every Vice-Presi- 
 dent on the platform — there are about seventy — 
 will give five hundred dollars each. Either the 
 sagacity of Mr. King foresaw, or his prompting 
 dictated the result; for the outcome of applica- 
 tions, a surprise to many, proved him, in nearly 
 every instance, a true prophet. This was the 
 beginning of the lavish contributions hence be- 
 stowed upon that worthy cause. The truth is, 
 our beginning was marked by the spirit of affluent 
 generosity. The history of the past is illuminated 
 with tracks and glowing lights of beneficence. 
 Monuments of overflowing charity are seen on 
 every hand in San Francisco, in the Protestant 
 
A PIOXEEE PASrORATK 
 
 231 
 
 and Roman Catholic Orphan Asylums, the Home 
 of the Ladies' Protection and Relief Society, and 
 St. Luke's, the German, and French Hospitals, and 
 the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home. The enu- 
 meration, both of classes and distinctive names; 
 may be vastly extended. Benevolence has been 
 systematized, and made to play a part in all the 
 wide range of society, ^^o organization is com- 
 plete without it. Possibilities of suffering and 
 want are accepted as certain, and provision an- 
 ticipates the fact of need. 
 
 The San Francisco Benevolent Society has the 
 organization of a broad public charity. It is sus- 
 tained by private subscriptions, and appropria- 
 tions from public funds. It dispenses its gifts 
 to families and individuals, without regard to 
 nationality or religious belief. Distinctive social 
 organizations of great variety exist. Each church 
 especially, has one or more schemes of charity, 
 as an essential part of its plans and objects. On 
 every hand, one sees Orders and Fellowships, 
 Unions and Leagues, and all of them are more 
 or less beneficial in their spirit and scope. Not 
 that San Francisco is more benevolent than other, 
 cities, but the increase and growth of its chari- 
 ties in so brief a period, are, to say the least, not 
 behind any in rate of progress. They have grown 
 up with the churches and social organizations, in 
 trades and professions, for the sick and unfortu- 
 
232 A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 
 
 nate, along all avenues, for landsmen and sailors, 
 in military and civil spheres; and finally, in our 
 truly cosmopolitan community, as every nation- 
 ality has its distinct organization or club, so has 
 it also a plan of mutual assistance. With most 
 commendable liberality, these organizations are 
 supported by private contributions, and, when 
 necessar}^ by public fairs. It is safe to say, no 
 one need be left to want in San Francisco, nor 
 will be if his necessities are made known. The 
 benevolence of the people is proverbial. 
 
 For no other object, it has been truly said, has 
 the State of California been more solicitous than 
 popular education. In no other cause has the 
 State made a more free and abundant provision. 
 By means of its liberal endowments, every child 
 and youth enjoys the privilege of obtaining an 
 education. From the common school and the 
 rudiments of learning, he may rise to the heights 
 of a University course. For such a boon, intelli- 
 gent, far-seeing citizens began to provide in the 
 Constitutional Convention of 1849. In the fram- 
 ing of the State Constitution, the 500,000 acres 
 of land usually given by the general government 
 to new States were appropriated for the support 
 of schools. This foundation, added to the aggre- 
 gate of school sections of lands throughout the 
 State, formed the basis of financial support to a 
 noble S3'stem of public schools. By direct taxa- 
 
A PIONEER PA ST OB ATE. 233 
 
 tion, also, the State still further provides for the 
 education of its youth. All endowments, com- 
 bined, "compose a generous support of universal 
 education in the State. 
 
 In framing the system of schools for the State 
 and for San Francisco, Mr. Thomas J. Xevins was 
 prominent. His original draft of the plan was 
 the foundation of the scheme upon which has 
 arisen, according to his outline, the ascending 
 series of higher education. Mr. N^evins was the 
 first Superintendent of the schools of San Fran- 
 cisco, and while in office, was instrumental in 
 securing valuable school sites for subsequent use. 
 The liberality of San Francisco towards its schools 
 of different grades has ever been manifested. At 
 this date, the annual expenditure amounts to 
 $900,000. 
 
 Toland Medical College and Hastings Law 
 School (Departments of the State University) 
 were nobly founded and endowed by the citizens 
 whose names they bear. The Lick bequest fur- 
 nishes millions for the aid of charity, science, 
 and the arts. 
 
 Other institutions of learning have command- 
 ing rank in the city. St. Mary's and St. Ignatius 
 are liberally endowed Roman Catholic Colleges. 
 The Presbyterian Church has its City and Uni- 
 versity Mound Colleges and Theological Seminary. 
 Private Grammar Schools and Academies for boys 
 
234 -1 I'lONKKH FA ST 01^ ATE. 
 
 and girls are numerous. The largest public li- 
 braries are the Mercantile, Mechanics' Institute, 
 and Odd - Fellows, each having about 35,000 vol- 
 umes. The Law Library has 18,000 volumes. 
 The People's Free Librar}- has been recently 
 opened, under the auspices of the city govern- 
 ment. Means of literary and musical culture 
 abound. Societies for these purposes exist in- 
 dependentl}', or more numerously in connection 
 with churches and other associations. The repu- 
 tation of San Francisco for eminence in musical 
 taste and execution, seems not nor likely to be 
 abated. 
 
 One loses the impression almost, that lie is in 
 a new field of human enterprise, surrounded by 
 so many marks of advancement. In this goodly 
 city of San Francisco, instead of the three thou- 
 sand five hundred of population thirty years since 
 quartered here, one is now in the midst of three 
 hundred and fift}- thousand, with the whole aspect 
 of things changed. Thirty years ago, a month 
 for a voyage or correspondence from New York, 
 Philadelphia, Boston, and New Orleans, was a 
 much abbreviated time. Then an improvement 
 came through the Butterfield and Salt Lake Stage 
 Lines, and still another and most exciting ad- 
 vance, in limit of news to ten days' time, through 
 the Pony Express and telegraph combined. With 
 the continental telegraph, we were no longer iso- 
 
A riOXEER PASTORATE. 235 
 
 lated, but in proximity to the great centres of the 
 world. By the great achievement of the over- 
 land railway connections, the waters of the Pacific 
 and Atlantic seem only by a short distance sep- 
 arated. 
 
 Great material progress has been accomplished, 
 but that IS not all. Advances have been made in 
 more than travel by steamships, swift coaches, 
 rushing railroads, and news by telegraph; and 
 more than wonderful mechanic arts, and piles of 
 stone and mortar, warehouses and wharves, gold, 
 silver, and merchandise; proud palaces, or hum- 
 bler yet comfortable abodes ; more than anything 
 secular. For over all this fair city, are quite one 
 hundred sacred centres — churches and chapels for 
 the worship and service of the living God : nearly 
 one hundred sacred piles, sermons to passers-by, 
 and fanes for devout worshippers within their 
 hallowed walls. 
 
 The various religious societies of San Francisco, 
 according to their denominations, are as follow: 
 
 Baptist — 6 churches, 1 Mission chapel, and 1 
 Chinese Mission. Congregational — 5 churches, 
 and 1 Chinese Mission. Protestant Episcopal — 
 9 churches, and 4 Missions, including 1 Seamen's 
 Mission. German Protestant — 5 churches. He- 
 brew Synagogues — 6. Methodist Episcopal — 12 
 churches, and 1 Chinese Mission. Presbyterian — 
 13 churches, including 1 French church, and 1 
 
236 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Chinese Mission. Roman Catholic — lo churches, 
 and 10 chapels in colleges, convents, etc. Mari- 
 ners — 1 church, undenominational. Swedenbor- 
 gian, 2 churches. Unitarian — 1 church. Univer- 
 salist — 1 church. Second Advent, Christian — 1 
 church. Seventh -Day Advent — 1 church. Dis- 
 ciples of Christ — 1 church. Independent German 
 Congregation — 1 church. Christian Brethren — 1 
 church. Russian — 1 church. Friends' Meeting — 
 1 church. 
 
 All the existing Temperance Societies and Or- 
 ders are represented in San Francisco. A late 
 addition to the number has been made of a Gospel 
 Temperance organization. Various philanthropic 
 associations here have their seat. 
 
 More in detail, notices of the continuous his- 
 tory of the progress and condition of our Presby- 
 terian Churches are annexed. And first of all, 
 with devout thankfulness, I desire to acknowledge 
 the special Divine goodness by which the lives of 
 the three original members of the Presbytery of 
 California have been preserved to the present 
 time, attended with much lovingkindness and ten- 
 der mercy. My beloved associates in many an 
 essa}^ of Christian work, the Rev. Dr. Sylvester 
 Woodbridge and the Rev. James Woods, are still 
 active in the gospel ministry, and the writer is 
 trying to do all the good he can. 
 
 The degree of our Church growth is tested in 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 237 
 
 a single view and statement. Eleven years ago, 
 the number of Presb3^terian Churches existing 
 throughout all the Pacific Slope, from the Rocky 
 Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, was sixty -two. 
 At the present time, the number is increased to 
 two hundred and twenty. This consummation is 
 incidentally, and more or less directly connected 
 with and due to the possession and developments 
 of California and the relations of industry and 
 enterprise which have been formed in and from 
 our metropolis as a centre. Thus the interspaces 
 have become dotted, first with camps, and then 
 with more permanent settlements; and where the 
 world has gone, the church has followed. Confi- 
 dence in the living truth, through the efficient 
 grace of the divine Savior, has never been disap- 
 pointed. The productive power of the word of 
 God lives and abides for ever. 
 
 The First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco 
 has ever held its place and influence for good. 
 Changes have passed over its constituent members. 
 Of the Ruling Elders in office, at the close of my 
 pastorate, two, W. W. Caldwell and R. H. Waller, 
 have departed this life. One, T. C. Hambly, is a 
 resident of Philadelphia. Two, N. Gray and Thos. 
 Hopkins, with others, are still members of the 
 Session. The three Deacons of that date are all 
 living, and are acting Ruling Elders in different 
 Presbyterian Churches in San Francisco: J. B. 
 
238 ^ PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 Roberts in Calvary, E. R. Hawley in Howard, and 
 Gr. I. N. Monell in Central Church. So, from 
 time to time, have the members of the First 
 Church gone out from its communion to form or 
 strengthen other churches. Xot only the churches 
 of San Francisco have drawn supplies, but others 
 also, the churches of Oakland largely, from its 
 vital forces. And still this oldest, mother church 
 has continued and prospered and performed noble 
 works of welldoing. It is still true to its charac- 
 teristic steadfastness. 
 
 Calvary Church, which has ever been a strong 
 organization, relatively leads all other churches of 
 our faith in San Francisco. 
 
 In Sept., 185©, Howard Presbyterian Church 
 was founded by the Rev. S. H. Willey, in connec- 
 tion with the j^ew School branch of the Presby- 
 terian Church. This church has a history of 
 zealous and important work, in its own field, and 
 in the planting and largely supporting of Mission 
 Churches, It established Larkin Street, West- 
 minster, and Olivet Churches of this city, and 
 aided other Mission enterprises in the interior. 
 1^0 w, by a happy reunion of the divided Church, 
 the churches of both branches are blended in one 
 general organization. 
 
 The complement of city Presbyterian churches, 
 doing good service, are Larkin Street, Westmin- 
 ster, Central, Olivet, Memorial, and St. John's and 
 
A PIONEER PASTORATE. 23& 
 
 Woodbridge, (both recently formed and vigorous,) 
 with the Welsh, French, and Chinese. Oakland, 
 Alameda, and Berkeley, four churches and one 
 Chinese church, with San Francisco make a com- 
 mon cause. 
 
 A lay-Presbyterian Union, and the Occidental 
 Branch of the Women's Foreign Missionary So- 
 ciety, and other kindred agencies, belong to the 
 schemes of the Presbyterian churches of Sau 
 Francisco. For their career of usefulness and 
 measure of success, to Him who has led and 
 blessed them be all the glory! 
 
 On this new field of secular and Christian en- 
 terprise, a few brief years ago, ourselves strangers 
 in a strange land, we cast our lot. Here our 
 homes and altars were reared. We were the 
 representatives of the nation, but the flag of the 
 American Union was over us, and the God of our 
 fathers was with us. It was well for the young 
 State that among the many adventurers attracted 
 to its shores, there were not a few who were 
 strictly religious— whose religion was one of prin- 
 ciple, and its seat in the heart, mind, and con- 
 science; not dependent upon place and associa- 
 tions, but always in force, "like an angel, vital 
 everywhere." And there were others, who, al- 
 though not personally so much under the habitual 
 ' control of the principles and habits of religion, 
 were still more or less imbued with its instincts 
 
240 A PIONEER PASTORATE. 
 
 and sentiments. And, as a whole, it was a lead- 
 ing wish that society should take upon itself the 
 best forms of order and propriety. It is not 
 sufficient to say that such a procedure was not 
 opposed, it was acquiesced in; still more, it was 
 desired. The public welfare was not sought at 
 the sacrifice of the public honor. A State Con- 
 stitution, without a recognition of the supremacy 
 and all-directing providence of God, was an im- 
 possibility. Then as now, and now, perhaps, be- 
 cause it was so then, the first utterance of the 
 Constitution declares: "We, the people of Cali- 
 fornia, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, 
 in order to secure its blessings, do establish this 
 Constitution." There inheres still in the body 
 politic, more than an equipoise of moral good- 
 ness. The moral leverage of California was then, 
 and still is adequate to uphold and further any 
 desirable and proper movement for the main- 
 tenance of right, virtue, and truth. 
 
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