A BACKWARD GLANCE AT EIGHTY

Recollections & Comment

by

CHARLES A. MURDOCK

Massachusetts 1841 Humboldt Bay 1855 San Francisco 1864

1921

[Illustration: A CAMERA GLANCE AT EIGHTY]

THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO THE FRIENDS WHO INSPIRED IT

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. NEW ENGLAND II. A HIDDEN HARBOR III. NINE YEARS NORTH IV. THE REAL BRET HARTE V. SAN FRANCISCO--THE SIXTIES VI. LATER SAN FRANCISCO VII. INCIDENTS IN PUBLIC SERVICE VIII. AN INVESTMENT IX. BY-PRODUCT X. CONCERNING PERSONS XI. OUTINGS XII. OCCASIONAL VERSE EPILOGUE

ILLUSTRATIONS

A CAMERA GLANCE AT EIGHTY HUMBOLDT BAY, WINSHIP MAP FRANCIS BRET HARTE (Saroney, 1874) THE CLAY-STREET OFFICE THE DAY AFTER THOMAS STARR KING (Original given Bret Harte) HORATIO STEBBINS, SAN FRANCISCO, 1864-1900 HORACE DAVIS, HARVARD IN 1836 OUTINGS: THE SIERRAS, HAWAII

FOREWORD

In the autumn of 1920 the Board of Directors of the Pacific Coast Conference of Unitarian Churches took note of the approaching eightieth birthday of Mr. Charles A. Murdock, of San Francisco. Recalling Mr. Murdock's active service of all good causes, and more particularly his devotion to the cause of liberal religion through a period of more than half a century, the board decided to recognize the anniversary, which fell on January 26, 1921, by securing the publication of a volume of Mr. Murdock's essays. A committee was appointed to carry out the project, composed of Rev. H.E.B. Speight (chairman), Rev. C.S.S. Dutton, and Rev. Earl M. Wilbur.

The committee found a very ready response to its announcement of a subscription edition, and Mr. Murdock gave much time and thought to the preparation of material for the volume. "A Backward Glance at Eighty" is now issued with the knowledge that its appearance is eagerly awaited by all Mr. Murdock's friends and by a large number of others who welcome new light upon the life of an earlier generation of pioneers.

The publication of the book is an affectionate tribute to a good citizen, a staunch friend, a humble Christian gentleman, and a fearless servant of Truth--Charles A. Murdock.

MEMORIAL COMMITTEE.

GENESIS

In the beginning, the publication of this book is not the deliberate act of the octogenarian. Separate causes seem to have co-operated independently to produce the result. Several years ago, in a modest literary club, the late Henry Morse Stephens, in his passion for historical material, urged me from time to time to devote my essays to early experiences in the north of the state and in San Francisco. These papers were familiar to my friends, and as my eightieth birthday approached they asked that I add to them introductory and connecting chapters and publish a memorial volume. To satisfy me that it would find acceptance they secured advance orders to cover the expense.

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Table of contents (by pages)

• 1: A Backward Glance at Eighty by Charles A. Murdock
• 2: And Leominster was given to the manufacture of horn combs
• 3: Uncle Emerson generally sung psalm tunes as he worked
• 4: In winter he was decked with bells and hitched in the sleigh
• 5: I remember some of the boarders
• 6: Another Boston memory is the Boston Theater
• 7: And I was bothered about kilts and things
• 8: And in the afternoon took the Senator for Sacramento
• 9: Including a good part of what are now Mendocino
• 10: If the Trinity entered a bay or was navigable
• 11: A redwood forest was soon encountered
• 12: And camping near what was subsequently called Humboldt Point
• 13: Almost sacrilegious name of Eel
• 14: They finally struck east for the Sacramento Valley
• 15: Buhne remained in the bay till the ship dropped down
• 16: It did not boast a mouth the Klamath just swallowed it
• 17: But Eureka went to the legislature and won her point
• 18: I hang it over the whiskey barrel
• 19: Hutla wha is the moon the night sun
• 20: Charles Edward Decatur La Fitte Butterfield Bigelow
• 21: Very early I recall a thespian named Thoman
• 22: The town was built around a handsome plaza
• 23: The taking over of the tinshop was doubly disappointing
• 24: Arcata caught the fever and in November
• 25: The editor and owner of the Humboldt Times
• 26: The unnamed partner was James Alexander Campbell Van Rossum
• 27: Francis Bret Harte was born in Albany
• 28: From Alamo he seems to have gone directly to Tuolumne County
• 29: At the close of 1857 he indulged in a brief retrospect
• 30: Uniontown had been the county seat
• 31: Bret Harte's humor was sympathetic and analytical
• 32: Launched the Overland Monthly
• 33: Which the same Nye had dealt unto me
• 34: Some of his summers were spent in Newport
• 35: In 1885 Harte visited Switzerland
• 36: Equally dexterous in prose or verse
• 37: Bret Harte was also gifted with an agreeable personality
• 38: The Spaniards called it Yerba Buena
• 39: Wilson's Exchange was in Sansome Street near Sacramento
• 40: Then in Stockton near Sacramento
• 41: No street cars ran below Montgomery
• 42: The church in which Starr King first preached
• 43: The residences of such men as John Parrott and Milton S
• 44: And the lot in Geary east of Stockton
• 45: Fred Glimmer of the Unitarian church
• 46: For each presidential election drill crops were organized
• 47: A few words are due Adolph Sutro
• 48: In 1866 Congress passed an act confirming the decree
• 49: Of which Golden Gate Park included 1
• 50: And Von Schmidt cashed his check
• 51: Ralston was public spirited and enterprising
• 52: Kearney was clever and knew when to stop
• 53: The immense floor was divided into a series of booths
• 54: When good men served as supervisors
• 55: Dohrmann and his wife returned at once
• 56: Then they utilized the siphon bottles
• 57: For about a year I was a bookkeeper for a stock broker
• 58: Bank clearances are considered the best test of business
• 59: With offices on the first floor of a building at Eureka
• 60: Hallidie built a wire bridge at Weitchpec
• 61: We came down the beach past the mouth of the Klamath
• 62: And the entrusted bill started for speedy success
• 63: Her janitress must not be removed
• 64: And Beanston retained the place for another two years
• 65: I want you to act as one of the supervisors
• 66: But the new supervisors did not
• 67: At the following election Mayor James Rolph
• 68: My Pisgah was reached at the end of 1916
• 69: Naturally some of them were Unitarians
• 70: Stimulating patriotism and loyalty
• 71: Horatio Stebbins and family arrived from New York
• 72: Illustration HORATIO STEBBINS
• 73: And made more abundant through its ministry
• 74: Being expanded to The Pacific Unitarian
• 75: The Christianity that Jesus proclaimed
• 76: Righteousness earns God's favor
• 77: As regards our responsibility for the growth of Unitarianism
• 78: Reasonable possession is a commendable and necessary object
• 79: Disintegrated granite seems a hard diet
• 80: Our life is a failure from lack of will
• 81: Stebbins was ever the kindliest of men
• 82: 1916 he was active in the affairs of Stanford
• 83: Davis was a man of profound religious feeling
• 84: When asked if he could favor us with some lectures
• 85: I can think of no more charming man than Timothy Rearden
• 86: If San Francisco ever gets the Hetch Hetchy I shall swear
• 87: The first occupant appointed was Professor Howison
• 88: I used to be a long winded speaker in Chit Chat
• 89: Associated through both the Unitarian church
• 90: Kellogg was an eminently fair man
• 91: Stebbins entertained for him the highest regard
• 92: My church supervision included California
• 93: The municipally chartered pack train
• 94: From Eleanor to Hetch Hetchy as the crow would fly
• 95: Rolling hills dotted with graceful elms
• 96: The cemetery is not in the cuplike valley
• 97: Walden Pond is some little distance from the Emerson home
• 98: And apples and potatoes are stored in the fireproof vault
• 99: But such potatoes and real cream toast
• 100: I had never compassed the overland trip to Humboldt
• 101: Her loyal sons shall stand erect
• 102: And freed a threatened world from peril dire