Antebellum and Civil War San Francisco by Monika Trobits

Author:Monika Trobits
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2014-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper featured this drawing depicting the assassination of James King of William by James Casey at the corner of Montgomery and Washington Streets (July 19, 1856 edition). Courtesy San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

The committee enjoyed its newly reactivated power while ignoring all local authority other than its own. The vigilantes became insurrectionists, pursuing Broderick and his Democratic machine and, particularly, his Irish supporters, many of whom were involved with local or state politics or the city’s volunteer fire companies. Influential and wealthy Protestants in the city supported the committee as a means of dominating the Irish Catholic working class. One by one, targeted Irishmen were deported. The Vigilance Committee then made the mistake of targeting Tom Maguire, the local theater entrepreneur. Maguire, a longtime friend of Broderick’s, was viewed as either a hardworking businessman or a well-connected scoundrel. Nonetheless, the vigilantes were challenged and backed off, rescinding the order against Maguire.

Governor J. Neely Johnson called on the local branch of the state militia to take back control of the city, but its major general, William Sherman, resigned when he realized the militia was outmanned and outgunned by the vigilantes. Sherman returned to his bank management job.

The committee next pursued Broderick himself, ordering his arrest and raising eyebrows throughout San Francisco. Just what were the vigilantes up to, and whom did they really represent? Their actions seemed to have more to do with party politics than crime. Were they front men for William Gwin and the local Chivs, or did they work for Henry Foote and the Know-Nothing Party? Neither Gwin nor Foote responded publicly. Broderick himself met with the committee to challenge its claims against him, negotiated a compromise and avoided arrest. With his political machine derailed and his loyal operatives run out, Broderick then quickly left town. But the committee wasn’t done yet. It ultimately wanted political power more than criminal justice and was transformed into a political party: the People’s Party. Dominated by local Protestant businessmen, the People’s Party ruled San Francisco for more than a decade. It signified the businessmen’s revolution against both the Chivalry and the Shovelry and threatened the state Democratic Party, particularly Broderick and Gwin. The People’s Party would eventually be absorbed into the newly established Republican Party.

Sherman later noted that the members of the committee had controlled enough of the local press to write its own history, thereby favorably representing itself as the savior of the city.

The following April, in mutual agreement with his St. Louis–based employers, Sherman began the process of closing the San Francisco branch of the Bank of Lucas, Turner and Co. with plans to relocate to New York City (the 1854 bank building is now characterized as Sherman’s Bank). In May 1857, he and his family left the city.

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