News & Tall Tales. 1800s.

The Society of California Pioneers

August 1854: The objects of the Society of California Pioneers were declared, in the words of the constitution, "to cultivate the social virtues of its members, to collect and preserve information connected with the early settlement and conquest of the country, and to perpetuate the memory of those who sagacity, enterprise, and love of independence induced them to settle in the wilderness, and forge the germ of a new State."

The society "shall be composed of native Californians; foreigners residing in California previous to the conquest; and natives of other States and other countries, if citizens of the United States, resident here prior to January 1st, 1849, and their male descendants, who shall constitute the first class; and citizens of the old States of the Federal government who shall have resided in California prior to January 1st, 1850, and their male descendants, who shall constitute the second class; and honorary members, who may be admitted in accordance with what may be prescribed in the by-laws." 

The admission fees, which are now (1854) ten dollars, and a monthly subscription of a dollar, payable half-yearly in advance, "and all funds arising therefrom or by donations, shall be safely invested, and the forge arising therefrom shall be appropriated to charitable purposes, exclusively for the use and benefit of the widows and orphans of pioneer immigrants, members of this society."

List of Officers, 1854
President: William D. M. Howard
Vice-Presidents  Jacob R. Snyder, Samuel Brannan, G. Frank Lemon
Recording Secretary  Joseph L. Folsom
Assistant Recording Secretary J.C.L. Wadsworth
Corresponding Secretary  Edwin Bryant
Treasurer  Talbot H. Green
Assistant Corresponding Secretaries W.C. Parker and A.J. Grayson
Board of Directors
James C. Ward	H. W. Halleck	J. Mead Huxley
James C. Low	J. D. Stevenson	R. M. Sherman
Samuel Kyburn	James Hall	Henry Gerke
G. K. Winner	Robert Wells	G. W. Vincent
H. A. Schoolcraft	J. B. Frisbie	R. A. Parker
William Blackburn	John Wilson	W. H. Davis

List of Members, 1854  With the dates of arrival in California and City of Residence  Those marked * are deceased.
D.W. Alexander	Los Angeles	December 1842
John S. Beener	San Francisco	September 1847
L.A. Birdsall	San Francisco	1849
John Bidwell	Butte County	November 1841
Wake Bryarly	San Francisco	August 1849
Alfred Ellis	San Francisco	April 1847
M. L. Callender	San Francisco	April 1847
Juan B. Alvarado	San Pablo	September 1809
Joseph Atwill	San Francisco	October 1849
John Benson	San Francisco	April 1849
Abram Bartol	San Francisco	August 1849
Pedro C. Carrillo	Santa Barbara	March 1817
William H. Davis	San Francisco	August 1831
Alfred De Witt	San Francisco	September 1848
Thomas Cordua	Sacramento	March 1841
G. C. Cook*	San Jose	November 1841
William Bassham	San Jose	October 1845
Josiah Belden	San Jose	November 1841
G. W. Bryant	San Francisco	July 1849
Ziba Branch	San Luis Obispo	February 1831
Nathan Coombs	Napa	July 1843
J. W. B. Cooper	Monterey	May 1823
C. H. Crane	San Francisco	August 1849
E. W. Crowell	San Francisco	August 1849
Robert Elwell	Santa Barbara	August 1824
Francisco Guerrero*	San Francisco	September 1828
W. E. P. Hartnell*	Monterey	May 1822
Jose Jesus Martinez	Martinez	October 1814
William. A. Richardson	Saucelito	May 1822
John Wilson	San Luis Obispo	April 1826
George W. Vincent*	San Francisco	July 1826
Timothy Murphy*	San Rafael	September 1828
Alfred Robinson	Santa Barbara	February 1828
Jacob P. Lesse	Monterey	June 1833
Jose de Jesus Noe	San Francisco	October 1834
John Marsh	Contra Costa	January 1836
Thomas O. Larkin	San Francisco	March 1836
John Paty	San Francisco	June 1837
John A. Sutter	Hock Farm	July 1839
W. D. M. Howard	San Francisco	January 1839
Isaac Livick	San Francisco	October 1840
Elliot Libbey	San Rafael	December 1840
Francis H. Huber	San Francisco	November 1841
Henry Ford	Sacramento	September 1842
H. F. Teschemacker	San Francisco	July 1842
Thomas A. Warbass	San Francisco	July 1842
R. L. Kilburn	Napa	March 1842
John A. Hoar	Monterey	October 1843
Jasper O. Farrell	Bodega	November 1843
M. Schallenberger	San Jose	March 1844
Daniel Murphy	San Jose	December 1844
John M. Murphy	San Jose	December 1844
John Sullivan	San Francisco	December 1849
Jacob R. Snyder	San Francisco	September 1845
William Findlay	San Jose	July 1845
William Blackburn	Santa Cruz	September 1845
Daniel Leahy	San Francisco	October 1845
Francis Hoen	San Francisco	September 1845
Henry C. Smith	Alameda	December 1845
William F. Swasey	San Francisco	September 1845
Samuel Brannan	San Francisco	July 1846
R. M. Sherman	San Francisco	March 1846
E. C. Kemble	San Francisco	July 1846
Edwin Bryant	San Francisco	August 1846
Henry Gerke	San Francisco	July 1846
B.S. Lippincott	San Francisco	October 1846
Samuel Kyburg	San Francisco	October 1846
A.W. Grayson	San Jose	October 1846
Ned Grayson	San Jose	October 1846
C. C. Southward	Trinidad	February 1846
E. A. King	San Francisco	November 1846
D. A. McDermut	San Francisco	October 1846
Wiliam H. Russell	San Francisco	August 1846
Joseph Aram	San Jose	September 1846
J.C. Davis	Putah Creek	February 1846
John M. Homer	Alameda	July 1846
H. S. Turner	San Francisco	December 1846
B. R. Buckelew	San Francisco	October 1846
J. Caldwell Low	San Francisco	March 1847
Edward Gilbert*	San Francisco	March 1847
J. C. L. Wadsworth	San Francisco	April 1847
L. W. Sloat	San Francisco	August 1847
A. G. Abell	San Francisco	August 1847
L. B. Clements	Santa Cruz	June 1847
J. Mead Huxley	San Francisco	March 1847
J. L. Folsom, U.S.A.	San Francisco	March 1847
G. Frank Lemon	San Francisco	March 1847
H. W. Halleck	San Francisco	January 1847
H. M. Naglee	San Francisco	March 1847
R. J. Tobin	San Francisco	September 1847
R. A. Parker	Crescent City	March 1847
H. A. Schoolcraft*	Sacramento	April 1847
Jas L. Ord	Monterey	January 1847
John B. Frisbie	San Francisco	March 1847
Thomas J. Roach*	Trinidad	April 1847
S. W. Haight	San Francisco	March 1847
R. H. Sinton	San Francisco	November 1847
Alfred A. Green	San Francisco	April 1847
Geo. Stoneman, U.S.A.	San Francisco	January 1847
John A. Clark	San Francisco	June 1849
Henry D. Cook	San Francisco	July 1847
W. T. Sherman, U.S.A.	San Francisco	January 1847
H. W. Theall	Sonora	March 1847
Charles Stevens	San Francisco	April 1847
Charles L. Ross	San Francisco	April 1847
Horace Hawes	San Francisco	April 1847
Hiram Grimes	San Francisco	February 1847
James Adams	San Francisco	March 1847
John Q. Adams	San Francisco	March 1847
William Joy	San Francisco	April 1847
William M. Stewart	San Francisco	October 1848
G. Burdell	San Francisco	1849
Bethul Phelps	San Francisco	August 1848
Charles B. Johnson	Los Angeles	April 1848
I. C. Woods	San Francisco	November 1848
Herman Wohler	San Francisco	February 1848
James King of William	San Francisco	November 1848
Charles A. Angelo	San Francisco	December 1848
Edward Martin	San Francisco	November 1848
George W. Ryder	San Francisco	October 1848
J. Wemys Austin	San Francisco	August 1848
P. B. Cornwall	Sacramento	July 1848
Gabriel B. Post	San Francisco	February 1849
David S. Turner	San Francisco	August 1849
Joseph R. West	San Francisco	July 1849
Jesse Sutton	San Francisco	February 1849
John W. Tucker	San Francisco	August 1849
David T. Bagley	San Francisco	February 1849
A.J. Hooper	San Francisco	August 1849
J.E. Wainwright	San Francisco	November 1849
Louis R. Lull	San Francisco	June 1849
John Vandewater	San Francisco	June 1849
Charles R. Bond	San Francisco	November 1849
A. G. Randall	San Francisco	April 1849
F. C. Ewer	San Francisco	September 1849
Ferdinand Vassault	San Francisco	September 1849
Daniel L. Ross	San Francisco	December 1849
Wilson Flint	San Francisco	December 1849
Daniel Norcross	San Francisco	July 1849
L. Pickering	San Francisco	August 1849
John McDougal	San Francisco	February 1849
F. A. Bonnard	San Francisco	June 1849
George R. Davidson	San Francisco	February 1849
David C. Broderick	San Francisco	June 1849
P. A. Brinsmade	San Francisco	June 1849
J. Prall Stephens	San Francisco	April 1849
E. W. Leonard	San Francisco	June 1849
G. K. Fitch	San Francisco	September 1849
Squire P. Dewey	San Francisco	July 1849
Peter A. Morse	San Francisco	June 1849
E. D. Hammond	San Francisco	July 1849
William L. Newell	San Francisco	April 1849
William G. Wood	San Francisco	September 1849
Samuel Purdy	San Francisco	December 1849
Phillip A. Roach	San Francisco	August 1849
R. Julius Stevens	San Francisco	June 1849
Frank Soule (The Annals of San Francisco)	San Francisco	May 1849
J. E. Lawrence	San Francisco	June 1849
George Kerr*	Stockton	June 1849
Henry Meiggs	San Francisco	July 1849
Hiram Leonard, U.S.A.	San Francisco	June 1849
A. W. Peabody	San Francisco	April 1849
William M. Eddy*	San Francisco	June 1849
William C. Hoff	San Francisco	July 1849
R. P. Hammond	San Francisco	April 1849
T. K. Battelle	San Francisco	Nvember 1849
George A. Hudson	San Francisco	June 1849
Chas. J. Warner	San Francisco	August 1849
E. McGowan	San Francisco	October 1849
George W. Green	San Francisco	June 1849
Washington Bartlett	San Francisco	November 1849
Robert G. Crozier	San Francisco	June 1849
Joseph Farwell	San Francisco	July 1849
Charles D. Carter	San Francisco	August 1849
Jacob Shew	San Francisco	July 1849
Theodore Payne	San Francisco	October 1849
Lewis Peck	San Francisco	November 1849
Charles Hosmer	San Francisco	May 1849
W. B. Farwell	San Francisco	July 1849
Henry M. Hale	San Francisco	December 1849
F. W. Macondray	San Francisco	August 1849
Charles Minturn	San Francisco	October 1849
Richard M. Jessup	San Francisco	July 1849
O. P. Sutton	San Francisco	April 1849
John Middleton	San Francisco	September 1849
James G. Gould	San Francisco	July 1849
Aaron Pollard	San Francisco	January 1849
William Sherman	San Francisco	August 1849
Calhoun Benham	San Francisco	August 1849
P. W. Shepheard	San Francisco	December 1849
D. W. Connelly	San Francisco	September 1849
G. W. Ryckman	San Francisco	October 1849
Stephen R. Harris	San Francisco	June 1849
John H. Gihon (The Annals of San Francisco)	San Francisco	November 1849
Gregory Yale	San Francisco	December 1849
D. W. Perlay	San Francisco	August 1849
James Fitton	San Francisco	July 1849
John H. Still	San Francisco	September 1849
Charles F. Hamilton	San Francisco	September 1849
Frank Tilford	San Francisco	August 1849
Charles C. Roe	San Francisco	October 1849
John Nugent	San Francisco	December 1849
E. O. Crosby	San Francisco	February 1849
J. J. Bryant	San Francisco	August 1849
E. Morris Earl	San Francisco	June 1849
E. Gallagher	San Francisco	June 1849
Horatio N. Squire	San Francisco	August 1849
G.orge S. Porter	San Francisco	October 1849
Asa T. Lawton	San Francisco	June 1849
John Short	San Francisco	July 1849
Philo White	San Francisco	October 1849
Isaac M. Hall	San Francisco	July 1849
H. S. Brown	San Francisco	October 1849
James B. Starr	Sacramento	September 1849
J. Judson Ames	San Diego	October 1849
C. J. Brenham	San Francisco	August 1849
Cullen A. Johnson	San Francisco	September 1849
Henry Vandervier	San Francisco	August 1849
John V. Plume	San Francisco	June 1849
Selim Franklin	San Francisco	October 1849
Henry J. Wells	San Francisco	December 1849
John S. Hagar	San Francisco	June 1849
E. L. Sullivan	San Francisco	February 1849
Julius Wetzler	Sacramento	June 1849
John W. Conner	San Francisco	August 1849
Joseph Daniels	San Francisco	September 1849
F. A. Hussey	San Francisco	October 1849
M. S. Whiting	San Francisco	August 1849
William D. Fair	San Francisco	June 1849
J. N. Cordoza	San Francisco	September 1849
Albert Williams	San Francisco	April 1849
William L. Ryckman	San Francisco	September 1849
Atkins Massey	San Francisco	September 1849
E. A. Edgerton	San Francisco	July 1849
O. C. Osborne	San Francisco	June 1849
J. D. Bluxome	San Francisco	August 1849
James Grant	San Francisco	February 1849
William R. Wheaton	San Francisco	August 1849
J. W. Young	San Francisco	October 1849
C. T. Parker	San Francisco	October 1849
Thomas D. Johns	San Francisco	December 1849
A. C. Peachy	San Francisco	April 1849
William Newell	San Francisco	August 1849
Charles H. West	San Francisco	September 1849
J. W. Tice	San Francisco	September 1849
John McCrackan	San Francisco	November 1849
George M. Smith	San Francisco	September 1849
W. F. Kelsey	San Francisco	September 1849
Caleb Hyatt	San Francisco	July 1849
C. W. Gunnell	San Francisco	September 1849
B. F. Voorhees	San Francisco	April 1849
T. G. Spear	San Francisco	June 1849
Theodore Boschulte	San Francisco	August 1849
B. B. Coit	San Francisco	August 1849
Joseph W. Phillips	San Francisco	August 1849
James G. Pearson	San Francisco	July 1849
Smyth Clark	San Francisco	September 1849
G. W. Coffee	San Francisco	November 1849
James Evrard	San Francisco	December 1849
James Dows	San Francisco	December 1849
S. A. Hopkins	San Francisco	October 1849
William L. Duncan	San Francisco	September 1849
William E. Keyes	San Francisco	July 1849
David B. Stover	San Francisco	August 1849
G.orge F. Sweeney	San Francisco	October 1849
E. F. Northam	San Francisco	April 1849
John T. Little	San Francisco	April 1849
Elisha Nichols	San Francisco	October 1849
Charles A. Gough	San Francisco	July 1849
F. B. Austin	San Francisco	August 1849
Horatio S. Gates	San Francisco	August 1849
Julius K. Rose	San Francisco	June 1849
David Jobson	San Francisco	July 1849
De Witt C. Brown	San Francisco	August 1849
Frank Turk	San Francisco	May 1849
Richard Cheenery	San Francisco	August 1849
Seth R. Kneeland	San Francisco	July 1849
William B. Olds	San Francisco	August 1849
James Pearson	San Francisco	June 1849
A. B. Perkins	San Francisco	September 1849
William V. Wells	San Francisco	September 1849
John Q. Cole	San Francisco	June 1849
D. T. Raymond	San Francisco	August 1849
J. D. Pierson	San Francisco	August 1849
Richard Ross	San Francisco	March 1849
William Neely Thomson	San Francisco	May 1849
John J. Pensam	San Francisco	August 1849
J. J. A. Bruce	San Francisco	August 1849
E. V. Joice	San Francisco	January 1849
James Vantine	San Francisco	May 1849
Charles S. Simpson	San Francisco	September 1849
Thomas E. Lindenberger	San Francisco	September 1849
E. J. C. Kewen	San Francisco	August 1849
Richard V. Groat	San Francisco	September 1849
W. Hoskins	San Francisco	1849
L. D. Jones	San Francisco	1849
G.orge A. Parker	Sacramento	September 1849
Henry M. Gray	San Francisco	November 1849
William H. Crowell	San Francisco	August 1849
Charles H. Gilman	San Francisco	June 1849
B. Frank Hillard	San Francisco	June 1849
G. Simpton	San Francisco	October 1849
David Gillespie	San Francisco	December 1849
Arthur M. Ebbetts	San Francisco	August 1849
G.orge H. Preston	San Francisco	October 1849
Daniel S. Roberts	San Francisco	August 1849
William McKibbin	San Francisco	June 1849
H. C. Murray	San Francisco	September 1849
James Tobin	San Francisco	September 1849
B. B. Coit	San Francisco	August 1849
W. A. Mix	Red Bluff	March 1849
A. M. Heslep	San Francisco	November 1849
Isaac N. Thorne	San Francisco	September 1849
William H. Grattan	San Francisco	March 1849
John Erskine, Jr.	San Francisco	January 1849
James W. Stillman	San Francisco	October 1849
John H. Spooner	San Francisco	September 1849
E. J. Folsom	San Francisco	December 1849
A. J. Morrell	San Francisco	April 1849
H. P. Jones	San Francisco	October 1849
James Holohan	San Francisco	August 1849
William H. Tiffany	San Francisco	June 1849
John M. Coughlin	San Francisco	July 1849
William W. Warner	San Francisco	July 1849
Reuben Clark	San Francisco	August 1849
Abia A. Selover	San Francisco	September 1849
R. E. Brewster	San Francisco	June 1849
Alexander Campbell	San Francisco	August 1849
S. Rosenthal	San Francisco	December 1849
John C. Derby	San Francisco	July 1849
Thomas J. White	San Francisco	September 1849
John Satterlee	San Francisco	June 1849
William H. Chamberlain	Mission San Jose	August 1849
S. H. Meeker	Sacramento	October 1849
Joseph Galloway	San Francisco	November 1849
James B. Townsend	San Francisco	July 1849
Edward Conner	San Francisco	April 1849
H. G. Blankman	Monterey	June 1849
Levi Stowell	San Francisco	February 1849
William M. Burgoyne	San Francisco	June 1849
William L. Higgins	San Francisco	August 1849
C. W. Lander	San Francisco	August 1849
William H. J. Brooks	San Francisco	November 1849
C. T. Ryland	San Jose	July 1849
Henry A. Breed	San Francisco	December 1849
A. Larrain	San Francisco	July 1849
James R. Duff	San Francisco	July 1849
Charles Gulliver	San Francisco	February 1849
John O. Earl	San Francisco	December 1849
Hervey Sparks	San Francisco	June 1849
Albert H. Clark	Los Angeles	July 1849
William J. Shaw	San Francisco	June 1849
Samuel C. Eveleth	San Francisco	June 1849
Kelsey Hazan	San Francisco	April 1849
Joseph Shannon	San Francisco	November 1849
F. McGilvery	San Francisco	November 1849
A. S. Wright	San Francisco	September 1849
S. Asbury Sheppard	San Francisco	September 1849
Charles E. Buckingham	San Francisco	November 1849
Frank Johnson	Sacramento	April 1849
John A. Monroe	San Francisco	December 1849
J. Horace Kent	San Francisco	October 1849
Charles W. Lawton	San Francisco	June 1849
Charles E. Eigenbrodt	San Francisco	June 1849
William E. Bushnell	San Francisco	September 1849
James O. Callaghan	San Francisco	May 1849
W. Cornell Jewett	San Francisco	May 1849
R. K. Dodge	San Francisco	September 1849
William Clark	San Francisco	August 1849
Joseph G. Cadiz	San Francisco	February 1849
R. Erskine Newland	San Francisco	April 1849
William Baker, Jr.	San Francisco	June 1849
John P. Buckley	San Francisco	September 1849
A. B. Paul	San Francisco	November 1849
David Dwyer	San Francisco	July 1849
J. M. Tewksbury	San Francisco	September 1849
F. H. West	San Francisco	1849
W. J. Whitney	San Francisco	1849
G. T. Upham	San Francisco	1849
M. G. Vallejo	Sonoma	July b1808
William Van Voorhies	San Francisco	February 1849
George Yount	Napa	February 1831

September 28, 1860, The World, New York, New York

CALIFORNIA

The city has worn a gay appearance this week. The streets are full of strangers from the country, drawn hither by the unusual public displays.

The Society of California Pioneers celebrated the tenth anniversary of the admission of California into the Union, on Monday last. The literary exercises were of very great interest. Edmund Randolph, Esq., read a historical essay on California, giving a detailed and very complete account of every incident connected with the history of the country from the earliest date of its record. Edward B. Campbell, Esq., delivered the poem. Senator Benjamin, Reverdy Johnson, Gen. Shields, Col. Fremont, and Gen. Vallejo, were among the honored guests.

Today witnesses the introduction of steam fire engines in California. Monumental fire company, No. 6 have received their engine from Lee & Lanrnod, Novelty works, New York, and they are having a grand procession and general jollification in honor of the event. Another steam fire engine, designed for one of our companies, is on the way around the Horn, and it is predicted by some of our old firemen that at the expiration of two years at farthest, steam engines will have taken the place of hand machines in this city.

---

The Naval Order of the United States has a history dating from 1890. Membership includes a wide range of individuals, many with highly distinguished career paths.

The San Francisco Commandery meets the first Monday of each month at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club in San Francisco, California and holds two formal dinners each year.