was accomplished-the accused was convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to the State prison for twenty years.

Mr. Jordan's period at the bar, though not long as yet, has been very prosperous. He has, from the accumulations of his practice, fully retrieved his severe business losses. Beginning alone, he was soon joined by Mr. Franklin P. Bull, a lawyer universally esteemed for his professional talents and fine personal qualities. The firm of Jordan & Bull holds a rich clientage, which embraces nearly all the large lumber interests, such as the San Francisco Lumber Company, the Puget Sound Lumber Company, the San Joaquin Lumber Company, Hanson & Co., and Renton Holmes & Co., also several other large corporations and private capitalists.

M 3

CHAPTER XLII.

P. D. Wigginton, Head of the New American Party-The Case of Breckinridge vs. Crocker-Hon. John W. Armstrong, Superior Judge of Sacramento: A Clever Jury Art Learned From James T. Farley-Theodore H. Hittell, the Land Lawyer and mistorian-Hon. George Flournoy, Jr., Attorney fo the City of San Francisco-Joseph Rothschild, Another of Our "Native Sons."

"My boys shall be farmers," declared Mr. Wigginton once, in a public address to the farmers of the great San Joaquin Valley.

He was evidently sincere, but his boys have something to say on the subject, and their father's precept may be negatived by his example. Quite possibly his mature triumphs may challenge their minds more than his earliest struggles-the boy on the farm less than the strong man of the forum. It would be very natural.

Mr. Wigginton might also address a convocation of bankers on the subject of that line of business, for he has had experience there; and he could, as well, hold forth to an assembly of editors on his acquaintance with journalism, for I heard him once, in a political speech, read one of his own editorials from an Illinois paper, the publication being in 1861, I believe. As to politics, of course he has always been full of the theme. But after all his varied experience, the law, which was his first love, is nearest his heart still, and California, knowing him so long, knows him as a lawyer best.

Mr. Wigginton was born in Springfield, Illinois, on the 6th of September, 1839. The head of the new American political party appropriately springs from one of the oldest American families, his ancestors having settled about Jamestown, Virginia, in the year 1620. His grandfather was one of the pioneers of Kentucky, dying in 1840, when our subject was but a year old. The mother removed, with her seven children, to Wisconsin, where she married again. Young Wigginton was taken in charge by Hon. Robert Wilson, County Judge of Iowa County, Wisconsin, who had married his sister, and who sent him to the State University at Madison. Graduating therefrom, the young man began the study of the law at that place, in the office of Hon. L. M. Strong. He was admitted to the bar there on the 18th of February, 1860. The exciting Presidential election of that year arrayed him on the side of Stephen A. Douglas, in whose behalf he spoke on the stump in many places. He was then twenty-one years of age. In that campaign he also wrote many articles which appeared in the political press. After about two years' practice of law in Wisconsin Mr. Wigginton, in May,

1862, removed to Oregon, where, as a miner in the Salmon River mines, he had the experience common to so many of my subjects early in life. As a gold miner he explored also Idaho Territory and British Columbia. All his adventures in this field were comprised within a period of six months, for turning to California, he arrived at San Francisco on the 15th of October, 1862. Proceeding at once to Merced County, he began the practice of law. In the following year he was elected District Attorney of that county, and being re-elected, served a second term. Declining to hold that office further, he followed his profession thereafter for about ten years, taking a leading place at the bar of that section. It was during this period that he, for a short time, also engaged in the business of banking.

In 1865 Mr. Wigginton planted with his own hands, on his own land, one of the best orchards now growing in Merced County.

In June, 1875, Mr. Wigginton was nominated by the Democrats of his district for Congress, and was elected. Two years later he was again the candidate of his party, against Hon. R. Pacheco, who had been Governor of the State. The popular vote then was practically a tie between these gentlemen, Gov. Pacheco being declared elected by a majority of one. Mr. Wigginton, after a careful canvass of all the returns, was satisfied that there was a positive although slight majority for himself. He made a contest, and the House of Representatives awarded the seat to him, finding that he had received a majority of six votes.

In 1886 Mr. Wigginton was the candidate of the new American party for Governor of California, and in 1888 he was the candidate of that party for Vice-President of the United States. In the gubernatorial contest he made a brilliant canvass of the State. He never displayed such enthusiasm or such power of utterance as when vindicating the tenets of the new political organization-the unconditional repeal of our naturalization laws, and the exclusion of alien non-residents from the ownership of land.

It is to be said in this connection that Mr. Wigginton's voice is clear, resonant, and of great power. Probably no other speaker's utterance has ever been so distinctly heard in the large halls, including the Mechanics' Pavilion, of San Francisco. He is very fluent of speech, earnest in manner, of fine presence, and strong physique. Ready in reply, and possessing, too, great moral stamina, he exerts a commanding influence whether before court or jury, or the populace. He is a splendidly equipped man to lead a popular movement.

Mr. Wigginton removed to San Francisco in 1880, and formed a partnership with Nathaniel Bennett, who had been one of the early day Justices of our Supreme Court. This lasted until Judge Bennett's death, in April, 1886. He has always, however, maintained a large country practice, and no other lawyer of San Francisco is so frequently called tot y sin le

interior. He was prominent on the side of the irrigators, in the great water litigation in the San Joaquin Valley, and is the attorney for the Southern Pacific Company in all cases arising in Central California.

Perhaps the most interesting of these cases was that of J. W. Breckinridge vs. Charles Crocker, tried at Merced, in 1884, and finally decided by the Supreme Court in March, 1886. The plaintiff was District Attorney of Merced county, and as such was, in July, 1883, pressing the payment of taxes on Merced town property owned by Mr. Crocker. The latter had appeared by his agent before the county board of equalization, and asked that his assessment be reduced from $96,000 to $65,000. The agent said he was authorized to sell the property to any one who would take it at the last named sum. Mr. Breckinridge accepted the offer, on the condition that time should be given him for payment. It was agreed between him and the agent that he should have the property for $70,000, of which $5,000 was to be paid the next Tuesday, and the balance in thirty days. The agent was to telegraph Mr. Crocker for instructions and did so, and Mr. Crocker wired back from San Francisco: "Accept the seventy thousand dollars offer for Merced property." On the Tuesday following Mr. Breckinridge proceeded to San Francisco, waited on Mr. Crocker and said he had come to make the first payment on the Merced property. Mr. Crocker referred him to the agent, remarking that there had been a mistake.

Mr. Breckinridge was not able to find the agent until next day, when he tendered the $5,000. The agent replied that he could not receive the money, and that he had been instructed by Mr. Crocker to decline any tender, on the grounds-first, that there was no contract, and, second, that the tender was not made in time. All negotiations then ceased, and Mr. Breckinridge brought suit in the Superior Court of Merced County against Mr. Crocker, to recover damages in the sum of $200,000.

This would not seem to be an easy case for Mr. Wigginton, as attorney for the defendant, to win. The code provides that no agreement for the sale of real property is valid, unless the same, or some note or memorandum thereof be in writing, and subscribed by the party to be charged, or his agent thereunto authorized in writing. In this case the evidence of the contract was in the telegrams. The Superior Court (Hon. Charles H. Marks, Judge) held that these did not show such a contract as could be enforced by the Courts. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the case came first before the Supreme Court Commissioners, Hons. Isaac S. Belcher, Robert Y. Hayne, and Henry S. Foote. It was held (the last named commissioner taking no part in the decision) that it could not be ascertained from the telegrams "who the buyer was."

Mr. Crocker, as before stated, had claimed that there had been "a mistake." The telegram from his agent had announced an offer "for balance

of Merced town property," and his reply was to "accept the offer for Merced property." There were two maps of Mr. Crocker's property at Merced. One, the larger, was headed "Town of Merced," and was not of record. The other, recorded, was of 100 blocks, and headed, "Official Map, Town of Merced." It was proven that the value of the 100 blocks was greater than the sum offered, and the value of the property shown in the larger map was more than twice the sum offered. The Supreme Court Commission said there probably was a misunderstanding, as Mr. Breckinridge claimed that the offer and acceptance comprehended the whole property on the larger map. It was decided that the contract was left uncertain in this particular, and was to be regarded as inchoate. The Supreme Court endorsed this view of the Commission, and affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court of Merced County. Chief Justice Beatty, however, filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Thornton concurred.

Judge L. D. McKisick (who is the subject of Chapter XXXVII) was associated with Mr. Wigginton in this victory, and with him made the points that were sustained.

HON. JOHN W. ARMSTRONG, Superior Judge of Sacramento County, was born in Indiana on the 12th of May, 1834. When he was but nine years old his father died, the family having removed to Missouri several years before. It was a large family, and largely dependent on what the boy could He was a cripple, too, from rheumatism, and has always been so. It would seem, then, that life did not open up to him auspiciously, by any means. The boy took up a severe employment, that of the blacksmith. His mother shortly died, and he served an apprenticeship in a large firm of blacksmiths and plow makers at St. Joseph, Missouri, which he completed in the summer of 1850. His mother had taught him the alphabet, and now at night he pursued primary studies under Tom Thurman, a law student, a near relative of the Ohio statesman. With Thurman's help the young blacksmith became a good grammarian and made creditable progress in Latin.

After working at his trade, as a journeyman, for a year, the young man set out across the plains for California. It was in March, 1852, and his money amounted to ten dollars. He drove cattle across the plains for his board, being furnished a mule to ride. In his pocket he carried a Latin dictionary. The arduous journey ended at Sacramento September 20, 1852, and the young man, then only eighteen, went to work at that place, at the corner of Sixth and K streets, making plows. There are prominent men still living in the Capital city who knew him then and saw him at his forge.