This is the last of the blogs for the class and I will be adding more blogs later after this class assignment is done so dont worry as I have alot more to add to this blog, for those who are a regular reader of these blogs. I want to thank Professor Ivy for getting me involved in this project and I have learned alot about Danville, where I live and I hope that ya'll have too.
The radicals had come as a shock to me as I did not know that such people lived in Danville and they did have a huge influence on not only the Danville area but also the county, S.F Bay Area, State and the United States. In review of all that I have blogged about, Danville was alot more complicated than many think, than a quiet place below the giant mountain that towers over the S.F Bay Area. The people who lived there had alot more infliuence through their politics, social and even the railroad which they had pushed through the San Ramon Valley.
This story has yet to be finalized and hopefully in the blogs after I have relaxed a few days or a good weekafter the end of this quarter, I can come back on and tell more of this story. For the people in my history class at East Bay, I invite you to come back on, time to time and look what I have posted, as I am sure it will be some interesting information that I will have found out more about Danville. This story like other stories will never be finished, only added onto many times over. So to this, I say goodbye for now but I'll see ya'll very soon.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Blog # 8
IN SETTING UP A DISLAY OR A EXHIBIT FOR MY RESEARCH??
In researching the history of Danville and the roles that the radicals played, the ideal way to really express my research would be to have a museum setting in Downtown Danville.The first option would be in the San Ramon Historical Building at the old Danville Railroad Depot. This would give the viewers, a clear idea of Radical history in Danville, first to view the artifacts and exhibits showing the various type of radicalism found in Danville, then a walk through downtown Danville. The exhibit itself inside the Danville Railroad Depot would be split into three different
groups, The Danville Grangers, the Radical writers in Bret Harte and then finally the Copperheads, the Southern sympathizers during the Civil War.
The Danville Grangers part of the exhibit would includes pictures of the old Granger hall, any pictures of Grangers and ofcourse pictures of the San RamonBranch Line Railroad which would included a 3 dimensional overview of the line and where each of the Railroad depots were plus pictures inside and out of the Railroad depots then and even now. I would also have a brief history of the Grangers as many just like to gaze or do a quick look before moving on, so the less writing and more visual is better. The history of the Grangers and the railroad are very well documented as being intertwined and an example of some of my exhibit information on the Grangers detailing the railroad involvement are as following...........
____________________________________________________________
The Danville Grangers were instrumental in the San Ramon Railroad Branch Line being built and run so that Agriculture and people could travel up and down the San Ramon Valley without anty types of interruptions due to weather, flooding or any other natural occurances. The Danville Grangers were well known for their support and aiding local San Ramon Valley farmers, thus this railroad line dramatically aided the local Central Contra Costa farmers.
____________________________________________________________
In 1891, after years of planning and dreaming,Centra Contra Costa farmers welcomed the San Ramon Branch Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Branch line enabled agricultural products and passengers to move in and out of the valley in all kinds of weather(Flooding and other blockades of transportation was common during that time).
___________________________________________________________
Southern Pacific built handsome two-story combination depots in Concord, Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon and all the way out to Livermore, that became the center of life for railroad activities. The rails carried new people and mail into town and in the early years of
Danville's Railroad Depot, it employed a freight agent, telegraph operator and also a Wells Fargo
agent.
___________________________________________________________
This would be an example of each card below an exhibit and it would be brief so one could read it in as few minutes and then move on, alot being more visual viewers in museums than actually
literal lookers in museums.
The Bret Harte part of the exhibit would be also mostly visual with personal items from when he was in Danville, also copies of his books and pictures of him throughout his life including when he was in Danville. The exhibit would also includes the layout of the ranch he was on taking care and educating the children of a local rancher, with many pieces and material from that time. There would be ofcourse brief information cards also with an bio of Bret Havre, the area he lived in when he was in Danville and his contributions to this area's history in his romantic but realistic writings about the area.
The last part of the exhibit would be the Copperheads exhibit which would include various odd pictures, flyers and literature of the Copperhead of those times. The exhibit would also have to show how these radicals had influence on the Democratic political structure of California as a whole and especially in the S.F Bay Area and also this includes socially. It would finally have brief but detailed information on the Danvile Copperheads themesleves in both pictures and bios of David Inman, Andrew Inman, John Syndor, Jesse Bowles, Charles Woods, Aj Young and then the most famous Danville Copperhead of them all, Lansford Hasting.
In researching the history of Danville and the roles that the radicals played, the ideal way to really express my research would be to have a museum setting in Downtown Danville.The first option would be in the San Ramon Historical Building at the old Danville Railroad Depot. This would give the viewers, a clear idea of Radical history in Danville, first to view the artifacts and exhibits showing the various type of radicalism found in Danville, then a walk through downtown Danville. The exhibit itself inside the Danville Railroad Depot would be split into three different
groups, The Danville Grangers, the Radical writers in Bret Harte and then finally the Copperheads, the Southern sympathizers during the Civil War.
The Danville Grangers part of the exhibit would includes pictures of the old Granger hall, any pictures of Grangers and ofcourse pictures of the San RamonBranch Line Railroad which would included a 3 dimensional overview of the line and where each of the Railroad depots were plus pictures inside and out of the Railroad depots then and even now. I would also have a brief history of the Grangers as many just like to gaze or do a quick look before moving on, so the less writing and more visual is better. The history of the Grangers and the railroad are very well documented as being intertwined and an example of some of my exhibit information on the Grangers detailing the railroad involvement are as following...........
____________________________________________________________
The Danville Grangers were instrumental in the San Ramon Railroad Branch Line being built and run so that Agriculture and people could travel up and down the San Ramon Valley without anty types of interruptions due to weather, flooding or any other natural occurances. The Danville Grangers were well known for their support and aiding local San Ramon Valley farmers, thus this railroad line dramatically aided the local Central Contra Costa farmers.
____________________________________________________________
In 1891, after years of planning and dreaming,Centra Contra Costa farmers welcomed the San Ramon Branch Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Branch line enabled agricultural products and passengers to move in and out of the valley in all kinds of weather(Flooding and other blockades of transportation was common during that time).
___________________________________________________________
Southern Pacific built handsome two-story combination depots in Concord, Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon and all the way out to Livermore, that became the center of life for railroad activities. The rails carried new people and mail into town and in the early years of
Danville's Railroad Depot, it employed a freight agent, telegraph operator and also a Wells Fargo
agent.
___________________________________________________________
This would be an example of each card below an exhibit and it would be brief so one could read it in as few minutes and then move on, alot being more visual viewers in museums than actually
literal lookers in museums.
The Bret Harte part of the exhibit would be also mostly visual with personal items from when he was in Danville, also copies of his books and pictures of him throughout his life including when he was in Danville. The exhibit would also includes the layout of the ranch he was on taking care and educating the children of a local rancher, with many pieces and material from that time. There would be ofcourse brief information cards also with an bio of Bret Havre, the area he lived in when he was in Danville and his contributions to this area's history in his romantic but realistic writings about the area.
The last part of the exhibit would be the Copperheads exhibit which would include various odd pictures, flyers and literature of the Copperhead of those times. The exhibit would also have to show how these radicals had influence on the Democratic political structure of California as a whole and especially in the S.F Bay Area and also this includes socially. It would finally have brief but detailed information on the Danvile Copperheads themesleves in both pictures and bios of David Inman, Andrew Inman, John Syndor, Jesse Bowles, Charles Woods, Aj Young and then the most famous Danville Copperhead of them all, Lansford Hasting.
I think to top this exhibit, the best ideas to show a visual display of history, would be walks around historical Danville. This would include with walks to the Danville Hotel, old 1890 Front Building, Granger Hall, Veteran's Hall, Old Danville Playhouse along others and there are within a few blocks, some 15 buildings with historical markers on them which information would be given and then questions would be answered. This tour by the way is currently happening during the week but would be attached to my exhibit. I think people who visited the exhibit would be able to get a real good idea how people lived during that time if they saw the buildings themselves, with alot of them still almost the same as when they were back then.
Blog #7
So What!!??
So what does the Radicals in Danville mean to history in the S.F Bay Area?
The radicals were instrumental in getting the railroad==== down the San Ramon Valley and this thus get produce and crops to market all over the world which also included the now Livermore Valley wine/grape crops. This agriculture area which may of not been as important as maybe the Central Valley but it did play a part in the overall agricultural and economic growth of the S.F. Bay Area and that of Contra Costa County. The Danville depot was the center Depot of a train line that went pretty much down the center part of the valley which it included Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasonton and Livermore. The San Ramon Branch Line Southern Pacific Railroad also carried not only agriculture products but mail, other goods and people up and down the valley. The Danville Granges were that impotant to the valley and to the S.F. Bay Area, in that their ideas and motivation to have a railroad go down the San Ramon Valley brought historical change, in the way of social, political and economic to the San Ramon Valley and beyond.
The other types of Radicals included the Copperheads, as we learned were the Southern sympathizers living within California, which Danville was a hotspot within the whole S.F. Bay Area....SO WHAT? The Copperheads in Danville along with scattered Copperheads in the S.F. Bay Area, brought a democratic base to California not seen before and even today, this same democratic base is seen in the senate in DIANE FEINSTEIN, BARBARA BOXER and also THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, NANCY PELOSI. This is not only history but also Political history and social history of the South being imbedded into the lifestyle of California. The idealogy of Liberalism was also embedded in not only local politics, state but also in the city politics and this is best seen in the extreme Liberalism of San Francisco and Berkeley even today, as the best examples. This type of influence by these liberal and Southern sympathizers have had, shows a big hand in many of the social, political and decisions made due to both their liberal ideology and their democratic party values. These Copperhead Radicals finally, were radical in name but only in their views, social influences and politics but most of them were the plain,the shakers and the movers of the S.F Bay Area during that time.
So what does the Radicals in Danville mean to history in the S.F Bay Area?
The radicals were instrumental in getting the railroad==== down the San Ramon Valley and this thus get produce and crops to market all over the world which also included the now Livermore Valley wine/grape crops. This agriculture area which may of not been as important as maybe the Central Valley but it did play a part in the overall agricultural and economic growth of the S.F. Bay Area and that of Contra Costa County. The Danville depot was the center Depot of a train line that went pretty much down the center part of the valley which it included Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasonton and Livermore. The San Ramon Branch Line Southern Pacific Railroad also carried not only agriculture products but mail, other goods and people up and down the valley. The Danville Granges were that impotant to the valley and to the S.F. Bay Area, in that their ideas and motivation to have a railroad go down the San Ramon Valley brought historical change, in the way of social, political and economic to the San Ramon Valley and beyond.
The other types of Radicals included the Copperheads, as we learned were the Southern sympathizers living within California, which Danville was a hotspot within the whole S.F. Bay Area....SO WHAT? The Copperheads in Danville along with scattered Copperheads in the S.F. Bay Area, brought a democratic base to California not seen before and even today, this same democratic base is seen in the senate in DIANE FEINSTEIN, BARBARA BOXER and also THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, NANCY PELOSI. This is not only history but also Political history and social history of the South being imbedded into the lifestyle of California. The idealogy of Liberalism was also embedded in not only local politics, state but also in the city politics and this is best seen in the extreme Liberalism of San Francisco and Berkeley even today, as the best examples. This type of influence by these liberal and Southern sympathizers have had, shows a big hand in many of the social, political and decisions made due to both their liberal ideology and their democratic party values. These Copperhead Radicals finally, were radical in name but only in their views, social influences and politics but most of them were the plain,the shakers and the movers of the S.F Bay Area during that time.
The last group of Radicals were the writers and their views were Radical in their view of the West and how they saw the West as being romantic, or how it it was so fierce and dangerous to all the travelers who came or wanted to come out to the West. So what?, they wrote about the West and so did many others but it was these writers who wrote about the S.F. Bay Area and it was through their writings that people came to the S.F Bay Area and it was settled. If these writers had not written such romantic and tales of the area around Danville, many of the settlers would not of come, the Grangers and Copperheads would not of made their contributions to Danville, the San Francisco Bay Area, California and the world! Each of these Radicals added to each others radicals, in contributions to the area, California and United States history, if not World history.
So what remains of this Radical story, maybe more and even more Radical research to uncover other aspects of Radicalism in Danville or Contra Costa County, say Lafayette where Radicals were located or other parts of the county. There were several forms of Radicalism found in Danville and Contra Costa County but I am sure through research that many others could be found and discovered, who would think there was Radicalism in Danville in the first place?
Monday, May 10, 2010
ASSIGNMENT #6 Radicals Part 3-The CopperHeads
The only poisonous snakes found both in the S.F Bay Area and Contra Costa County are the rattlesnakes found there but the Anti-war democrats and Southern sympathizers labeled by the Republican press were called Copperheads.The overall picture in California, including Contra Costa County, was the 1860 presidential campaign had split the dominant Democratic Party into two factions, the Southern Democrats who wanted succession and supported Breckenridge and those who had supported Douglas and the Union. The Democrats up to that point had been dominating in the politics of California since before 1850. The Southern Democrats in 1861 had hoped to continue that success and capture the governership and the California legislature, but failed on both accounts. Leland Stanford(Stanford University and one of the "Big Four" of the Continental Railroad) was the first Republican elected Governer of California in 1861. The Southern Democrats had failed to get the governership and legislature, thus failed in trying to have California succeed from the Union.
Copperheads were common throughout the Bay Area but were out numbered by the Union loyalists during the Civil War. Copperheads were those living in the North or Union States who planned or did anything they could to aid the Confederacy. A story that I read and the actual spot in Oakland I went to, showed where a small cannon sat during the Civil War on 12th and Fallon Street and after each Union victory had reach the West Coast, the cannon was fired to the annoyance of the Copperheads living within ear shot of the cannon. The little cannon had just disappeared after one Union victory, which an Copperhead named Jack Cohane was the one responsible for it's disappearance. The story goes that Union Loyalists, went out and captured Jack Cohane and some Copperheads, marching them to the end of Broadway St and threw them into the Bay. They would not let them out of the Bay until they told them where the cannon was. Jack Cohane and his Confederate sympathizers did not want to drown so they told them that they had dumped the cannon in the bay, off where Jack London square is now. The cannon was retrieved and several of the Copperheads were sent to Alcatraz, which was then used then as a military prison during the Civil War.
Copperheads or Confederate Sympathizers had often went by the names of " Knights of the Golden Circle or "Knights of the Columbian Star", and they were real underground Confederate groups and were active in planning and executing plans to weaken the Union Army in the Bay Area. The Union loyalists had their own group called the Union League",which really counter- acted those Confederate groups and and actually formed Militia's to just do that. One of the S.F Bay Area Confederate groups, "The Knights of the Golden Circle had planned out an all out like attack on Navy boats in the bay, but the plan had failed because the navy and Union League, under Harry Morse became aware of this attack and then stopped them. The end result was that several more Copperheads ended up at Alcatraz for the remaining of the war and a little longer actually.There were other plotsttoo, like their was plans to seize the San Francisco Mint, The Presidio,The Customs House and the Arsenal in Benecia. To note, several of the Contra Costa County Copperheads were part of these planned and failed raids and ended up at the Alcatraz military prison, including two Danville Copperheads.
The most famous of all the Contra Costa County Coppeheads was Lansford Hastings, who was the one who had discovered Quicksilver Ore on Mount Diablo/Danville in 1859. He was also the same Hastings for which the Donner party made the fatal mistake in taking the now famous "Hasting's Cutoff", freezing to death and eating each other in a cannibalism way to survive the harshest Sierra winter in decades. Mr Lansford Hastings was authorized by the Confederate government in Virginia, as a major in the Confederate Army, with the task of raising an army, then going and seizing Arizonia for the Confederacy.The Confederate government soon got wary of Hastings and his lack of being able to raise an army and concerns over his leadership qualities and soon dropped the idea of taking Arizonia for the Confederacy.
Danville meanwhile, was the hotbed of Confederate Copperheads activity in Contra Costa County with such Copperheads in Danville,as founders Daniel and Andrew Inman, John Syndor, Jesse Bowles,Charles woods, A.J. Young and many others. Danville and San Ramon Valley was not only a Copperhead nest but also was the center of Southern Democratic politics in Contra Costa County and other types of Confederates Sympathizer activities. They worked with other groups of Confederacy Sympathizers and Copperhead in Contra Costa County and the S.F. Bay Area to disrupt, destroy or simply irrate Union forces, shipping or whatever would hurt the Union as a whole.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Assignment #5:The Radicals Part 2: BRET HARTE..Radical Writings and The West's Most Famous Writer
various pictures of Bret Harte at different ages/graveyard/grave headstone and Bret Harte School
Bret Harte was one of the West's most famous writers and he appeared in many articles in national magazines like the Atlantic Monthly and several New York magazines to name a few. Bret Harte in March1854, when he was young at an age of 18, came to California to stay with his parents and was already a writer and it showed with his grisly tales for his articles and also poetry, that was read by many in the East as tales of adventure and harshness in the wilds of the West.It was in September of 1856, that he became a tutor for Abner Bryant's four sons, Tom, Wise, George and Jonathan which gave the experience of living in the wilds under the big mountian called Mt Diablo. It was thought that the experience with the Bryant boys in the wilds of Tassajara helped to give those writings their wild edge and veracity.The Bryants had a ranch near Alamo Creek in the Tassajara Valley( now Blackhawk area) and their stock included 83 Spanish mares and horses, 238 head of cattle, 652 Spanish sheep, two wagons and one buggy.
Bret Harte in a letter to his sister explained the wildness of the area he was living in these words and alot more on October 8, 1856,"had four young sons, and not caring to have them grow up like range-cattle, he decided to have a tutor....There is nothing of the rural character of a farm, saving the corral at the bottom of the field and the haystack at the top, and the whole place is as wild as the god of nature made it". "Bryant was not really a farmer or rancher but a"Drover" and lived in a mere shanty that might be as well a hunters cabin in the wilderness".
Harte in his letters back home noted that Bryant was a very religious man and that autumn, the young writer joined the Bryants at an evangelical camp meeting in the valley. It was after this meeting that the young Harte later wrote his famous piece called "An Apostle of the Tules" which described the festive and revival atmosphere of the meeting and he begins the piece with Oct 10, 1856. Other works that drew and showed his wild life in Danville include the famous "A Legend of Monte Diablo" from the Atlantic Monthly article of October 1863, "Cressy, The Convalescence of Jack Hamlin", and "A First Family of Tassajara....The Queen of the Pirate Isle".
Bret Harte in a letter to his sister explained the wildness of the area he was living in these words and alot more on October 8, 1856,"had four young sons, and not caring to have them grow up like range-cattle, he decided to have a tutor....There is nothing of the rural character of a farm, saving the corral at the bottom of the field and the haystack at the top, and the whole place is as wild as the god of nature made it". "Bryant was not really a farmer or rancher but a"Drover" and lived in a mere shanty that might be as well a hunters cabin in the wilderness".
Harte in his letters back home noted that Bryant was a very religious man and that autumn, the young writer joined the Bryants at an evangelical camp meeting in the valley. It was after this meeting that the young Harte later wrote his famous piece called "An Apostle of the Tules" which described the festive and revival atmosphere of the meeting and he begins the piece with Oct 10, 1856. Other works that drew and showed his wild life in Danville include the famous "A Legend of Monte Diablo" from the Atlantic Monthly article of October 1863, "Cressy, The Convalescence of Jack Hamlin", and "A First Family of Tassajara....The Queen of the Pirate Isle".
He also wrote classic California Gold rush pieces like "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and "The Luck of Roaring Camp" along with the now famous poem "Plain Language from Truthful James" along many others.
Bret Harte also worked with such writers as Samuel Clemens(aka mark Twain), Charles Warren Stoddard and Prentice Mulford while writing for San Franscico's "The Californian" newspaper.
Mark Twain had said and also criticize Harte's pieces as complete nonsense when asked about Bret Harte's writing and said they were not worth the effort.
Harte historical significance are seen in that he romanticized the California gold rush period but he also showed the readers in the East, the romantic side of the West but also at the same time also showed the harshness and isolation of the West also. He was a little more critical of the West than say Clemens, as he showed a lot more of the harshness and brutal side of him living in the California wilderness, as he put it. This put him at odds with many of the West's greatest writers and made him a radical in that sense of writers. Young Bret Harte stay in Danville was brief to a few years but he got the glimpse of the West and how brutal but beautiful it was, giving a leg up on his writing and how he would pursue his writing in romanticizing and showing the harshness of the West, the way he did.
ASSIGNMENT #4-The Radicals Part 1: The Radicals and The Grangers
station house/SRV railroad turn table/grangers poster and book on grangers
I was in the San Ramon Museum looking around and a women came up to me and asked if i needed any type of assistance and i told her i was a CSU student and was majoring in History. She asked me what CSU meant and i told her California State University, as I was just a little shocked that she did not know what CSU meant. I told her that i was looking for information on Daniel Inman, his brother Andrew and the settlers of Danville and the significance of Danville founders to the Bay Area and California. What she gave me in information was father beyond the S.F Bay Area and also even beyond California in being significant, this organization was formed because of events far away from the dusty trails and roads of Danville.
The organization was called the Grangers and today it is found in many areas of California and was founded after the Civil War, which was disrupted to many farmers during that time. The Danville Grange Hall is still located on Diablo Road and has been standing there for over 130 years(IN THREE LOCATIONS). The Civil War which was thousands of miles away, caused many disruptions in farming within California and the San Ramon, it was because of that the Grangers were formed. The Danville Grange was founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1867, as a way to improve farmers lives throughout the country and hoping that this new type of farmers fraternity, the Patrons of Husbandry, would help famers and help mend the wounds of the Civil War for many farmers.
The Danville Grange No. 85 was formed on October 1, 1873, with 30 charter members (20 men and 10 women) . It had become the third Granger outfit in Contra Costa and also the 85th Granger in the state of California. The members elected Charles Wood, you remember him as the friend of both Daniel and Andrew Inman, to be the first worthy master. The Grange Hall place in San Ramon Valley history is long as it was the meeting place every Saturday for their meetings and pot luck, first at the Danville Grammer School on Front Street, then later in 1874, a new Grange Hall was built just west of Front Street for some $1,383.70 which included the land and building.(3 total loations and buildings used s the Granger Hall).
The Building of the Danville Grange Hall went up quickly and a local newspaper had actually said in this direct quotes, (The Pacific Rural Press on July 11th,1874 edition) "The frame of the new hall for the Danville Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, 30 by 60 feet uopn the ground, is already up".
The Grange Halls were being constructed all over the country and not only were they there to really aid farmers but really served as community centers and became the hubs of community life. The Grange Hall for 40 years became the largest meeting room in the valley as it held meetings, political and other type of speeches, plays, parties, church services and dances. This was not only refined to Danville but all over the country, that this was going on. Grangers in Danville and the county, it was not just a local importance but also state wide. The Grangers made great efforts to improve themselves and their economic conditions within the county and state, as Grangers really changed and reflected the views of the agriculture community within the county and state. It was these views like on transportation such as lowering railroad rates, scientific farming techniques, rural economic development, public education, health and safety. Selling California and San Ramon Valley agriculture and wheat to other parts of the U.S and the world, was a prime focus of the Grangers and they hired their own wheat and agriculture agents in an efffort to get larger returns for the farmers. The wheat was a dry, flavorful grain which sold well at the Livermore Corn exchange at $68.00 a ton in 1870's but the farmers only got $28.00 a ton.
One of the biggest historical contributions to only the county but to the state was that they had formed a bank, a business famers assocaition and facilities for shipping wheat, grains and other types of agriculture to other parts of the U.S and the world. This was not just a county bank but the state Grangers Bank of California, a state wide bank that dealt with shipping various types of the California agriculture to other locations outside of California. The Grangers met on April 1874, with Woods and several other local Grangers, along wth 130 other subordinate state Grangers, to found the Grangers Bank of California. Local Danville Grangers John J. Kerr, Erastus Ford and James Stone(Stoneridge fame) also along with Woods, helped plan a warehouse and business association throughout California. The historically signifance of all of this was that the Grangers set the tone and price for wheat, grain and other types of agriculture to be cheapily shipped out of California. They even built the Grangers Wharf in Martinez and a railroad that went to the wharf and this let them have a deep water location to send the agricultural goods directly to the ships.
The Grangers significance was not only felt in their farmers associations and their banks, but also politically. Farmers were angry about the the railroad monopolies in California who charged high prices for shipping wheat and other agricultural products. The Grangers acted on this anger and lobbied the California legislature to stop this overcharging for shipping wheat and agriculture products by the California railroads. This became known as the "Grangers Laws" which helped reduce the power of the railroads in California. Grangers elected to the 1878-1879 California Constitutional Convention made up one fourth of all the legislators there,which included Danville founder Daniel Inman and later Charles Wood and A.J Young, all Grangers and friends of each other in Danville.
The Grangers were also important politically and in the sense of history in that they were free speakers, free-thinkers and had ground breaking ideas in social and also politically wise for their time. Charles Wood, Daniel Inman, A.J Young and many others from Danville inacted ideas of anti-smoking and drinking efforts, graduated tax systems and their non-partisan ideas had weakened the party system and led to support for a new political parties like the Progressive Party. These free-thinking ideas spread throughout California legislatures and then even into the United States as a whole, so the historical and political significance was wide and long lasting.
The 20th century did not stop the flow of historical landmarks that the Grangers and the local residents of San Ramon Valley and Danville made to the county and California, the Grangers being of free-thinking and spirited as the Grangers who were before them. They were also responsible for the rural free delivery by the post office(was adopted statewide) , also they founded the Valley Improvement Assocaition which brought telephone service and a new electric railway in 1905, initiated a new public high school district in 1909 for all high school age children(use to be one building for all children first grade through high school statewide) , organized the Good Roads League in the County(Contra Costa) with the overall goals of paving roads for the new invented automobiles and building a highway from Martinez(County Seat) to Stockton by way of the San Ramon Valley, and finally initiated a lobbying effort to make Mt Diablo, a State Park and this even before there was a State park System. Their efforts started the California State System, in which Mt Diablo was added to that Park System soon after it was made official.
The trip to the San Ramon Valley Museum was interesting in finding out alot about the Grangers and that many of Danville's founders and early settlers were quite radical thinkers in a social and political sense. They set the tone and in motion many things that we have today and they made history in doing so, in their actions and new type of thinking for their time. I personally found interesting that a bunch of farmers lobbied for Mt Diablo to become a State Park and this from farmers of all people. But they lobbied and got their wishes and we have Mt Diablo State park today, thanks to people like Daniel Inman, Charles Wood, A.J. Young, James Stone and others. The Grangers were important for alot of reasons historical both in County, State and also for the United States which i have explained. I do hope that you go visit the old original Grangers Hall in Danville, now the Village Theatre on Front street( on the second floor) or the newer one that opened in 1952 on Diablo St. It reminds us all of the times of old, of old radical ideas and free thinking by the Grangers, that brought out changes and history being made.
A Granger song I wanted ya'll to see and maybe sing (yeah right?)
Brothers of the plow
The power is with you
The word is expectation waits
For action prompt and true
Oppression stalks abroad
Monopolies abound (railroads!!)
Their giant hands already clutch
The tillers of the ground
The organization was called the Grangers and today it is found in many areas of California and was founded after the Civil War, which was disrupted to many farmers during that time. The Danville Grange Hall is still located on Diablo Road and has been standing there for over 130 years(IN THREE LOCATIONS). The Civil War which was thousands of miles away, caused many disruptions in farming within California and the San Ramon, it was because of that the Grangers were formed. The Danville Grange was founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1867, as a way to improve farmers lives throughout the country and hoping that this new type of farmers fraternity, the Patrons of Husbandry, would help famers and help mend the wounds of the Civil War for many farmers.
The Danville Grange No. 85 was formed on October 1, 1873, with 30 charter members (20 men and 10 women) . It had become the third Granger outfit in Contra Costa and also the 85th Granger in the state of California. The members elected Charles Wood, you remember him as the friend of both Daniel and Andrew Inman, to be the first worthy master. The Grange Hall place in San Ramon Valley history is long as it was the meeting place every Saturday for their meetings and pot luck, first at the Danville Grammer School on Front Street, then later in 1874, a new Grange Hall was built just west of Front Street for some $1,383.70 which included the land and building.(3 total loations and buildings used s the Granger Hall).
The Building of the Danville Grange Hall went up quickly and a local newspaper had actually said in this direct quotes, (The Pacific Rural Press on July 11th,1874 edition) "The frame of the new hall for the Danville Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, 30 by 60 feet uopn the ground, is already up".
The Grange Halls were being constructed all over the country and not only were they there to really aid farmers but really served as community centers and became the hubs of community life. The Grange Hall for 40 years became the largest meeting room in the valley as it held meetings, political and other type of speeches, plays, parties, church services and dances. This was not only refined to Danville but all over the country, that this was going on. Grangers in Danville and the county, it was not just a local importance but also state wide. The Grangers made great efforts to improve themselves and their economic conditions within the county and state, as Grangers really changed and reflected the views of the agriculture community within the county and state. It was these views like on transportation such as lowering railroad rates, scientific farming techniques, rural economic development, public education, health and safety. Selling California and San Ramon Valley agriculture and wheat to other parts of the U.S and the world, was a prime focus of the Grangers and they hired their own wheat and agriculture agents in an efffort to get larger returns for the farmers. The wheat was a dry, flavorful grain which sold well at the Livermore Corn exchange at $68.00 a ton in 1870's but the farmers only got $28.00 a ton.
One of the biggest historical contributions to only the county but to the state was that they had formed a bank, a business famers assocaition and facilities for shipping wheat, grains and other types of agriculture to other parts of the U.S and the world. This was not just a county bank but the state Grangers Bank of California, a state wide bank that dealt with shipping various types of the California agriculture to other locations outside of California. The Grangers met on April 1874, with Woods and several other local Grangers, along wth 130 other subordinate state Grangers, to found the Grangers Bank of California. Local Danville Grangers John J. Kerr, Erastus Ford and James Stone(Stoneridge fame) also along with Woods, helped plan a warehouse and business association throughout California. The historically signifance of all of this was that the Grangers set the tone and price for wheat, grain and other types of agriculture to be cheapily shipped out of California. They even built the Grangers Wharf in Martinez and a railroad that went to the wharf and this let them have a deep water location to send the agricultural goods directly to the ships.
The Grangers significance was not only felt in their farmers associations and their banks, but also politically. Farmers were angry about the the railroad monopolies in California who charged high prices for shipping wheat and other agricultural products. The Grangers acted on this anger and lobbied the California legislature to stop this overcharging for shipping wheat and agriculture products by the California railroads. This became known as the "Grangers Laws" which helped reduce the power of the railroads in California. Grangers elected to the 1878-1879 California Constitutional Convention made up one fourth of all the legislators there,which included Danville founder Daniel Inman and later Charles Wood and A.J Young, all Grangers and friends of each other in Danville.
The Grangers were also important politically and in the sense of history in that they were free speakers, free-thinkers and had ground breaking ideas in social and also politically wise for their time. Charles Wood, Daniel Inman, A.J Young and many others from Danville inacted ideas of anti-smoking and drinking efforts, graduated tax systems and their non-partisan ideas had weakened the party system and led to support for a new political parties like the Progressive Party. These free-thinking ideas spread throughout California legislatures and then even into the United States as a whole, so the historical and political significance was wide and long lasting.
The 20th century did not stop the flow of historical landmarks that the Grangers and the local residents of San Ramon Valley and Danville made to the county and California, the Grangers being of free-thinking and spirited as the Grangers who were before them. They were also responsible for the rural free delivery by the post office(was adopted statewide) , also they founded the Valley Improvement Assocaition which brought telephone service and a new electric railway in 1905, initiated a new public high school district in 1909 for all high school age children(use to be one building for all children first grade through high school statewide) , organized the Good Roads League in the County(Contra Costa) with the overall goals of paving roads for the new invented automobiles and building a highway from Martinez(County Seat) to Stockton by way of the San Ramon Valley, and finally initiated a lobbying effort to make Mt Diablo, a State Park and this even before there was a State park System. Their efforts started the California State System, in which Mt Diablo was added to that Park System soon after it was made official.
The trip to the San Ramon Valley Museum was interesting in finding out alot about the Grangers and that many of Danville's founders and early settlers were quite radical thinkers in a social and political sense. They set the tone and in motion many things that we have today and they made history in doing so, in their actions and new type of thinking for their time. I personally found interesting that a bunch of farmers lobbied for Mt Diablo to become a State Park and this from farmers of all people. But they lobbied and got their wishes and we have Mt Diablo State park today, thanks to people like Daniel Inman, Charles Wood, A.J. Young, James Stone and others. The Grangers were important for alot of reasons historical both in County, State and also for the United States which i have explained. I do hope that you go visit the old original Grangers Hall in Danville, now the Village Theatre on Front street( on the second floor) or the newer one that opened in 1952 on Diablo St. It reminds us all of the times of old, of old radical ideas and free thinking by the Grangers, that brought out changes and history being made.
A Granger song I wanted ya'll to see and maybe sing (yeah right?)
Brothers of the plow
The power is with you
The word is expectation waits
For action prompt and true
Oppression stalks abroad
Monopolies abound (railroads!!)
Their giant hands already clutch
The tillers of the ground
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
ASSIGNMENT # 3 PART C
Inman children's school// Daniel Inman/// Daniel Inman ranch
Green Valley School
Green Valley School
Secondary Sources!!
There are many lores and tales about Danville and the most interesting is the funny lore how Danville was named. It was touched on about how Danville got it's name but this will rip apart any ideas or secondary sources used, though the lore of how Danville was named is still being argued about to this day. The Inman brothers were some fo the first people to settle in Danville and it was thought that they had come to a name, after one of the Inman brothers, Daniel.They had both decided, so it is told that they named the settlement after Daniel and Danville is very close to Daniel. Some Danville historians have stated that they named if after Daniel or Dan for short and called it Dan's village or Danville. It must be noted that many settlements or soon to be towns were named after one of the founding members and the use of Ville or Burg was put at the end, as in Boonesburg or the endless others.
The other half of how historians who think of how Danville was named, comes from the idea that Danville was named after one of the Inman brothers' mother-in-law home town of Danville, Kentucky. The mother-in-law in question was Andrew Inman's wife mother and out of respect of her, they had named the settlement Danville. It was said that grandma Sara Young and the mother-in-law as mentioned, they were there when settlement folk told the Inmans that a name was needed for the settlement. Daniel did not get along all too well with Andrew's Mother-in-law but the name came not after just the idea of naming the town after the mother-in-law hometown but also that of grandma Sara Young, who also came from Danville, Kentucky.
The naming lore of the naming of Danville is that, it was named after the mother-in-law but when really it was named mostly out of respect for Grandma Sara Young and that it sounded alot like Dan Inman. Inmanville was the first name put up for the settlement, but it was soon rejected by both the Inman brothers and grandma Sara Young. You can really see how Danville was really partly named from Daniel Inman first name and out of respect for Grandma Sara Young, who had real fond memories of Danville, Kentucky, growing up there.
There are many lores and tales about Danville and the most interesting is the funny lore how Danville was named. It was touched on about how Danville got it's name but this will rip apart any ideas or secondary sources used, though the lore of how Danville was named is still being argued about to this day. The Inman brothers were some fo the first people to settle in Danville and it was thought that they had come to a name, after one of the Inman brothers, Daniel.They had both decided, so it is told that they named the settlement after Daniel and Danville is very close to Daniel. Some Danville historians have stated that they named if after Daniel or Dan for short and called it Dan's village or Danville. It must be noted that many settlements or soon to be towns were named after one of the founding members and the use of Ville or Burg was put at the end, as in Boonesburg or the endless others.
The other half of how historians who think of how Danville was named, comes from the idea that Danville was named after one of the Inman brothers' mother-in-law home town of Danville, Kentucky. The mother-in-law in question was Andrew Inman's wife mother and out of respect of her, they had named the settlement Danville. It was said that grandma Sara Young and the mother-in-law as mentioned, they were there when settlement folk told the Inmans that a name was needed for the settlement. Daniel did not get along all too well with Andrew's Mother-in-law but the name came not after just the idea of naming the town after the mother-in-law hometown but also that of grandma Sara Young, who also came from Danville, Kentucky.
The naming lore of the naming of Danville is that, it was named after the mother-in-law but when really it was named mostly out of respect for Grandma Sara Young and that it sounded alot like Dan Inman. Inmanville was the first name put up for the settlement, but it was soon rejected by both the Inman brothers and grandma Sara Young. You can really see how Danville was really partly named from Daniel Inman first name and out of respect for Grandma Sara Young, who had real fond memories of Danville, Kentucky, growing up there.
The question of the mother-in-law, well maybe Andrew made a point of naming it Danville, as they say out of respect for the mother-in law, being married to the daughter of her. It is also very doubtful that both Daniel or Grandma Sara Young felt the same way as Andrew and through research, you can sense a tension between some of the Inman/Young clan and the mother-in laws family. The question of use of secondary sources in guessing why Danville was named that name, well you get the idea that maybe there were several reasons but the lore and also the guessing continues in why Danville was named that and who it was named after!
______________________________________________________
Danville is important in the whole basis of the Bay Area because it is home of Blackhawk which are where many of the movie pictures actors, various athletes and movers and shakers of the business world live. The naming of Danville is important in the identity of what would be a very important town in the East Bay, not only in the well known people who live there such as Eugene Oneil but Danville also houses the Blackhawk Museum, a world known automobile Musueum. The list goes on with the importance of Danville, to not only the Bay Area but to California and the United States, like being the middle line of the Southern Pacific line through the San Ramon Valley as one example, thus linking the valley and Livermore vineyards to the world. Danville is not a name that Daniel and Andrew Inman named a little settlement in the San Ramon Valley, no it was more than that, in that it had significant contributions then and also later for the S.F bay Area, California and the United States. This blog simple shows the strange and curious naming of Danville, how it got it's name and how a little settlement started and then
later became significant in the annuals of history.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
