136 



CALIFORNIA. 



commendable degree of success in their reforma- 

 tion. There was also an industrial school of 

 the reformatory class at San Francisco, which 

 receives aid from the State. The management 

 of the State Prison, which for some years was 

 discreditable to the State, had greatly improved. 

 The prisoners no longer manifested the spirit 

 of insubordination, which, in several instances 

 previously, had developed itself in a mutiny, 

 put down only at a fearful cost of life; but 

 under the provision for diminishing their term 

 of imprisonment as a reward for uniform good 

 conduct and faithful labor, the greater portion 

 were exerting themselves to earn this reduction 

 of their term of service. 



Politically, California is now Republican 

 by a large majority. Its State officers, one 

 of its Senators, and its Representatives in 

 Congress are Republicans, and the other Sena- 

 tor elect, who takes the place of Mr. McDougal, 

 in March, 1867, is also a Republican. Its Legis- 

 lature elected in September, 1865, stands : Sen- 

 ate, thirty-three Republican members and seven 

 Democrats; House, fifty-five Republican mem- 

 bers and twenty-five Democrats. The amend- 

 ment to the Constitution abolishing slavery 

 was ratified by California on the 18th of De- 

 cember, 1865. 



When the intelligence of the assassination of 

 President Lincoln reached San Francisco, the 

 belief that it had been induced by the influence 

 and teaching of disloyal newspapers was very 

 general, and the determination was at once 

 formed by citizens of San Francisco to put 

 them down by force. Their proceedings are 

 thus reported : " About three p. M. of the day 

 of the President's death, a party of one hun- 

 dred and fifty well-dressed men started for 

 the office of the ' Democratic Press ' and formed 

 a semicircle around it. The leaders then went 

 up stairs and threw the type, stands, and all 

 the material of the office into the street, 

 where what was not already destroyed was 

 broken up, amid the cheers of an immense 

 throng. The police of the city, about fifty in 

 number, drilled as an infantry corps, arrived 

 upon the spot with loaded muskets and fixed 

 bayonets, when the party retired, having com- 

 pleted their work. The office at the time of 

 being destroyed was draped in mourning, and 

 the American flag was suspended in front at 

 half-mast. The next office visited was that of 

 the 'News Letter,' published by Mr. Marriott, 

 an Englishman, which was also destroyed, the 

 police arriving too late to prevent it. The 

 office of the 'Catholic Monitor,' a disunion 

 paper, was partially sacked before the arrival 

 of the police. A demonstration was made 

 upon the office of the 'Echo du Pacifique,' 

 which was only saved by great efforts, and the 

 representations that its destruction would in- 

 volve that of the 'Alta,' a loyal paper in the 

 same building. The ' Echo ' was a French paper 

 and had been very abusive toward our Govern- 

 ment. The office of the ' Occidental,' of sim- 

 ilar political sympathies, was also completely 



CATRON, JOHN. 



destroyed. At the office of the 'Echo du Pa- 

 cifique ' Gen. McDowell made a speech, in which 

 he intimated that he should have suppressed 

 these papers, and that the ' Echo ' should not 

 be issued again. The offices of the 'Franco 

 Americain ' and the ' Voz de Mejico ' were 

 also partly destroyed, the latter by mistake. 

 The inflammable population were so furious 

 that there seemed no bounds to their rage, and 

 several regiments of infantry and cavalry and 

 the batteries were ordered out. The troops 

 patrolled the streets all night. Those who led 

 the rioters are named in the papers, but no 

 arrests have been made." 



CANNON", WILLIAM, Governor of Delaware, 

 born in Bridgeville, Del., 1809, died at Phila- 

 delphia, March 1, 1865. He adopted religious 

 views in 1825, and upon connecting himself 

 with the Methodist Church, became a class- 

 leader and exhorter before he had reached his 

 twentieth year, and continued to hold these 

 offices until his death. It was not until the 

 breaking out of the war that Governor Cannon 

 rose to a commanding position before the coun- 

 try. He had, however, been for many years 

 a faithful public servant. In the year 1845 he 

 was elected to the State legislature, and was 

 reflected in 1849. Subsequently he was treas- 

 urer of the State. In 1861 he was a member 

 of the Peace Congress, and "went there the 

 firm friend of the Crittenden compromise, and 

 of an unbroken Union." In 1864 he was elected 

 governor of the State, which position he held 

 until his death. As chief executive officer of a 

 border commonwealth, he will take rank with 

 the late Governor Hicks. With the Legislature 

 of the State arrayed against him, it seemed at 

 times to depend on the Governor alone to pre- 

 vent the outbreak of civil war within her bor- 

 ders. To his firmness it is in great measure 

 owing, that Delaware passed through this fiery 

 trial unscathed. .When, on one occasion, the 

 legislature forbade compliance with a law of 

 Congress, the Governor promptly announced 

 by proclamation, that he would pardon every 

 United States officer convicted by a State court 

 for the performance of his duty to the Union. 

 The Governor's illness and death was the re- 

 sult of over-exertion in assisting to put out a 

 fire in Bridgeville. 



CATRON, Hon. JOHN, one of the Associate 

 Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 

 States, born in Wythe County, Va., 1778, died 

 at Nashville, Tennessee, May 30, 1865. He 

 was educated in the common schools of Vir- 

 ginia, and early developed a decided fondness 

 for history, devouring with eagerness Fielding, 

 Smollett, Sterne, Goldsmith, Hume, and Gib- 

 bon. In 1812 he took up his residence in Ten- 

 nessee, and entered upon the study of the law, 

 devoting sixteen hours of the day for nearly 

 four years to study. After serving his country 

 in the New Orleans campaign under General 

 Jackson, he became so popular in Tennessee 

 that the Legislature elected him State Attorney. 

 In 1818 he removed to Nashville, where he soon 



