Hyde refers to a private letter to intrigues secretly carried on & culminating in a petition to Gov. Mason by several to remove him from the office of Alcalde — Mason's alleged grounds untrue, proceedings of an unsavory nature. Robt. A. Parker, member of the town council, called on to sign the petition, refused, telling the conspirators their alleged charges were false; a plan on hand to concentrate suffrage on Dr. Townsend, agt Capt. Folsom's, to succeed Hyde when he shall resign. Encloses the petitions: [Mar 10] 'Petition to Govr Mason to remove Alcalde Geo. Hyde & 2º Alcalde T.M. Leavenworth — charges agt them,' signed by large numbers of prominent citizens: Victor J. Fourgeaud, E.P. Jones, James C. Ward, S. Brannan, W.D.M. [Howard], Wm. H. Davis, Edwd H. Harrison, W.A. Leidesdorff, C.L. Ross, C.V. Whittock[?], Henry Mellus & many others. Complaint: Hyde (1º Alcalde) & Leavenworth (2º Alcalde) dishonor their high & responsible offices; the town 'has fallen into a disgraceful state of confusion & become the frequent theater of the most revolting scenes — riots, bloody street fights'; law & authority openly defied; the chief magistrate publicly insulting; the Alcalde is the associate of the gambler class & passes his nights in their company; petition to appoint Dr. John Townsend (first) & John C. Buchanan (2º Alcalde). A separate same-date petition recommends Townsend for first Alcalde. Same date W.A. Leidesdorff in a private letter to Gov. Mason: since the Gov. was last in SF, testimony has accumulated agt 1º Alcalde Geo. Hyde changing his opinion, prompting immediate removal — 'he alone has been the means of creating a state of affairs here which renders every gentleman liable to be insulted at the corners of the streets, and if resistance is made, he is either shot or stabbed, and the culprit is suffered to go at large'; Hyde suspected of being author of clerical scurrilous articles in the 'Californian' agt the council; the writer, since becoming a member of council, has been trying to have a law passed to put down gambling (of which McDougal & Lippincott are aware), 'they being gamblers by profession,' for which those persons as well as Alcalde Hyde are his personal enemies
| Date | 1848-04-18 (exact) |
|---|---|
| From | america, legal, defense |
| Place | Monterey |
| Series | Miscellaneous / Unbound Documents |
| Tomo | Unbound |
| Original tomo page | — |
| Savage copy page | 37 |
| Scan leaf | n37–39 |
| Document type | abstract |
| Source | Savage abstract |
Read this leaf on the Internet Archive ↗ · leaf n37–39
america, legal, defense, Monterey, 1848-04-18, Miscellaneous / Unbound Documents, Unbound, —, Archives of California, C-A 63, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Cite the document by series, tomo and original tomo page, as the literature does; the C-A number locates it in the repository. To cite this catalogue entry itself, use https://archivesofcalifornia.com/record/ca63/ca63-d111.html