HISTORY
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Justice – Early Nevada County Style
Thomas Jefferson, American icon and prominent lawyer, once said: “It is the trade of lawyers to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour.” And the history of the justice system – at times admirable, sometimes mystifying, occasionally funny -- in early Nevada County would keep lawyers, and everyone else, talking even more. The emergence of the county legal community during the Gold Rush was almost immediate. The new county needed “lawyering” and structure and it came swift and sure. In 1851, Nevada County was formed. Seemingly within hours, it was determined that accommodations for courts and prisoners needed to be established. Court was first held at the corner of Main and Church Streets in Nevada (later Nevada City) in a red brick building that housed a store. Until the court moved to a newer facility on Broad Street a few months later, court was held in this “Old Red Court House.” The Broad Street Courthouse was soon abandoned, however, due to a shaky foundation, and the court was variously located in the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church, a theater and a meeting hall. Finally, appropriations were made to build a permanent courthouse at today’s location. Unfortunately, the first attempt met with disaster. After completing a $50,000 structure in 1855, it was destroyed by the 1856 fire that swept throughout the city. All of the county records were lost as well. Another building was erected and was razed in 1863 by yet another conflagration that raced through Nevada City. In 1864, a granite replacement courthouse was completed and would remain in use until the construction of today’s Art Deco structure in the mid-20th century. Jails would also be built. The most interesting one was the first county jail located on Broad Street. Used for five years, it was built of squared logs and suffered only one escape, when, not surprisingly, a prisoner sawed out a log using tools supplied to him by a visiting friend. But, it is not just the structures that add spice to the early history of the justice system, it is the interesting, influential, and (every so often) entertaining characters these inaugural days produced. Nevada County produced a number of very influential lawyers and judges in the beginning. Among them were significant District Attorneys of Nevada County. The most prominent were William Morris Stewart, Aaron A. Sargent, and Niles Searls. William Morris Stewart arrived in Nevada County as a miner during the Gold Rush and left as a statewide political leader a few years later. Stewart was briefly District Attorney in 1852 and was later elected Attorney General of California in 1854. In 1860, he exited Nevada County for the Territory of Nevada. In 1864, William Morris Stewart was elected the first United States Senator from the new state of Nevada. During his time in Congress, he was instrumental in passing the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Stewart’s Nevada County home is located in Nevada City on Zion Street. Aaron Augustus Sargent arrived in the tiny gold camp then called Nevada in 1849, where he engaged in mining with limited success. He was more successful in publishing and establishing the Nevada Journal newspaper. Sargent soon gained a reputation as a strong advocate of Whig Party politics, a forerunner of today's Republican Party. After admission to the bar, Sargent was District Attorney from 1855 – 1856. With the founding of the new Republican Party, Sargent became an important early leader in the party. In 1860, he was vice president of the Republican National Convention - the convention that chose Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate. Also in 1860, Aaron Sargent was elected to Congress. He would serve three terms – 1861-1863 and 1869 -1873. As chairman of the House Railroad Committee in 1862, Sargent authored the Pacific Railroad Act, which authorized the construction of the transcontinental railroad, completed in May 1869.In 1872, Aaron A. Sargent was elected to the United States Senate. He would serve one term. In 1878, Senator Sargent introduced the 29 words that later became the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The bill calling for the amendment would be introduced unsuccessfully each year for the next 40 years. Following his Senate service, Sargent was the minister to Germany from 1882 - 1884. On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. It used exactly the same wording that Sen. Aaron Augustus Sargent had introduced 40 years earlier. The Sargent home is at the top of Broad Street in Nevada City. Niles Searls was one of the first residents of the little village called Nevada and one of the earliest practitioners of the legal trade. Born in New York, Searls arrived in Nevada City with the rush of gold seekers in 1850 and was elected District Attorney in 1852. In 1855, Searls became Judge of the 14th Judicial District, where he served until 1862. In 1877, Searls was elected to the California State Senate, but was in office for only one session as his term was shortened due to the adoption of a new California Constitution. Searls is best remembered today for his law office, which rests across the street from the courthouse and houses the Searls Historical Library of the Nevada County Historical Society. Early Nevada County also spawned influential judges – and at the top of the list was Lorenzo Sawyer. Arriving in Nevada County in 1850, Sawyer practiced law off and on in Nevada City until 1853 when he moved to San Francisco. In San Francisco, Sawyer was elected City Attorney. In 1862, Lorenzo Sawyer was appointed to the California 12th District Court, and, in 1863, Sawyer was elected to the California Supreme Court where he served until 1869. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant named Sawyer as the first United States Ninth Circuit Judge, the first such judge from the Pacific Coast. He continued to serve in that capacity until 1891. In 1884, Sawyer made a decision that changed the course of American law. The issue was the environmental damage caused by hydraulic mining. The 1884 court case was Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company, (the decision was widely known as the Sawyer decision), and the impact was immediate, profound, and precedent setting – Sawyer’s decision stated that a grossly polluting industry can be shut down for the public good. It is still cited as precedent today. But it is some of the characters and incidents that especially brighten the remembrance of Justice – Early Nevada County Style. There were the individual lawyers with their unique styles. For example, there was Stanton Buckner, who was renowned for his long, windy speeches and summations. In one trial, Buckner kindly offered to explain to the judge the principle of innocent until proven guilty. Several hours into the explanation, the squirming judge finally interrupted and remarked, “The court is with you in that, but it does not admit that there is any presumption that the court’s bottom is made of cast iron.” There was Francis J. Dunn, an early Nevada County lawyer known for his theatrics and for imbibing a bit too much. Dunn was actually found one day asleep in the road and when he was aroused, the tipsy Dunn identified himself to all present, “I am Francis J. Dunn, considered, and justly considered, the best lawyer in the State of California.” On another occasion in court, Dunn replied to an argument thusly: “The remarks of counsel remind me of a quotation from a classical poet. I cannot exactly recall the name of the poet, and I have forgotten the quotation; but, if I could repeat it, the court would see it is apropos.” The wheels of justice did not always spin smoothly and often times the law was made up on the run to meet the situation. It made for some interesting resolutions to disputes. Most notably, there was the 1861 Hydraulic Duel between Tompkins and Curley in Nevada City. Angered by some slight, one of the combatants challenged the other to a duel, but not just any duel – but duel by hydraulic mining hose. Each duelist was armed with a 25-foot hose with a quarter inch nozzle that could throw water under force for 150 feet. A sizeable crowd gathered for the spectacle. When the word was given, the hoses lurched into action and soon downtown Nevada City was filled with whooping and hollering and thousands of gallons of water. The two opponents dodged the powerful streams for many minutes. Neither thoroughly drenched man would submit until one of the hoses broke. There is no record of who claimed victory.
Images: Aaron Sargent – portrait.jpg – Aaron Augustus Sargent, early Nevada County lawyer, later United States Senator from California  |