San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1856 papers, 1853-1882.

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San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1856 papers, 1853-1882.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/215444954

Correspondence addressed to the Committee and a scrapbook of clippings, May - October 1856, covering the assassination of James King of William and the activities of the Committee. Also letters, 1853-1855, to Edward McGowan, who was seized by the Committee. Included are a few letters to Hubert Howe Bancroft relating to the Committee, and some miscellaneous notes.

Originals : 1 box and 1 volume (0.2 linear feet)Copies : 1 microfilm reel : negative (Rich. 92:6) and positive.

UC Berkeley Libraries

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7017625

UC Berkeley Libraries

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

King, James, 1822-1856

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6281jp5 (person)

Online Archive of California

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dg0dnv (corporateBody)

McGowan, Edward, 1813-1893

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kq07bq (person)

San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1856

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xh3kqz (corporateBody)

The San Francisco Committees of Vigilance of 1851 and 1856 were formed when crime became widespread in the city of San Francisco in the wake of the Gold Rush. In 1856, the murder of James King of William sparked the reactivation of vigilante activities. King, a San Francisco newspaper editor, was shot by James. P. Casey, a corrupt official, after King attacked Casey in the columns of his paper. Immediately 10,000 men hastened to join the vigilantes, and William T. Coleman was again chosen as lea...