Truebody, a pioneer business man of San Francisco, whom I remember
well; two glass cases of relics presented by John Bardwell, of the
_vigilante_ days, containing firearms, batons, certificates of
membership in the _vigilante_ committee, pieces of rope, being
cut off the original ropes with which they hanged Cora, Casey,
Hetherington and Brace, for the assassination of James King of
William, and General Richardson. James King of William was the editor
of the _Chronicle_, and in an election campaign James King, who
was opposed to Casey in politics, mentioned the fact that Casey had
been a jail-bird in his youth. This was taken up by Casey's friends
and three of them agreed that the first one of the three who should
meet James King should shoot him. Casey being the first to meet
him performed the deed. For this he was hanged by the vigilance
committee, who demanded him from the authorities. This committee was
formed immediately after the assassination.
Cora was hanged for the murder of General Richardson because of a
slight cast on Cora's wife by the former. Pistols seemed to have
been carried by all as a necessity. Cora and Casey were taken out of
the jail by the vigilance committee and hanged May 18th, 1856. There
were also pieces of the rope used in hanging Hetherington and Brace
for the murder of Baldwin, Randall, West and Marion, July 29th, 1856.
There were pictures also of Judge Terry, A. B. Paul, Wm. T. Coleman,
Charles Doane, James King of William, and a picture of the scene
of his assassination. I recognized this locality immediately I saw
it. It was the offices of the Pacific Express Co., on the corner
of Washington and Montgomery. There were also pictures of Fort
Gunnybags, the headquarters of the vigilance committee, showing the
alarm bell and the sentries on the roof; also Lola Montez, Countess
of Bavaria, a most notable woman of those exciting times, and of
William C. Ralston. There was a picture of the pavilion of the first
Mechanics' Exhibition, held in San Francisco in 1857. I remember this
exhibition well, as on a certain day all the school children were
given free admission, and it was as a school boy I went.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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