As Barney Barnard said in 1989, everything worked just like a clock. The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners serves as the legislative and policy setting body of Santa Rosa County as established under Section 125 of the Florida Statutes. The automobiles were from all parts of Sonoma county, and the fine weather of the day attracted many people from San Francisco and other bay cities and from other counties in this vicinity. The Standard Machine Works building was at 125 West street (now Healdsburg Avenue) and the vigilantes drilled in the garage section in back, where they did auto and tractor repair. Coalition members will collect soil from each identified lynching site that will eventually be displayed at The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery. It is said that the man cleared up $500 in the transaction. For questions please email us at: Press Democrat, December 10 1920 In 2020, Santa Rosa, CA had a population of 178k people with a median age of 39.6 and a median household income of $80,472. The unlikely Captain, part II: If Fred was called the Captain it was an honorific; he was in the Army during WWI with his highest rank as a Lieutenant, promoted because he scored well on a test. Presumably he was deputized in other Smith posses as well. NO S. F. POLICE AT SANTA ROSA LYNCHING. A Santa Rosa boy, critically injured when he was struck by a vehicle on his way to school last week, remained . Discussion has raged pro and con around town on the merits of the destruction of the hangmans tree in Rural cemetery, and the action has been followed by endorsement from the Sonoma County Federation of Womens clubs on the one hand, and an adverse criticism by the majority of the cemetery board of directors on the other. The three men were Maynard Young, Ray Lattin and Joe McMinn.1, They were, of course, unmasked, and did not reveal that one of them and quite likely all three were members of the vigilante party. Dec. 12. George Matthews, chief of police, is on the warpath and indicates that the bootleggers will not merely go into cover for a few days and then open up again. The Captain anticipated there might be an attempt to capture them after the lynching via roadblocks, ordering some of the men to return via Coffey Lane or other roads; would a 40-something Alexander Valley farmer have maintained his composure if stopped by a patrolman and asked, why are you out this late with a shotgun in your car?. There was also a chance that yahoos might decide a single lynching wasnt good enough and seek to mutilate the bodies. Further strength is given to the theory that members of the mob were from San Francisco by the report from Coroner Frank H. Phillips, who reported that he met from 15 to 20 automobiles headed south on the highway while he was driving from Petaluma to Santa Rosa to take charge of the bodies of the three men lynched. ), The PD boasted of their extraordinary middle-of-the-night drive to San Francisco so the Call could make a halftone printing plate of the lynched men, but the Republican had its own photo and a similar deal with the Sacramento Bee. The body was sent to the mother of the criminal, who is said to be under a physicians care. They wanted Santa Rosa known (per the future 1946 slogan) as The City Designed for Living, not The City Bent on Hanging Scallywags.. The boys were searched and more jewelry and silver coins were found on them. When I pointed this out to Lynn Prime, the curator of the LeBaron Collection at Sonoma State, she was unable to explain the coincidence. Four separate editions were issued, each replete with sensational details valuable to our readers. Charles . The bodies of George Boyd and Terry Fitts were removed Saturday from the morgue where they had been since being brought in early Friday morning following the lynching, according to officials late Saturday night, who declined to give any further information relative to their disposal. A NUMBER OF CITIZENS MAKE AFFIDAVIT THE VICTIM OF THE VIGILANTES WAS A DESPERADOTHE MURDER OF ROWLAND SHOWN TO HATE BEEN A COLD-BLOODED ACT. We now know that Coroner Phillips had lied to the reporter. One of those horrendous murders happened less than a half-mile from the current Pensacola State College Milton campus, according to a PSC researcher. At Santa Rosa the pictures were already at Noonan Field there, through advance arrangement. In the history of Sonoma County, only one cop has been prosecuted for homicide, and he got off. A previous chapter, VENGEANCE FOR SUNNY JIM covered events of just that night as reported at the time by first-hand witnesses. Fifteen automobiles full of San Francisco lynchers went to Santa Rosa to help execute the three Howard street gangsters strung up there early today, according to information developed coincident with the preliminaries of a formal investigation. Saint Rose of Lima was canonized by Pope Clement on August 30th 1671. This is a postscript to the series on the 1920 lynchings in Santa Rosa, THERE WILL BE PRICES PAID and looks into the most significant of the conspiracies of silence that followed: How people in a small farm town executed a triple murder, then kept the planning behind it and the names of all those involved secret for 65 years. By 2021, the whiteness quotient plummeted to 62%, replaced mostly by the Latinx category. Because this was not an actual trial there was no cross-examination, so Sheriff Boyes wasnt asked why he didnt call the Santa Rosa police chief after he knew the vigilantes were coming, or why he left the front door to the jail unlocked. Petaluma Campus. In her book, Santa Rosa - A Nineteenth Century [Photo courtesy of Depot Park Museum] Town, historian Gaye LeBaron relates one of the first documented hangings to occur in Sonoma County. -- Pensacola State College does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, gender/sex, age, religion, marital status, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information in its educational programs, activities, or employment. As he was Sonoma County Coroner, this was not terribly unusual; people inconveniently die at all hours. In 1876, the third lynching . I helped pull on one of the ropes and it was quite a job to get him off the ground. Unfortunately, he was not so skilled at takeoffs; the ballpark where he landed was too short for the ungainly aircraft and he made the rookie mistake of trying to fly underneath telegraph lines. Additional photos and information can be found online. In May 2000, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated Sonoma County, reporting, The committee is appalled at the number of deadly incidents, justified or not, that have occurred within 25 months. [End of transcript] FITTS BURIED Im prouder of you than if youd gone to France and killed a hundred Germans, cried one Healdsburg woman as she greeted her husband on the street after his return from Santa Rosa, and as she spoke she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. CROWDS OF CURIOUS GATHER AT JAIL AND VIEW BODIES LAID OUT AT MORGUE. Santa Rosa is one of the largest cities in Laguna, forming the urban sprawl along the western coast of Laguna de Bay. LeBaron: Were you the only one in your family? He named names. All credit for its success was given to the leader whom Barney called the Captain, and theres no dispute the mission was brilliantly planned and executed. Now more than a century later new details have emerged that show the vigilante operation was even more cunning than suspected. The letter states that the mother has not heard from the son for some time, and that she is anxious to get information regarding his whereabouts. More than a dozen of the masks used by the gang were found scattered along the edges of the highway between Santa Rosa and Healdsburg. That of Fitts it is said was turned over to the relatives but not buried. The funeral of the late Terry Fitts took place yesterday from Weltis funeral parlors, Santa Rosa, and was attended by a few people. Such was the hunger for this salacious news that thePress Democratprinted extras. The Captain finished by telling the men to meet back at the same building. Lost in the newsprint was any real consideration of why it is not okay to cheer for lynchings. It was expected that Boyds body would be claimed by relatives from Sacramento. Reviews on Cemetery in Santa Rosa, CA - Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Santa Rosa Memorial Park, Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Chapel Of The Chimes Cem/Crema, Daniels Chapel of the Roses Funeral Home and Crematory, Windsor Healdsburg Mortuary & Crematory, Valley Memorial Park, Pleasant Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary, Shiloh District Cemetery, Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery It was a lie. The Santa Rosa Community Remembrance Coalition meets in the Student Center on the PSC Milton campus. A mob formed and put a noose around his neck and hung him from a tree. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th largest city in California. This was on the streets more than two hours before any other newspaper appeared, with only an abridged story and many of the details incorrect. In fact, report says, they are being acclaimed as public heroes. Patteson is universally known in this section, and his selection will meet with popular approval. Poppa who passed away 31 days before his son was lynched was buried in the family plot in the Odd Fellows cemetery just a short walk from the hangmans tree. He deals in grapes and raises prunes and has a mind acute for getting on the happy side in marketing the fruit. There isnt anything to the flying the landing is the hard part.. What emerges is that he and his family seemed to spend time with others who likewise came from Alexander Valley. Had the gangsters not been murdered their arraignments would have been held that morning (although none of them could find a defense lawyer) but charges were dropped because of their deaths. The Press Democrat, which regularly ran glance at the past type nostalgia columns, never mentioned the lynching in years to come. On Dec. 8, LeBaron followed-up with a scoop. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and Redwood Coast.It is the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont; and the 25th most populous city in . Should it become known that the graves were just a two minute stroll away, you can bet those same people would be adding handfuls of grave dirt to their ghoulish collections. Conspicuous among the crowds were many women and children, CASSASSA ARRESTED He lived here 20 years ago.. The men wore bandanas and covered license plates with mud. The rumors arose over the secrecy surrounding the recording of the 1989 interview, which was kept in the safe of the Local History room at the Sonoma County Library until his death, per a promise of anonymity. Boyd, who paid the penalty for murder by being hanged by local citizens, had been removed from the morgue and buried. Fitts will be buried by the family, but not in the family plot. All he would admit was they were still somewhere in the county. Understand []. The Milton Gazette said Johnson was accused of assaulting a well-known white woman in Milton. However, using Santa Rosa as a base, it's possible to visit as much of the nearby wineries and vineyards all you want. The website fails to mention that Gelhaus fired eight shots into the child, Lopez, nor does it breathe a word about any of the many homicides committed by deputies empowered by the prerogatives of whiteness to terrorize and kill members of disempowered groups. St. Augustine ( Photos) Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how Callahan end up as the most racist place in Florida. It features a bar and restaurant offering outdoor dining. The Standard Machine Works opened while he was away in the service so he never worked there; if he had been inside previously it would have been as a guy who walked in because he needed his magneto fixed or something. The term lynch law refers to a self-constituted court that imposes sentence on a person without due process of law. Tell Me When Systemic Racism Ended? Home Values By City. More than 11,000 copies of The Press Democrat were printed and sold during the day, and the paper was in circulation in all parts of Sonoma county long before daylight. While most lynchings involved hangings, lynchings include any premediated extrajudicial killing by a group. Barron, is making inquiries for the whereabouts of her son. LeBaron and her editors could have told Barnard, Stop talking! When the officers arrived the man who had been standing in the highway started an argument with the other and started pursuing him, kicking him as he ran. Drink Napa Valley Wine. He therefore refused to give the Call any information on the subject and does not see why it was sought at this time. Today it lies in lengths on the ground, while chips from the trunk and pieces of limb are being carried into hundreds of homes in Santa Rosa, and taken far away by interested people as souvenirs. Grim Hangmans Tree, Reminder Of Lynching In 1920, Is Laid Low By Ax. Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, December 17, 1920, Son Died, Grim Cable to Mother of Boyd, Lynched, Special Dispatch to The Call. Since 1980, the California Constitution has shielded journalists who are subpoenaed by law enforcement to turn over unpublished information. REPUBLICANS WITH LYNCH STORY HAVE BIG SALE IN S. F. The first word of the summary action taken by the men who hanged Fitts, Boyd and Valento yesterday was sent out by the Santa Rosa Republican which tipped off the majority of the San Francisco papers and which kept them supplied with the news of developments. In the Dec. 1, 1985 Press Democrat, LeBaron regaled readers with a story about three murder suspects who were hustled out of the Santa Rosa jail around midnight and hanged in a cemetery on Dec. 10 . In an instant it was a wreck. The Radical Senate: James Abourezk of South Dakota, America is Not a Racist Country: How Nikki Haley Became Israels Candidate for the White House, Three Reasons (Other Than Age) Why Joe Biden Should Not Run Again For President, The Global South Refuses Pressure to Side With the West on Russia, The 20th Anniversary of the Sociocide of Iraq by Bush/Cheney. They probably will be put under a charge today. and the securing of an engraved plate, giving the date and details of the lynching, and the cause for the action, was R. D. Robinson, who contributed fifty cents as a starter for such a fund, and asked that the newspapers of Santa Rosa accommodate people of like opinion by receiving their contributions. This would seem to reference the report that the party came from San Francisco and may have stopped in Petaluma for something to eat or for gasoline and oil for cars, giving rise to the report. Lebarons retelling of the lynching of George Boyd, Terry Fitts and Spanish Charley Valento was not in the least bit sympathetic toward the dead men, who appear to have been rather vicious criminals, members of the Howard Street gang in San Francisco, who reportedly raped two women the day before Thanksgiving. Coroner F. H. Phillips of Sonoma county when flatly cornered by a Call man over the telephone today, finally admitted that the bodies of Boyd and Fitts have not as yet been buried to his knowledge, but he refused to state where they were, further than to admit that they have not been removed from the county. Both Santa Rosa newspapers published four extras on Dec. 10 with the PD claiming 11,000 papers were sold and the Republican saying their total was exactly 23,416. He will now have to answer before the federal grand jury, and if indicted, as no doubt he will be, will have to stand trial before the United states circuit court at Sacramento. Santa Rosa, city, seat (1854) of Sonoma county, western California, U.S. There was almost a romantic air about this tree, because the retribution was carried out by an orderly mobretributive justice, carried out more quickly than the ponderous law could have acted., But winds of opinion were shifting. Fun story #1: Maynard was driving back from Petaluma with Sheriff Petray and a deputy in 1920 when they spotted two men arguing by the side of the road. And now that the community has had its lesson, shall we profit by it, or merely go along in the same old way? In later years Fred Young was a popular and respected Healdsburger, active in the American Legion and several fraternal groups. The Standard Machine Works, the new company formed by Don Patteson and L. B. When criminals and cut-throats find things too hot for them in San Francisco and have to clear out, they must understand that we dont want them up this way, even temporarily. Ray Owen, co-author of the new edition of the cemeterys burial reference book is confident he has found their burying place, or at least the grave of Fitts. They are going to be stopped, he declares, once and for all time. Sheriff James A. Petray has just returned from a business trip to Colusa countyWhile away he visited his old friend Jack Smith. Barnard bragged about terrorizing Valento, who was a dark-skinned man of Latino descent, saying, he just reared back against the bars and on the side. While not done under the banner of eugenics (usually), some of the anthropologists shared the same racist agendas, such as using head measurements to determine the exact degree of a living persons Indian-ness.4. With the appointment of Harry Patteson of Healdsburg as deputy sheriff to be detailed as bailiff in department one of the superior court, Sonoma county has one of the best organised sheriff systems in the state, Patteson took up his duties as deputy yesterday. It is also definitely known by the Petaluma information sent here that there were Healdsburg people in the party.