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In
1833 B. F. English was in Clay county Missouri where he met, fell in love
with, and married Pauline Durbin, sister of Warren Perry Durbin. She was
eighteen at the time. This would start an adventure
the likes of which dime novels would write about. Clay county Missouri produced the likes
of Jesse and Frank James, the Younger brothers, Belle Starr and Polk Wells who were all notorious outlaws. The
English boys were cut from the same cloth. The ‘outlaw-way’ would become
their way. After leaving Missouri and moving to
Oregon the final home of the English clan was outside of Middletown, CA near
Anderson Springs. The Englishes
walked the streets of Middletown many times. |
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As Depicted In The Napa Register May
17, 1895 The Napa Register wrote: “Buchanan “Buck” English comes from one of
the worst families in this section of the country. The father was a desperado
and several of his brothers met with violent deaths.” DEDICATION: To all those men and women who say
“good-by” to their loved ones daily, not knowing if this will be the final
good-by, as they go off to enforce the law and protect American citizens.
This book is dedicated to all our law enforcement officers across this great
country, the United States of America. May God Bless you and keep you safe. ENGLISH 2nd Edition Copyright © 2019 – 2021 Bill Wink Publisher: Bill Wink P.O. Box 814 Middletown, CA 95461 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
modified, rewritten, stored in a retrieval system, or transferred in any
form, by any means, including mechanical, electric, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the express prior written permission of the publisher. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA First printing, 2019 2nd Edition 2021 Library of Congress Control Number: 00000000000 OTHER BOOKS
PUBLISHED BY THIS AUTHOR: THE INDIVIDUALIST –
Lifting the fog of confusion TREASON – The
companion book MURDER IN THE
MAYACAMAS – A short story GUENOC RANCH &
The Days of the Flying-Muleshoe – A Historical Regard CINNABAR & The
Saga of the White Cap Murders FIRE Middletown Is
Burning X They Left Their
Mark On South Lake County CONTENTS:
*** INTRODUCTION: MAY 1895: It was going to be an exciting day for some
folks who lived in the San Francisco, California area, as these folks were
going to become tourists starting an adventure that would have them use three
different types of transportation to reach their final destination. The tourists would leave San Francisco
for Lake county early in the morning and take the ferry-boat to Vallejo. At
Vallejo they would catch the train and journey north to Calistoga. There,
they would catch a stagecoach for the final leg of their journey to Lake
county. In the 1890s a young woman wrote of her
trip to Lake county from San Francisco. It was published in the Pomo
Bulletin. I used some of her actual description to give the reader a feeling
for what she really felt it was like to make the journey. Napa Register Friday, May 17, 1895 “Early
in the afternoon of Tuesday a heavy three seated stage on the Calistoga and
Clear Lake line filled with tourists from San Francisco was stopped by two
masked robbers and all the valuables belonging to the passengers were taken
by the highwaymen.” *** ENGLISH THE STORY BEGINS THE FINAL CHAPTER After a pleasant but chilly trip to
Vallejo by ferry, the tourist soon learn their next experience, train travel,
leaves much to be desired. If a person opens the window of the rail car,
cinders blow in, and if the windows are left closed, the air becomes stale
and odoriferous. On this particular day, in a corner of
the rail car there were a group of men boisterously playing cards and
occasionally making the spittoons ring with their wads of tobacco. When the conductor came through with
refreshments that could be purchased, the card players practically cleaned
him out of the miniature whiskey bottles leaving others, whose stomachs were
upset, without any medicinal relief. At the end of their railroad trip they
find the stage is waiting for them in the little town of Calistoga with some
passengers already on board. It is 16
feet long and 12 feet high, a three seater, so covered with dust that one
cannot tell if it has been painted or left with varnish over the original
wood. The rear wheels are 6 feet high
and tower over the skinny driver; the front wheels are smaller being only
around 4 feet in diameter. There are
three span of horses. Welcome to the Spier’s stage line from
Calistoga to Clear Lake. The fee is $7.00 round trip, they board the stage,
while the driver, A. L. Palmer and his helper store their luggage in the
boot. The driver climbs on board and the ladies
all adjust their dusters. All the
passengers brace themselves.
“Gee-haw!” Palmer shouts along with the crack of his whip and the
stage lurches forward, throwing them all into each other’s laps. They are now
no longer strangers after this rude introduction. The Lawley Toll Road over Mount Saint
Helena is narrow and winding, twisting torturously up the narrow mountain
gorges and down the steep canyons.
Dust boils up around the stage.
Its leather thongs, which are its only springs, do their best, but the
passengers bounce at every chuckhole and occasionally some fly upward to
bump their heads on the roof when the
big wheels strike an immovable rock buried in their path. There are times when the wheels of the
coach go dangerously near to the edge of the cliff, which seems to go
straight down and the whole body sways so as to give the impression they are
sure to go over. Coming around a
narrow curve the coach almost collides with a buggy drawn by a single horse. It is such a close call that the buggy is
forced to drive so that the wheel is partially up the side of the bank. Words
were exchanged by the two drivers and it wasn’t “good-morning”. Oh, where are those small bottles of
whiskey now, the tourist opine! One of the gentlemen passengers explains
that no one should be concerned for this is one of the best drivers on the
route and one of the most experienced teams.
The two rear animals are chosen for their size, being larger than the
ones in front. On sharp turns the
driver allows the horses to deal with the situation and the leaders pick up
speed, swinging out, while the wheelers hold back just enough to keep the
stage under control. At about six miles an hour, it is about
a two hour trip from Calistoga over the mountain to the Mirabel mine in Lake
county (previously the Bradford mine).
Occasionally the driver pulls up and the ladies “go pick wildflowers”
and the gentlemen “go shoot rabbits”.
There is a water bag on the coach from which to take a drink. As they make their descent toward Troutdale
Creek the trip over Mount Saint Helena is nearly over. Beyond the creek, the
terrain takes on a gentle slope as it nears Lake county but this is the place
where most hold-ups happen. This day would be one of those days.
The highwaymen strike between Troutdale Creek and the Lake county line while
the coach is still in Napa county and about 1 ½ miles from the Mirabel mine. Both robbers were wearing masks and
each was nearly covered with a dark gray duster. They wore wide brimmed felt
black hats, commonly called “slouch hats”. Both had old Colt revolvers and
one also had a shotgun. The taller, older of the two gave all the orders
demanding the driver throw down the strong box. They cursed a lot at the
passengers and were especially abusive of an older celestial from Napa. The stage driver was sure he recognized
the taller one of the robbers as Buck English. Buck had worked for “Red Hot”
Bill Spiers before and Bill knew him well from Middletown, where Buck even
had a more troubling reputation. In all, about $1,200 was secured from
the pockets of the passengers and it is unknown how much was taken from the
Wells Fargo Express strong box. Some of the loot was gold coins and a
monogrammed gold watch, which would be easily identifiable as it said: E. J.
Lynch compliments of P.H.A.A. H. J. Gerdes, a passenger, was separated from
his belongs as was everyone else. Also, the identification papers of the old
Chinaman were in with his other belongings the robbers took. He was one of
the only ones to resist having his belongings taken from him. Suddenly two teams show-up, one driven
by Byrd Hunt and the other by an unidentified man. They were stopped and
robbed as well. It was over in a few minutes and the
highwaymen ordered the stage and the two teams to head for Middletown and
they, the highway-men, went the other way. On arriving in Middletown, Lake and
Napa officials were notified by telephone and a posse from Calistoga and one
from Middletown went in pursuit. A $200 reward was offered for their
capture. About two hours after the holdup the
robbers were seen passing through Adolph Sutro’s
place, on foot, heading east for Oat Hill, Napa county. Word came in the next day that the two
robbers had made it to the Berryessa Valley area and had taken supper at P.
D. Grigsby’s and then breakfast at Charles Moore’s and it looked like they
were going to catch the Monticello stage to Napa. From there they would
probably go on to San Francisco and catch a
steamer back to Portland from whence they came. Johnny Gardner was the driver of the
Monticello stage, he stated that on Thursday morning Charles Moore had told
him that the robbers had had breakfast at his place and that they would ride
down on the stage. Gardner says he set out around 6:30 a.m. and he passed
them on the road but didn't take them on until Pratt's place. There he sent
word to Constable Phelan, through some school children, about what he was
doing and Phelan telephoned Napa. Bill Spiers from Middletown told a
correspondent of the Los Angeles Herald what happened next regarding the
pursuit of the robbers. Spiers said that under-Sheriff Brownlee got the
message that came from Johnny Gardner and he said: "I'm a-goin' to catch that fella"
and he piled some friends of his into a two seated surrey that was standing
there. The men were Jack True, Jim Gardner, Johnny Williams and Theodore Bell. Brownlee says: “We'll scoot around the mountain and like as not we'll catch these
fellas on the Berryessa grade.” Johnny Gardner, the Monticello Stage
driver, made a statement, he said: "At
Windy Flat the two men paid their fare to Napa, $1.50 apiece. Then they went
in and got some beer. We met Charley and Jack Farley with a team south of
Jack Raney's place. They jokingly said "You'll be held up today"
not knowing the two robbers were aboard. The
man sitting with me on the driver’s seat held his shotgun across his knee the
whole time. That man was Buck English. It's
about 8 miles from Pratt's to the Berryessa grade, the scene of the fight.
When we met the officers I looked right at Johnny Williams and he looked at
Buck English. I didn't know the officers were in that carriage. The first I
knew a gun in each party moved. Williams and English shooting at about the
same time, being about 6 or 8 feet apart. Soon
Bell shot, hitting English in the back of the hip. I was turned partly around
looking backwards and got some of the shot in the thigh. After Bell shot
English, English drew a revolver, shoved it in my ribs and told me to drive
faster. I went on and stopped just below the cold spring where the robber had
said he was dying and fainted.” English’s first shot was bird-shot
which did strike Sheriff Brownlee and Williams but the main blast of shot hit
the butt of Brownlee’s shotgun that he was holding between his knees, while
driving, and the impact threw him out of the carriage. Then Bell got out of the rig to get a
better shot and just then the younger robber bailed from the stage and made a
run for the brush but was stopped by a shot from Jack True’s
rifle. That impact took the fight out of the
young robber and he threw his hands in the air shouting “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.” After rounding him up they lit out after
the stage soon catching up to it finding English passed out leaning against
the driver Johnny Gardner. Brownlee and True took charge of the
younger robber transporting him to Napa in the carriage while Williams and
Bell took charge of the stage transporting the two wounded men English and
Gardner. When the shooting was over it seems
William’s first shot struck English in the arm and the second shot hit his left
side. Bell shot English in the hip and also hit the stage driver Gardner in
the thigh. Jack True grazed the young robber with a rifle ball in the leg.
Brownlee, Williams and True received slight wounds from scattering shot. Dr. Hennessey said Gardner, the stage
driver, was hit by 6 buckshot, two passed clear through his leg and he
removed the others. Sheriff McKenzie called S. W. Kenyon
and William Spiers to come to Napa and identify the men. Both men recognized
English from knowing him in Lake county but did not recognize the younger
robber. In the interview with the Los Angeles
Herald, Bill Spiers told the story this way: "He was badly hurt but game, and when I went in he never said a
word. I pulled his hat off and looked at his head and saw that he was pretty
bald, with a little lock of hair in front. I said to him, 'now let me see
your hand and see if the scar that you got the time you grabbed the Indian's
knife is there.' "
'For God's sake, Bill,' he says, 'don't give me away.' "
'You bet I will,' I says, and went on out and told the boys they had Buck
English right enough.” It was reported that the next day Buck
English's conditioned had worsened. Dr. Springsteen stated that he thought
some of the shot struck the lower part of Buck's lung. That there were
indications of pneumonia settling in and English was spitting up blood. Buck commented that he wasn’t too
worried as his brother Charlie had been shot in the chest through the lung in
a shoot-out in Napa’s Spanish-town March 14, 1868 and wasn’t expected to
live, however, he did and so too did Buck English. Later
Deputy Sheriff Brownlee would comment that “English was about the coolest man he had ever encountered. He
displayed great nerve when told to throw up his hands. He is a tough case. He
was sent to State’s Prison several years ago for cattle stealing and is equal
to anything in the criminal line.” Morning Union, 10 July 1895 Buck English Gets a Life Sentence. NAPA
(Cal.), July 10. —”Buck English, the stage robber, was arraigned in the
Superior Court this morning before Judge Ham. He plead guilty to the charge,
time for sentence., and the Court sentenced him to life imprisonment at San
Quentin. Sheriff McKenzie takes him down to prison this evening.” This wasn’t Buck’s first sentence to
San Quentin, however, it looked like it could be his last. Buck had been sentenced to San Quentin
twice before. Once on October 25, 1876 for 2 counts of grand larceny by the county
of Lake. That sentence was for 2 ½ years. He was discharged after 7 months on
May 31, 1877. Then Lake county sent him back on
January 29, 1878 for 7 years for robbery. He was discharged October 29, 1882
just 3 months short of serving 4 years. The younger highwayman was 5'8",
165 pound, 23 year old Richard N. Breckenridge from Oregon. Breckenridge and
English had teamed up there as English had family in Roseburg. Breckenridge
had a record, he had been in reform school and spent time in the state penitentiary
for robbing a warehouse. Breckenridge was sentenced to 25 years in San
Quentin but was released in 1910 with time off for good behavior. Sacramento Union, 22 January 1912 Old-Time Bandit Will Leave Prison On Parole SAN
QUENTIN. Jan. 21.—“The Lamplighter of San Quentin,” as “Buck” English,
life-termer, 62 years old, has been familiarly known for years, will not be
seen about the penitentiary after February 1st. At that time he will become a
paroled man, after having served seventeen years of a life sentence for
participation in a daring hold-up of the Lake county stage near St. Helena
twenty years ago. English for years has held the position of lamplighter,
making the rounds of the prison grounds every night and seeing that all the
lights were in trim. R. N. Breckenridge, English's partner in the hold-up,
was released from the penitentiary last year, having served a
twenty-five-year sentence, less time for good behavior.” Morning Union, 21 January 1915 Bandit, Dying, Says Crime Does Not Pay SAN
FRANCISCO, Jan. 20.—“Crime doesn’t pay, I only wish that I might have seen
things forty years ago in the light that I see them today.” That was one of
the last things uttered by Lawrence B. English, better known as “Buck,” one
of California’s noted stage robbers, before he died Friday at the city and
county hospital. Many friends of English, who came to know him after his
release from San Quentin two years ago, attended his funeral.” Lawrence Buchanan “Buck” English died
14 Jan 1915 (aged 59–60) San Francisco, San Francisco County, California. He
is buried in the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Colma,
San Mateo County, California, Section A, Row 19, Grave 141. BUCK WAS NOTORIOUS Born Lane Buchanan English, 1855, in
Polk, Oregon Territory, to Benjamin Franklin English and his wife Pauline
Lillian Durbin, he was the youngest of 12 children. He changed his name from
Lane to Lawrence, but went by "Buck" to family and friends. Buck
and several of his brothers became outlaws in the northwest including Lake
and Napa Counties of California, with Buck being the most notorious of the
bunch. In 1876, prior to Buck being sentenced
to San Quentin in October, a woman wrote a letter to the Sonoma Democrat
about an incident that happened on the main street of Middletown involving
Buck. She wrote: “On
Sunday evening, the 11th (of
May), one of those disgraceful scenes
occurred which, though common in earlier days are now entirely below par and discountenanced
by all law-abiding and law-loving citizens. It was nothing more nor less than
a shooting scrape in the main street. The particulars of the case are these;
Last fall L. B. Buck, “ English” as he is generally called, took a strong
dislike to the Good Templars of Middletown and vicinity. He was not as
popular with the Good Templar ladies as he desired. One night at a social
dance in Middletown he in company with some others broke the violin, fired
off his six-shooter on the steps of the house, simply because he had received
no invitation to the party. Soon after he had some trouble with one F.
Prebble, because he was a Good Templar; abused Prebble on every chance and
finally one night as Prebble was entering the Lake County House, Buck struck him
from behind. Prebble fired a shot which missed Buck. Buck was arrested, fined
a small sum. Sunday, be met John Good, a prominent Good Templar and against
whom Buck bad made some threats months ago but as they had never had any
words or trouble, Good held no grudge against him at all and when they met on
the sidewalk in front of Cassidy's saloon Good spoke friendly: “How are you
Buck ?" Buck answered with some insulting vulgarity, following it up
with some personal abuse and finally told Good that if he would walk back
behind the saloon he would whip him. Although Good is not quarrelsome neither
is he cowardly, and followed Buck back of the saloon, where Buck proceeded to
dish out considerable abuse which Good took, intending only to act on the
defensive. They soon separated, Good going down the street towards the
residence of his brother-in-law. Buck took a seat on the porch of Cassidy’s
saloon, informing the crowd that he was waiting for John Good to pass. About
7 o’clock p. m., only a short time after, Good started up the street. When
Buck saw him coming he ran back of the saloon, entered Harris’ saloon and
advanced to the center of the room and cocked his six-shooter. Then be walked
to the door and leveled his pistol at Good and asked, “ Are you ready?” At
the same time he pulled the trigger. Good stopped, drew his pistol, and
coolly returned the fire. Buck was partly concealed by the door, and it is
said he sprang behind the door when Good fired at him. At least he was not
hit and fired a second shot which took effect in Good’s right wrist,
weakening it so much that he had to hold his right hand up with the left at
every shot be fired. Soon after he was hit just above the left knee making a
serious flesh wound, but breaking no bones. As soon as Buck fired the second
shot Joe Conway told him to go out of his house. He then stepped out on the
sidewalk and behind an oak tree to which several horses were tied. During the
shooting Buck’s pistol was shot out of his hand and he placed his hand on his
left breast. It is generally supposed he was wounded, but his friends say
not, however, when his pistol fell, Charley his brother, handed him another.
Good fired six shots. He is an A No. 1 shot but owing to the shelter Buck
took and it being pretty dark he couldn’t get his man. Eye-witnesses say his
courage will stand the test. As soon as his pistol was empty he went across
the street and got a room in the Lake County House, where a physician dressed
his wounds. “English” returned with two pistols, one only partly emptied and
the other loaded ; leaving one on the porch floor, and jumping on a horse he
rode off. No warrant is out yet that we have heard of. Good is getting along
as well as could be expected.” THE LOS ANGELES HERALD "Red
Hot" Bill Spiers, as they call him up in Lake County, was in Los Angeles
Tuesday. He owns the Calistoga stage line and is one of the old timers who
freighted gold and braved the terrors of Buck English and his gang. He has a
fund of reminiscences of the old days when Lake county was really bad, and
has seen gunplay without end and has been in some of them himself. In all the
years he drove the stage himself no curt-voiced man ever stepped out in front
of his horses and said "hands up." For Bill was something of a
handy man with shooting irons himself and was more apt to fight than quietly
submit. But, notwithstanding the reputation that he had for fighting, his
stage was held up seven times during the years that Buck English managed to
stay out of jail. Six times the hold-ups went through easily and no one was
ever caught, but in the end the game was too recklessly played.” In the Los Angeles Herald’s interview
with William ‘Bill’ Spiers he related the following story: Buck English had driven a stage team
for many years in company with Spiers. They got to know each other well and
to respect each other for both were fearless men but there was something bad
in Buck that was bound to crop out in the end, and one day he ran off some
cattle that didn't belong to him and sold them, and after that became a
"hold-up-man". The first man English met after it had been
discovered that he was a cattle thief was Spiers, and the meeting was
dramatic to the highest degree. "I
was driving my freight team up to Middletown one day," says Spiers, when I heard a horse coming up ahead
of me and coming fast. I don't know what made me do it, but I reached down in
the boot and pulled my gun up so the handle was in easy reach and then a man
came tearing "round the trail
ahead of me riding his horse for all that was in him. When he got close to me
he pulled his horse back on his haunches and poked a gun right in my
face." I saw the horse was winded and saw the man was Buck English,
so I reached over as if I was reaching for my money but I got my gun and put
it right on Buck and says, “You better
put that gun up or I'll shoot you in the eye.” He looked at me and then he
dropped his gun. “I kind o' thought It was a joke,
but when he'd dropped his gun he says: 'Ain't you
a-goin' to let me have some money Bill?’ I reckon
not, I says. You kind of scares me when you asks that way.” He didn't stop a minute, but went right on
and then, after I'd gone about a half a mile some deputy sheriffs rode up and
asked me if I'd seen Buck English. "'I
reckon yes, I says, and told them where he'd gone but he got away from them
and after that my stages began to be held up. We thought Buck was doing all
the business but couldn't prove it on him until one day two fellows put a
hold-up through and one man on the stage that knew Buck English well
recognized him.” BUCK
CAME BY IT NATURALLY In 1848 John Stilts settled in Green
Valley, California, which after California became a state would be part of
Solano county. He was followed there a short time later by W. P. Durbin from
Missouri and Charles Ramsey. Warren Perry, or, W. P. Durbin, was the
brother of Pauline Lillian Durbin who was married to Benjamin Franklin
English, the Englishes had also left Missouri and
were at this time already living in the Oregon Territory. Benjamin Franklin English was born in
1813 in Madison, Kentucky. When he was twenty he met and married Pauline
Lillian Durbin on August 9th, 1833 in Clay Missouri, Pauline’s
home state. They had 12 children over the next 22 years. In 1845 they pulled up stakes and
headed for Oregon. In 1850, seventeen years after their
marriage in Missouri, the family is counted in the Polk, Oregon Territory
census. The children then were; David English, 16; Paulina English, 15;
Daniel Durbin English, 14; Sarah English, 12; Charles English, 10; Benjamin
F. English, 8; Warren Perry English, 7; Thisley
Jane English, 5 and Lucy F. English, 2. David, Paulina, Daniel, Sarah, Charles,
Benjamin and Warren were born in Missouri. Thisley
Jane was born on the Oregon Trail in 1845. Lucy and three more children were
born in Oregon. The next three children were Harmon, Eugene and Lane
(Lawrence) Buchanan ‘Buck’ English. Most of the English family stayed in Oregon
until 1863 when they moved to California to an area near where Pauline’s
brother, W. P. Durbin then lived, Green Valley, Solano county. Before this time, 1863, David English,
the eldest son, had developed an unsavory reputation for himself. He was
ranked amongst the baddest-of-the-bad-guys. Following is a list of a few of the
prominent characters who participated in the drama of murder and robbery during the early mining days of the
northwest: Cherokee Bob, Henry Plummer, Bill Bunton, Charley Ridgley, Reeves,
Charley Harper, Mayfield, Ferd Patterson, Hickey,
Matt Bledsoe, David English, William Peoples, Nelson Scott, Bill Willoughby,
Boone Helm and Dutch Fred. David English, William Peoples and
Nelson Scott, a notorious trio, robbed a packer of 100 ounces of gold-dust
between Lewiston and Florence Idaho. They were arrested at Walla Walla,
Washington, returned to Lewiston but taken from the sheriff and lynched by
vigilantes made of a company of expressmen and others. This happened on
November 15, 1862, in Lewiston, Idaho. David was 28. Prior to California becoming a State,
all early settler’s property rights were afforded them under Mexican law. During that time the land to settler
ratio was so great no-one worried about a few acres here or there as there
was plenty for everyone. However, once California became a state in 1850
everything changed. This issue of “title” to the land became a sometimes
violent issue as everyone pushed and shoved to protect what each thought was
rightfully theirs. Many newcomers were considered
“squatters” by the earlier settlers whose land title was afforded them by the
Mexican authorities. Before the English family relocated to
California, in the year 1861, the bloodiest four years in American history
began. It started when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T.
Beauregard opened fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s
Charleston Bay. During the next 34 hours, 50 Confederate guns and mortars
launched more than 4,000 rounds at the poorly supplied fort. On April 13,
U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. Two days later, U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteer
soldiers to quell the Southern “insurrection.” South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas were the original secessionist. Then Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and
North Carolina also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The
Confederacy later accepted Missouri and Kentucky as members, although neither
officially declared secession nor were they ever largely controlled by
Confederate forces but feelings were strong amongst those loyal to the south
who were living in Green Valley, Solano county, California. Counted among
these were W. P. Durbin and his family. It was said no Republican or Union
sympathizer was ever safe in Green Valley during this time. 1865 APRIL 27 SACRAMENTO DAILY UNION “Green
Valley, in Solano county, is infested with some of the boldest Secessionists
on this coast. Ever since the war commenced, they have been open and loud
mouthed in their abuse of the Government, and have made it a custom to shout
for Jeff Davis and his tribe on every occasion. Upon the receipt of the news
of the dastardly assassination of Lincoln, these men, true to their
instincts, collected together and rejoiced over the fiendish act. The
military authorities at Benicia were notified of what was going on by some of
the Union citizens, and a company was sent to the spot. Upon the arrival of
the troops, the ringleaders fortified themselves in the house of David James,
in the upper part of the valley. As the troops approached the premises they
were fired upon and two of the soldiers wounded. The fire was returned, and
two of the traitors wounded, when the whole secesh party surrendered and were
brought to Benicia yesterday morning, The prisoners are David James and two
sons, William P. Durbin and son, Charles Ramsey and son, A. O, Laramel and son. and John Stilts. They will be tried for
treason, the penalty for which is death.” This above related episode came as the
result of the whole property rights issue. B. F. English and two sons, Charles and
Perry were cutting wood on property they claimed. During a trial, under oath,
Charles stated: “We came to Solano Co.
about two years ago; I and my father bought a settler’s claim to a piece of
the Soscol Rancho and have been cutting wood from
it; [we] were enjoined by Eastman;
Stilts and Durbin went on the injunction bond against us; there is a bitter
feud between the Englishes and the Durbins; we have not spoken for years.” Without doubt this just added to the
already existing hard feelings between the Englishes
and their relatives, the Durbins. After the Englishes
were stopped from cutting wood, Charles English made a complaint to the
military authorities of Benicia, and caused the arrest of Durbin, Ramsey, Laramel, Stilts and others for shouting over the
assassination of President Lincoln.
This further inflamed the situation. Then the Sonoma Democrat reported the
outcome of the arrest of the so-called traitors. SONOMA DEMOCRAT, 26 AUGUST 1865 “On
the fourth day of the trial, a telegraphic dispatch ordering that all the
prisoners be turned over to Judge Hoffman, U. S. District Judge; which was
accordingly done, and within ten minutes alter his civil authorities had
control of them they were discharged on taking of the oath of allegiance. In
a country like ours, where the military is, by constitutional provision, made
subordinate to the civil power, and where the great mass of our people are
trained to watch with a jealous eye the slightest encroachment upon civil
rights, the duty of a military commander is a very delicate one, and his
errors, if he commit any, should be viewed with the greatest leniency. At the
same time, any unwarranted interference with the person or property of the
citizen should receive such mild but positive rebuke as will henceforth deter
others, who chance to hold temporary command, from forgetting that the house
of an American citizen is his castle, and he who dares to invade it without
warrant or just cause, should have hurled upon his head the condemnation of
every lover of individual liberty. The whole testimony tend to show that the
military authorities at Benicia were deceived into making these arrests by a
party or class of persons called “Squatters,” who thought to take advantage
of the popular excitement consequent upon a great national calamity, to vent
their rage upon the landholders —it being well known that all the persons
arrested are old and prominent citizens of the county who purchased and paid
for their lands under the Mexican grant years before any idea was ever
entertained that the title would be rejected.” September 6th, 1865 was
election day. The polling place for the Green Valley precinct, was at Cordelia, Solano county. B. F.
English and several of his sons travelled the 3 miles to Cordelia to vote as
did the Durbin clan. Women could not vote until 1920, some 55 years later. Late in the afternoon, when the
excitement that always attended elections in those days was at its height,
the pent-up hatred that had rankled in the breasts of the members of the two
families could no longer be controlled, and the young men became involved in
desperate conflict. On one side was arrayed B. F. English and his sons, and on the other side
his nephews, the Durbins. W. P. Durbin was not
present. Here is how it was described in 1865: “This
was a cutting affair which occurred at the election polls at Bridgeport, on
the 6th of September, 1865, in which a man named English was killed and two
others fearfully wounded, while a third received two shots in his breast and
shoulder from a pistol. The circumstances attending the confrontation are briefly
these: About this time English and his two sons, Charles and Perry, were
cutting wood on land owned by Perry Durbin, and the latter restrained them by
injunction, on account of which, it is supposed Charles English made
complaint to the military authorities at Benicia and caused the arrest of
Durbin, Ramsey, Laramel,
Stilts and others for rejoicing over the assassination of President Lincoln.
While at the polls, as above stated, English and Durbin were conversing;
English gave the lie to Durbin; Durbin made a motion as of drawing a weapon,
whereupon Charles English drew his revolver and commenced firing, two of the
shots taking effect upon Durbin, hitting him in the left breast and shoulder.
Durbin then drawing his knife, turned upon Charles, who, in attempting to
escape, ran out of doors, but stumbled and fell, and commenced cutting at his
throat, presenting a most horrible sight. Perry English on seeing his brother
in a critical position, ran to his assistance, but just as he reached the
contending parties, Frank Grady drew his revolver and shot Perry just back
and under his right ear, killing him instantly. Grady mounted his horse and
left for parts unknown. The father then went to the relief of his son
Charles, when Durbin turned upon the old man, and stabbed him in the breast
three times, making fearful wounds. In due course Grady was captured and
twice tried, when on 19th September, 1866, he was acquitted.” Warren Perry English was deceased, B.
F. suffered some gruesome wounds and Charles, although wounded, was arrested
for shooting Perry Durbin, his cousin. Charley was sentenced to San Quentin
state prison November, 1865 for the shooting. Notice, the one who committed the
murder of an English was acquitted and the man who shot and wounded a Durbin,
Charley English, went to San Quentin. Charley was released in 1868 and met up
with his older brother Daniel and another cousin, Sim Durbin, in Napa where
they proceeded to hit the saloons and gaming houses for the next week. They
were joined by some disreputable cohorts, one named Bulger Kains a supposed horse thief and gun-fighter and friend
of Daniels. Kains was proud of his reputation as it
gave him a sort of standing among those who straddled the line between law
abiding and lawlessness, but there were those who claimed to have known him
before his advent in Napa, and they said he was only a bluffer and a coward.
This estimate of Kains' character was soon proven
to be correct by an incident that occurred in Napa soon after English's
return from the Penitentiary. The Sacramento Daily Union, in 1895,
related the story this way: “In
1868 in one corner of Napa was then a Spanish settlement known as
"Spanish-town." It was made up of tough characters, both men and
women. Nearly every cabin was a dance-house, and whisky was freely sold at
all of them. Whenever the Sheriff of a
neighboring county wanted to capture a skulking criminal, he
invariably sought this Napa suburb,
and seldom failed to find his man there. Kains and
the two Englishes were frequent visitors to
Spanish-town and one night they went there apparently for the purpose of
raising a row with the locals and displaying their prowess as gun-fighters.
They induced Durbin and a youth named Al Haines, formerly of Sacramento, to
accompany them. Some hours were spent in dancing and drinking, when near
midnight a row was started. Kains was said to have
precipitated the trouble with a local, but us soon as the latter began to
unload their batteries he skulked away, followed by Durbin and Haines,
leaving the two English boys to fight it out. And fight it out they did to
the last. Whatever else may be said of the English boys, there was never a
member of that family who knew what cowardice meant. When word was brought
into town, a few hundred yards away, that the Englishes
had been killed in Spanish-town, the saloons were emptied in a jiffy.
Everyone who was not in bed hastened to the scene of the shooting:, where a
gory sight met their gaze. On the floor of one of the dance-houses lay Daniel
English dead in a big pool of blood. He lay on his side, where he had fallen,
his legs drawn up as if in the act of springing at some foe when a bullet
struck and tore away one side of his lower jaw ripping a hole in his jugular.
His right hand firmly grasped a long bowie-knife which he had been unable to
use before he was shot down. Stretched on the floor in the opposite
direction, with his head nearly touching that of his brother, lay Charlie
English, the one who had but just been
released from prison. He lay upon his back, with a bullet-hole in his right
breast. He was not dead, but when Dr. Stillwater turned him over and saw
another hole under his shoulder-blade, where the bullet had made its exit, he
said the man could not live. But he did not die. Although shot through the
right lung, he recovered, and for many years afterward was about his old
haunts. He is the brother referred to by the Napa stage robber,
"Buck" English, when he said, after an operation had been performed
on him: "I think I shall live. A brother of mine was shot through the
lungs once, and after being operated on in this way he recovered." Daniel D. English left a wife and three
children. He apparently relocated to California ahead of the family as his
address in the 1860 census was Ukiah, Mendocino county, California. His
wife’s name was Mons Ning. ENGLISH Benjamin Franklin English Sr. was born
in Madison county, Kentucky, September 8, 1815, to Mr. & Mrs. Charles English.
The English family would leave Kentucky in 1818 and move to Missouri where
they would live in several counties in that state before settling. In 1833 B. F. English was in Clay
county Missouri where he met, fell in love with, and married Pauline Durbin,
sister of Warren Perry Durbin, who was eighteen at the time. This would start an adventure the
likes of which dime novels would write about. They traveled west of Independence and settled in Indian hunting
territory on the extreme frontier. This move meant that to survive they would
need to become proficient at protecting themselves from hostile Indians. Over the next thirteen years the
couple became the parents of five sons and two daughters. During this time
Ben needed to support his family so he farmed his land, hunted, cleared land
for others and chopped wood. To say it was a hard and dangerous life would be
slightly understating that fact. They had to contend with the elements and
had numerous skirmishes with the natives. During one of the battles, to ward
of the Indians, Ben lost partial sight in one eye as it was injured by an
arrow from an attacker’s bow. Benjamin Franklin English and his wife
Pauline knew how to survive on this wild frontier. They knew it required a
lot of grit and gristle, talent and wit and a lack of paralyzing fear to
survive as pioneers as the English family was doing. They knew nothing can go
to waste. The understanding was; the only part of a hog that wasn’t used was
the squeal. In 1845 the family picked up stakes and
headed for the Oregon Territory. It would be a hard and dangerous trip but so
too had been surviving on the frontier, so fearing the trip was not an issue. After several months of contending with
Indians and the elements, the family finally reached their destination and
settled near the Luckiamute river in Polk county,
western Oregon. There were no new experiences here for
the intrepid English family as they dealt with bad weather, food shortages
and hostile Indians while they secured their homestead. They not only secured their homestead,
the family stayed put for seventeen years, growing the family by four more
since leaving Missouri. After surviving the hostile frontier in
Missouri, an arduous journey to Oregon, illness, disease, giving birth on the
trail and all the perils associated with, they had all survived, until little
Sarah lost her life in 1861. She was the first of the English clan to parish. Sarah Ann English, born in 1838 in
Missouri had married James John Williams in 1852 in Oregon, she was fourteen.
They had five children during their marriage. She died as a young mother on
November 13, 1861, in Polk, Oregon, at the age of 23, and was buried in
Corvallis, Oregon. Benjamin Franklin English Jr., born in
1842, was the “white sheep” of the family. In 1857, at the ripe old-age of
fifteen and after surviving a somewhat harrowing trip, Junior headed back
east to Missouri, undeterred by his memories of his recent trip west and all
the dangers involved. He then turned around and led a wagon train of friends
and relatives from Missouri to the Rogue River, bringing the entire party
safely to its destination. Later, but still a young man, Ben Jr.
acquired the nickname of ‘Doc’ in
Oregon because of his ability to calm and care for ailing animals, and, many
times he was called upon by neighbors to tend their sick or injured
livestock. A couple years later, after leading the
wagon train to Oregon, when ‘Doc’ was seventeen, he became part of a wagon
train headed for the British Columbia
gold fields. That wagon train was forced back by hostile Indians; at
nineteen, the same year Sarah died, he picked up and moved to B. C. where he spent the rest of his life. ‘Doc’
had a reputation as a horseman, veterinarian, pack trainer, rancher, gambler,
lawman, husband and father. ‘Doc’ was truly the “white-sheep” of the family.
He lived to be 80 years old and died May 6, 1922 in Ashcroft, British
Columbia. The rest of the family moved on to
California in 1863. Lucretia English married William McBee in Benicia
in 1866, they moved to Sonoma county where they had a son William Franklin McBee in May of 1867. After ‘Buck’ was apprehended in 1895
and was being held in Napa, the District Attorney, Theodore Bell, received a
letter from a Mrs. Lou Peterson from Chico. Mrs. Peterson stated that she had
a younger brother named “Buck English” that she had not seen for over
eighteen years and he would have a scar on his leg where he had been scalded
as a child. Turns out, ‘Buck’ did have a scar on his left leg. It also turns out, Lucretia English had
not only been married to Wm. McBee but also; Orloquil C. Newcomb, Richard Henry Peterson and lastly
George Washington Robinson. Her only child, William McBee,
died of pneumonia in 1900. She last appeared in the 1910 census as Lou
Robinson living in Chico. After the trouble in Solano county with
the Durbins, B. F. headed for the new county of
Lake in California and in June of 1867 Benjamin Sr. was registered to vote in
Coyote Valley, Lake county, California. The rest of the family, according to
the 1870 census, was still in Green Valley. But then in 1871 Charles Henry
was registered to vote in Coyote Valley as well. By the 1880 Census, Benjamin
F. and Pauline L. English are residents of Middletown, Lake county, California. According to the History of Napa and
Lake Counties, published in 1881, it states: “They settled on the road leading from Middletown to Lakeport, near
Anderson Springs, where they now reside.”
L. S. Patriquin, one of the owners of
Anderson Springs, is too listed as an executor of B. F.’s estate. Harmon Hamilton (Ham) and Eugene (Gene)
headed to Canada to spend time with or near their older brother, Ben Jr. In September of 1883 Harmon married
Sarah F. Murphy in Clark, Washington Territory. Then on December 26, 1883, B. F.
English Sr. died. He was buried in the Middletown Cemetery, Evergreen section
#126 where there is a marker memorializing him. The English estate was settled by May
1885 and Buck moved his mother to Canada to live with his brother, her son, Ben Jr. Buck stayed in Canada for
a few years and worked as a scout for
the Canadian Army in the Riel Rebellion of 1885 in which he was seriously
wounded. He also worked as a cowboy, a whiskey smuggler, and a gambler. Then
upon returning to Lake county he secured a job driving stages for William
‘Bill’ Spiers. Pauline Lillian (Durbin) English died
in Canada in 1896 and is buried there. Charley English, who lived in
Middletown, was a butcher, helped his brother Buck in a shooting scrape,
survived being shot and cut up with a knife, spent time in San Quentin for
shooting a Durbin, was found dead floating in the Columbia River. No date or
cause of death given. Father: Benjamin Franklin English died
1883 Mother: Pauline Lillian (Durbin)
English died 1896 Children: David English; b. 1834 - lynched 1862 Paulina; b. 1835 - ? Daniel Durbin; b. 1836 - killed 1868 Sarah Ann; b. 1838 - dies 1861 Charles Henry; b.1840 - found dead Benjamin F. Jr.; b. 1842 - died 1922 Warren Perry; b. 1843 - killed 1865 Thisley Jane; b. 1845 - ? Lucretia “Lucy - Lou” F.; b. 1848 – died after 1910 Harmon Hamilton “Ham”; b. 1850 - ? Eugene “Gene” B.; b. 1852 - ? Lawrence Buchanan “Buck”; b. 1855 -
died 1915 OTHERS RICHARD N. BRECKENRIDGE was born in New
York in the year 1873. He entered San Quentin May 30, 1895 He was 22 years
old, his prisoner number was 16359. He was discharged August 29, 1910.
As depicted in the Napa Register
William “Bill” Spiers Stable Lincoln
Ave. Calistoga WILLIAM “BILL” SPIERS was born in
Monterey, Owen county, Kentucky, on August 29, 1853. At 19 Bill moved to
California first locating in Napa county where he found employment as a wood
cutter. Later he went to Pine Flat, Sonoma county, where he worked at the
quicksilver mine and saved $1,040. With this stake, he relocated to
Calistoga and went into the freight hauling business hauling freight to the
Great Western quicksilver mine in Lake county. Then in 1880 he bought the small stage line
running from the end of the railway in Calistoga to towns and resorts in Lake
county and this enterprise grew into one of the largest of its kind in
California. In the beginning he drove the six-horse coaches, and later, as he
prospered, he hired the best drivers available. Bill married Martha Simpson, a school
teacher from Lower Lake, in San Francisco in 1891. They had three children
together. Bill Spiers was only two years older than
Buck English, however, he lived much longer. He died of a stroke while
driving an automobile in Calistoga April 4, 1931, sixteen years after “Buck”
passed, he was 77. Bill’s final resting place is in the
St. Helena Cemetery. At the time of his passing his youngest
son Alden Spiers was living in Middletown.
MUGSHOTS
“BUCK” ENGLISH 1895 SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON
“BUCK’s” ARMY COLT REVOLVER
RICHARD N. BRECKENRIDGE SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON DOCUMENTS
NAPA REGISTER MAY 17, 1895
Marriage - Harmon H. English to Sarah
F. Murphy
Probate Estate of B. F. English
NEWSPAPER FROM 1889 INCIDENT WITH BUCK HAPPENED MAY OF 1876 ADDENDUM THE REST OF THE STORY After publishing the book “ENGLISH” I
found more information regarding David, Charley, Eugene, Daniel Buck and Lucretia. As we previously read in “English” they
were an extremely resilient and capable family regarding not just surviving
but doing so on the hostile frontier. A positive trait the English’s had for
surviving was a lack of paralyzing fear. They seemed to fear nothing and I
think that attitude influenced each one of them when setting their own course
into the future. The English family came from the same
area of Missouri that produced the likes of Jesse and Frank James, the
Younger brothers, Belle Starr and
Polk Wells who were all notorious outlaws. The English boys were cut
from the same cloth. The ‘outlaw-way’ would become their way. After moving from Missouri to the
Oregon Territory it wasn’t long, we previously learned, until the oldest son,
David, took up the ‘outlaw’ way. We know this led to his lynching. But
have now learned more about the incident and those involved Lewiston was a boomtown as a result of
the discovery of gold and it attracted a lot of unsavory characters. And like
many Western towns, guns helped shape the history of Lewiston, which has the
distinction of having the first vigilante association in what later became
Idaho. Around 250 residents belonged to the
Lewiston Protective Association at one time or another. The group was started
in 1862 because outlaws were robbing miners coming from the gold fields. It was written that Lewiston policemen
often had to defend themselves from the “association” because just as the
later Montana vigilante group did, the association took justice into its own
hands. David was a member of a notorious trio
made up of him, William Peoples and Nelson Scott who together practiced their
“outlaw” trade. The trio, robbed a
packer of 100 ounces of gold-dust between Lewiston and Florence. They were
tracked down and arrested at Walla Walla and returned to Lewiston. The “association” members, bent on
retribution, overpowered the guards at the city jail and removed the three
accused men. The three were found dead the next day in a barn, they had been
lynched. This happened on November 15th, 1862. David was 28, the
second English to die. Now there were twelve. By spring of 1863, association leaders
claimed to have rid Lewiston of 200 thieves and gamblers. That same year on
March 4th, the territory of
Idaho was officially organized by Act of Congress, and signed into law by
President Abraham Lincoln. (Lynching by a mob normally means the
subject will die from suffocation, while legal hanging hopes to cause death
by breaking the subject’s neck.) The next to lose his life would be
Daniel and we remember it was in a place called Spanish Town in Napa. Here’s
the rest of the story. The area the men were frequenting was
known as Spanish Town. It was located in the northeast portion of down-town
Napa, between Napa Creek, West Street, Stuart Street (now Clinton Street),
and Edmondson Street (now Yajome Street). It had a
reputation for being a rough neighborhood. It’s notoriety included charges of
being home to prostitutes and murderers. The Sonoma Democrat reported on March
28th, 1868 regarding the killing of Daniel that: “From the
evidence it appears that “Bulger” Raines, a notorious character, commenced
the disturbances which led to the unhappy result, if, indeed, he did not
visit the house for the express purpose of involving his companions in
difficulty.” The Coroner’s jury found the shooting
of Daniel was done by Dolores Coronado, proprietor of the dance hall. But an
examination before Justice Hannewell resulted in
the discharge of all three of the Mexicans arrested. Seems Dolores Coronado murdered without
ever being punished. The Marysville Daily reported on February 19th,
1863 the following story. “MURDER IN NAPA. —The Solano Press of the 16th
has the following : On Sunday night Feb. 1st, a native Californian named Blas
Amarenas, was shot at the rancheria near the
residence of Don Cajetano Juarez, about one mile
from Napa. An inquest was called, and after an examination of all the
testimony presented, the jury returned a verdict that deceased came to his
death by a pistol ball fired by one Dolores Coronado. A warrant was issued
immediately, but Coronado has not been arrested.” Charles went home to Green Valley. By
this time Lucretia “Lucy or Lou” English had married. She married William McBee on September 13th, 1866 in Benicia,
California. But if Charles were to have read the
Weekly Butte Record of April 25th, 1868 he might have read this
story: “The Mexicans. Dolores and Guadalupe
Coronado, says the Napa Register, the two brothers concerned in the killing
of Daniel English and the wounding of Charles English, in a recent affray in
Spanish Town, have at last— to use a homely phrase—“died with their boots
on.’’ They left Napa a couple of weeks since for the San Joaquin river, and
had reached Merced county, where the event occurred which resulted in their
deaths. The facts, as stated by a brother now here, are these; The two men
bad stopped at a tavern kept by one Joe Griffith, near the town of Snelling.
to get some drinks, and in settling for the same a difficulty arose as to the
amount to be paid. This point having been decided apparently satisfactorily,
the Mexicans got on their horses to leave, when Griffith followed them out
and endeavored to raise a quarrel with Dolores. The latter said he desire no
difficulty with him, and as a proof of his peaceful inclinations offered to
give up his pistol. While in the act of drawing the weapon from his waist,
Griffith fired at him, the shot taking effect and killing him instantly. As
soon as he had fallen from his horse his brother dismounted and was about to
take the pistol from his body, when Griffith shot him dead also. Whether
there were any witnesses to what , occurred, aside from the parties referred,
we know not, and of course the above statement must be taken for what it is
worth. Dolores Coronado had killed one man. we are told, previous to the
affray, resulting in the death of Darnel English, whom he undoubtedly shot.
Although a cool, courageous man, he has not been regarded as a quarrelsome or
evil-disposed person, generally acting on the defensive, but brooking insult
from no one. Many persons are of the opinion that he was followed up by the
friends of English with revengeful intent, and that his death may be
attributed to that cause.” Under then current conditions it seems
doubtful that Griffith was avenging Daniel’s death, seems like Coronado could
have easily made many enemies and maybe it was pay-back time. Except for
the “white sheep” Ben Jr., the English boys were all “outlaws” Early on in
Middletown, we know Charley was a butcher but as we also read, he was right
there to help his brother Buck during the shootout in 1875. After that, it
wasn’t too long before he, Charley, was on the outlaw trail. Those Englishes who were in the Middletown area in the 1870s,
that we know of, were mom and dad English, Charlie, Lucretia (Newcomb),
Eugene and Buck. B. F. English had
homesteaded 120 acres above Anderson Springs in the Putah Creek drainage near
present day Socrates Mine road. That is where the English home was located. Early March 1875 Lucretia’s husband O.
J. Newcomb got into an scuffle with Ben Marshall in Middletown. During the
quarrel, Marshall drew a four-shooter Deringer and shot Newcomb, the ball
penetrating the left cheek, near the mouth, and coming out the back of the
neck. It was ugly but not fatal. The Deringer was laying on the bar and
several others in the saloon had picked up Marshall’s Deringer and it failed
to fire several times. Newcomb’s brother-in-law, Eugene English, grabbed the
Deringer and in a playful manner aimed it at a local man known as ‘Uncle Mike
Ready’ saying something playful he then snapped the trigger. The Deringer
fired killing Ready instantly. English was not charged but folks were
outraged. By 1878
Charley was on the run with his brother Eugene. Charley and
Eugene along with the two local Donelson boys, went on a marauding trip
through northern California and Oregon and were wanted men. Charley had
robbed a man in Lake county, stole several horses in Shasta county and had
folks on his trail In March of
1878, it was reported that J. W. Rose, City Marshal of Healdsburg, had
occasion to go to Mercuryville. After passing Pine Flat, and nearing the
Rattlesnake mine, he overtook a man, coming upon him suddenly. The stranger
whirled around and covered Rose with a Henry rifle. Rose finally rode nearer,
inquiring of him if he knew where a Mr. Truitt lived. The man replied that he
did not. Rose reported the stranger was sandy complexioned, wore a heavy
yellow blanket overcoat, had the appearance of a desperate character and had
scars on each cheek It was reported that Charley English has similar marks. The Weekly
Calistogian reported on July 17th, 1878 the following: “Charley
and Eugene English with the two Donelson boys were camped near Shasta, where
they committed their last highway robbery on some Chinaman. The constable
from Redding went to the camp to try and find some clue on which to make an
arrest. As he left camp he took up one of their rifles, when he was
immediately covered by a shotgun and rifle and asked to "drop-it".
He did so and left. He soon returned with a posse but the birds had flown.
They went on to the banks of the Klamath where they camped. The English boys,
becoming tired of the Donelsons, here stole their
horses and left, Eugene going one way and Charley another. The Donelsons, finding themselves deserted, and their horses
gone, telegraphed to Sheriff Hull to come and arrest them, which he did, and
then taking Charley's trail followed it to Portland Oregon where he caged his
man. Charley English and the Donelsons boys are now
in jail at Shasta. A horse belonging to constable McCall, of Middletown, and
a saddle of W. C. Greenfield's were
found with the prisoners. So far Eugene English has not been heard from.
Charley now stands with three charges against him - highway robbery, horse
stealing and the robbery of Mr. Pyle in this county.” On August 28th,
1878 the Sonoma Democrat reported: “Charley
English of Lake county has been sentenced to serve five years In the State
Prison for taking part in a stage robbery near Shasta.” In 1880 both
Lawrence “Buck” and Charley English were in San Quentin together. Another
inmate named Peter Gibson, a Scotsman, murdered an inmate named Austin N.
Smith. Smith and Gibson had had a disagreement and Smith threatened on more
than one occasion to kill that blankety-blank Scotsman. Both Buck and Charley
had to testify at trial as Smith had on more than one occasion tried to borrow
a knife from Charley to murder Gibson and Buck was a witness to this. Charley
would not loan the knife but they warned Gibson that Smith meant to do him
harm, so the Scotsman struck first. Gibson was
transferred to Folsom State Prison where he was killed trying to escape in
November 1880. Eugene
English escaped to Canada and moved in with his brother. B. F. junior. He was
counted in the Canadian census of 1881 at William's Lake & Canoe Creek,
Cariboo, British Columbia, Canada. CREDITS PRINT MEDIA · Pomo Bulletin · Napa Register · Los Angeles Herald · Morning Union · Sacramento Union · Sacramento Daily Union · Sonoma Democrat · British Columbia Historical News · History of Napa and Lake Counties 1881 ON-LINE · Ancestry.com · Find-a-grave.com · California Digital
Newspapers.com DISTRICT/AGENCY · Middletown
Cemetery District *** BONUS: THE STORY OF GEORGE COBURN
The San Francisco Call Heading:
THOMAS STOREY, the Wounded Guide and
the Home of the Outlaws Coburn. (Storey’s name was
James not Thomas) Storey led Sheriff Pardee and posse of Lake County, to W.
R. Coburn’s farm near Middletown. There the elder Coburn was slain by a
Deputy Sheriff while attempting to prevent the arrest of his son George, who
in turn fired upon the posse and seriously wounded Storey.
The Lake County officers have as yet failed to capture George Coburn. INTODUCTION The story of George Coburn was first
told by Mrs. Helen Rocca Goss in the Quarterly for the Historical Society of
Southern California in March, 1956. It was titled: “George Coburn Must Be
Back”. MIDDLETOWN, founded in 1871, had twenty
years of development behind it when this particular story evolved in the
middle 1890s. And anybody who knows anything about Middletown knows the town
fully represented what the west was like at that time. Lawlessness was ever
present somewhere within the vicinity, from shootouts on main street, to
stage coach robberies, to rustling cattle, to stealing horses, to outright
murder. Posses were formed frequently. There were even rumors of an actual
lynching. The story of the lynching goes like
this; three miners in a saloon were quarreling and the other patrons told
them to take it outside. They did not. The next day they were found swaying
in the wind hanging from an oak tree. Juanita (Skee)
Hamann, an early Middletown resident, wrote: “In the early mining days
there were so many hold ups, lynchings,
killings - - an arm found here, a headless body in an abandoned mine tunnel
there - - that people used to say; Middletown had a man for breakfast every
morning.” ### THE ROAD TO LAKEPORT goes due West in a
relatively straight line for about a mile, after leaving Middletown, until it
hits the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains. Then it makes a hard right
going north for a few hundred feet then turns northwest then west again
staying along the northern edge of the foothills and south edge of the
Loconoma Valley floor. It passes by the Coburn place, then the McKinley’s and
finally Anderson Springs where the real accent to the pass over the mountains
begins. Before turning north, back where the
Lakeport road makes the first hard right, there was also a road that went
left that went to the Maker’s place. Therefore, this corner was commonly
called; “Maker’s Corner”. (The road
that went to the Makers is today known as Dry Creek Cutoff.) When leaving Middletown and heading to Lakeport,
the highest near peak you see ahead of you is Sugar Loaf and that peak and
the surrounding area was George Coburn’s stomping grounds during this time. Young George was the son of Warren
Rodman Coburn and Christiana (Dickson) Coburn on whose ranch the area afore
mentioned was on. George was the eldest of three children, he was born in
1865. Following him was a brother Edward born in 1866 and last a sister
Luella born in 1874. W. R. arrived in California from Fairlee, Orange County, Vermont in the late 1840s and was
living in Yuba, California in 1850. W. R. married Christiana December 10,
1862 in Sonoma county. After marrying Christina they made
their way to Lake county in the 1860s settling west of what would become
Middletown. He registered to vote in Lake county August 1, 1866 and is listed
in Middletown in 1872. In the early morning of June 25th,
1897, a posse led by Lake county Sheriff G. W. Pardee encountered W. R.
Coburn near Maker’s Corner, the latter was armed with a rifle. Shortly after
the meeting a member of the posse shot and killed Coburn under suspicious
circumstances. Coburn asked: “Why did you shoot me, I didn’t do anything
wrong?” But it wasn’t a coincidence that the
parties involved happened to meet where and as they did. The Posse had been
searching for the younger Coburn, George, as he was a wanted man, a fugitive
from the law and he, George, had just shot and seriously wounded a member of
this same posse. George Coburn’s deeds were so infamous
in the area that he had even earned major recognition and that was, whenever
anyone was missing something, they would utter: “George Coburn Must Be
Back!”. THE GEORGE COBURN STORY George was pretty much a loner and was
probably not held in very high esteem by the citizens of Middletown and the
surrounding area, but, his story is included right alongside all of those
other bad guys who walked the streets of Middletown. Like twice murderer, Tom
Dye, or the Englishes, or the miners who murdered
the people at the Camper’s Retreat. You can’t review Middletown’s wild west
past and not include the story of George Coburn. George was an odd fellow in more ways
than one. He was a member of the I.O.O.F., or the International Order of the
Odd Fellows but he was also a kleptomaniac. He could not resist the urge to
steal, period. What he stole did not have to be of great value, it could be a
broom, a school book, a buggy whip, a hat or women’s clothing. It was the
sense of pleasure he felt after the theft that made him do what he did. He
stashed his bounty throughout the area west of Middletown. All of these losses did not go
un-noticed, un-reported or un-talked about. Everyone in the area knew that
this huge rash of missing items was not an accident and George Coburn was
under everyone’s suspicion, because as I said, he was an odd fellow. Some of the locals even suspected that
at night when George was out searching for something he could steal he dressed
as a woman, as several locals reported seeing a strange woman by herself
traveling the roads late at night and who if approached just disappeared,
much like George himself would do if approached. Some said this person even
wailed as if in distress. Folks asked Annie Habishaw
if this woman could be her, as so much tragedy had befallen her family, but
she said it was not. In early November of 1895, a hunter
discovered a large cache of miscellaneous items near the Coburn and McKinley
property lines which he eventually reported to law enforcement. George,
already suspect, was arrested by Constable J. L. Read November 5th,
while standing on Calistoga street in Middletown after leaving an Odd Fellows
meeting. He was transported to the county jail in Lakeport. Over the next couple days it took more
than one wagon to haul into town all of George’s loot, much of it no longer
viable due to moisture, mildew and rot, plus critter and insect infestation. Before the search was over, several
caches were discovered in hollowed out trees and various hillside caves that
were all camouflaged. Obviously, George had no intention of
selling any of his loot, he just possessed it. He wasn’t only a kleptomaniac
he was a hoarder too. In "The People vs. G. W. Coburn." There were five
separate cases, three were listed as burglary with bond fixed at $500;
"grand larceny for stealing a bicycle," trial was set for December
18th and bond fixed at $500; and in the third case, he was accused of
"grand larceny for stealing a side saddle and a sewing machine,"
The Middletown Independent reported on March 7, 1896 that Coburn had been
sentenced to three years imprisonment at Folsom Prison for "the Hughes
burglary," and that the district attorney and the counsel for the
defense had agreed that sentence in the four other cases in which he had
pleaded guilty should not be pronounced by the court until after his appeal
in that first case had been decided by the California Supreme Court. Coburn
was to remain in jail pending the results of his appeal. MORNING UNION NOVEMBER 6, 1895 HAS BEEN STEALING FOR TWELVE YEARS. CALISTOGA (Cal.), “November 5. One of the most remarkable cases of theft ever known in
this section came to light yesterday, when George Coburn of Middletown was
arrested. He has been stealing articles of all descriptions for several years
and it was not until yesterday that he was found out. Coburn is a single man,
aged about thirty years, and lives with his parents, about two miles from
Middletown. On his father’s ranch was found fully' twenty wagon loads of all
kinds of articles that had been stolen from time to time and hid in brush and
buried. When arrested he confessed to the charge and stated that he had been
carrying the stealing on for twelve years. Yesterday he stole a bicycle and
it was through this that he was captured. It is claimed by friends that
Coburn is insane.” SACRAMENTO DAILY NOVEMBER 6, 1895 A LAKE COUNTY MYSTERY. How a Youth Stole for Several Years
Before Detected. [Middletown Independent.] “For a number of years past the people of this town and vicinity,
covering a circle of four or five miles, have frequently complained of being
robbed of various articles by some midnight prowler or professional thief.
Many of the people who were losers had their suspicious, but were never able
to trace their lost property. Within the past four or five days a young man,
while out hunting, accidentally came upon a hut or cache, three miles
northwest of town, and about forty yards from Putah Creek, and near the
dividing line between Coburn and McKinley. This hut is concealed by brush,
and is a small affair, about four feet in height, five feet wide and eight or
nine feet long, ln order to reach the hut it is necessary to pass up a deep
gulch or creek some forty feet to a large rock, which has to be climbed over,
and where a sharp turn to the right is made in order to reach a ridge which
has to be followed about seventy feet to where the hut is located. The young
man who made this discovery gave the information to others, who examined and
watched the hut. They were rewarded by seeing G. W. Coburn enter the hut and
shortly afterwards leave it. This little building was filled with every
imaginable thing—tools, clothing, clocks, blankets, lamps, provisions and
articles too numerous to mention. A number of these articles have been
identified, and the mysterious disappearance of many of them is now accounted
for. It would seem that this hut has been used for a number of years as a
place of deposit for many things that have been stolen in the past years. The
hut itself has the appearance of being five to eight years old. Between this
hut and the gulch are the remains of a former hut, which was no doubt taken
down at some time and erected in a safer place—the site is of the present
one. No bettor locality could have been selected as a place of concealment
for stolen goods than this out-of-the-way place in a wild and rugged section,
where the foot or man seldom treads. The parties who had been watching the
hut, and after seeing G. W. Coburn enter and leave it, came to town and
reported the facts to Constable J. L. Read, who placed Coburn under arrest on
Thursday evening when he was about leaving I.O.O.F. hall where he was
attending a meeting. The Constable and a number of citizens went out to the
hut on Friday and brought in a two-horse wagon load of plunder, which is now
stored in a building on Calistoga Street, where crowds gather to view this
remarkable collection, which surpasses the famous "Old Curiosity
Shop," While George was being held in the Lake
county jail in Lakeport his father, W. R.,
visited him several times and became suspect later on. SAN FRANCISCO CALL MARCH 14, 1896 JAIL-BREAK AT LAKEPORT George Coburn, a Kleptomaniac, Cuts Through
the Floor of His Ceil. Had Been Convicted of Burglary and Sentenced to a Term
in Folsom. LAKEPORT, Cal March 13.— “George
W. Coburn, who has been confined in the County Jail at this place for four
months, escaped Wednesday night by cutting through the floor and then through
a 20 inch brick wall. His flight was not discovered until yesterday morning,
and the officers of San Francisco and intermediate points were notified at
once. It is supposed that he will make for San Francisco and endeavor to obtain passage to Ukiah.
His father, W. R. Coburn, spent considerable time with him in his cell and
last Monday went to San Francisco. He is suspected of having aided his son in
arranging the escape and officers were instructed to shadow him. Young
Coburn is a kleptomaniac of the worst type. He has been stealing from his
neighbors for ten or twelve years and although many of his thefts were
committed in open day he was only recently apprehended. At his trial a
wagon-load of articles which he had taken was exhibited in court. The plunder
consisted of old clothing, boots, shoes, books, canned fruit, pepper sauce,
bottles of ink, crowbars, axes, lamps, stoves and innumerable other articles.
Some of these were utterly useless to him and could not be disposed of. He
never sold any of his stolen goods, but just hid them in caches in the brush.
Coburn was convicted of burglary in the second degree and sentenced to three
years in the penitentiary. He was to have been taken to Folsom several days
ago, but the Judge granted a stay of proceedings to give his attorney time to
prepare a bill of exceptions. Coburn is about 30 years of age, has a sandy complexion, light hair, blue or gray
eyes, and is about five feet six inches tall. He has a cunning, foxy
appearance, and at the same time a cringing, apologetic air, and never looks
one in the eye.” George was on the run! George was indeed an odd fellow, but
that does not mean he was a dummy, far from it, as those pursuing him would
learn. George had been arrested during November 1895, tried and sentenced,
and he escaped March 1896 and the chase began. This man obviously knew how to
successfully survive in the wilds without other human contact as he had been
living a reclusive, hermit type of existence for some time. George’s younger brother Edward Carlos
Coburn was still living at home in 1892 but moved to Penryn, Placer county,
California shortly thereafter. He was living in Penryn at the time of his
father’s murder as the Calistogian mentioned him passing through their city
on his way to his father’s funeral in 1897. He married a woman named Isabella
sometime after 1900 and they had a daughter Myrna, together August 13, 1902. This is significant as there were those
who assumed George had fled to his brother’s home in Placer county. In the spring of 1897, roughly a year
after George escaped from the Lake county jail, items began missing in the
Middletown area again. Many suspected that George was hiding at the Coburn
ranch and several times he was nearly captured but always managed to escape.
According to the Middletown Independent, early in the morning of June 25th
an employee of the Coburn’s, James Storey, agreed
to lead a posse to George’s hiding place. The posse consisted of Sheriff G. W. Pardee,
Constable Strong of Middletown, J. M. Epperson, E. L. Collins, David
Lundquist, and D. Poston, who lived near the Coburns. They first went to a
cave on the Coburn property about a mile from the house where George normally
slept but he was not there. He was located a short time later asleep under a
fallen fir tree, the posse ordered him to surrender but George was not having
any of that, quick as a flash he grabbed his gun and fired two shots striking
Storey wounding him seriously. Despite the posse’s
return fire Coburn escaped into the wilds screaming like a wild animal. Strong
and Poston took Storey to Poston’s place, placed
him in a buggy and headed for Middletown where he could receive medical care.
The remaining four searched a little longer but then gave up and headed for Middletown. W.
R. Coburn having heard the shooting, got out of bed and went to investigate.
He was near Maker’s corner when he heard and saw the posse coming from the
northwest. The
Sherriff and his posse ordered W. R.
to drop his weapon but before Coburn did anything, one way or another,
Collins shot and killed him. This provoked some anger in the community as
there existed a current dispute between W. R. and Collins. SAN
FRANCISCO CALL July 4,1897 COBURN SEEN NEAR YOLO Lake
County Officer on the Trail of the Fugitive. WOODLAND, Cal. July 3. — “Sheriff Pardee and Deputy Poulson of Lake
County, together with several Yolo County officials, are hot on the trail of
a man answering the description of Outlaw George Coburn. He was seen at Cacheville last evening and is now thought to be
somewhere along Cache Creek. The officers have traced Coburn down Cache Creek
to Yolo, Where the railroad agent informed them that the supposed Coburn had
applied to him during the afternoon for a blank receipt. -This was the last
seen of him and it is believed that he was then headed for Elkhorn, hoping to
cross the river at that point.” SAN
FRANCISCO CALL July 7, 1897 YOLO'S MAN-HUNT ABANDONED. WOODLAND,
Cal., July 6.— “The chase after George
Coburn, the Lake County desperado, who was traced to Cacheville
last week, has been abandoned by the officers, and Sheriff Pardee and Deputy
Paulson returned to Lake County on Sunday morning. The Sheriff is convinced
that Coburn was met at Cacheville on the day he was
seen there by his brother, who resides at Penryn, Sacramento County; that the
two men made their way over to Sacramento and that the fugitive is now many
miles away.” SAN FRANCISCO
CALL November 13,1897 OUTLAW COBURN GIVEN A WOUND Shot
by a Deputy Sheriff in the Mountains Near Middletown. Escapes Limping Into
the Brush and Eludes Posses of Searchers. Special Dispatch to The Call.
LAKEPORT, Nov. 12.— “George Coburn, the
outlaw, who has been making his rendezvous In the mountain wilderness near
Middletown since his escape from jail, was seen this week at the home of his
mother. One of the Sheriff's deputies fired at him with a shotgun at a
distance of about 100 feet and hit him and Coburn ran limping into the brush.
Coburn is such a desperate character that no chances are taken with him and
the deputy was afraid to follow him where the outlaw had all the advantage.
The alarm was given and soon a posse was searching the brush, but the country
is of such a nature that the chances are only about one in a thousand that he
can be taken alive and then only by strategy. Since Coburn's father was
killed by the Sheriff's posse last summer Mrs. Coburn and daughter have
conducted the mountain ranch alone. Recently they have decided to sell and
move to Marin County and the. officers, suspecting; that young Coburn wound
visit them, kept the house under constant surveillance, with the result that
he was seen and wounded by the deputy. Mrs. Coburn and daughter were arrested
on a charge of aiding and abetting a criminal and taken to Middletown for
trial. District. Attorney Sayre went down from here, to represent the people.
They were found guilty and placed under $600. bail each.” The
search for George Coburn continued that month of November without anyone
seeing him again. The posse, baffled by all that had happened, determined
Coburn must have worn some kind of armor shield as many crack shots fired at
him at close range never getting their man. After
W. R.’s death and the continuing drama caused by George, Christiana determined
she must sell the ranch, which she did. By
1900 Christiana and Luella were living in Penryn with Edward. They lived
there for at least 10 years eventually moving south to Hemet, Riverside
county, California where Luella took up farming. What
happened to George is a mystery. George was never reported as being seen
after his mother sold the ranch. However, folks still blamed George when
something came up missing. The
old Coburn ranch house burned down in 1912, its occupants barely escaping
with their lives. The man of the
house, H. E. Barnes, suffered serious burns and lost all of the hair on his
head. The cause of the fire was undetermined, however, it was speculated it
may have been started by mice and stick matches. The
Middletown Independent reported: “If
the old house held any secrets of the doings or ingenious work of young
George Coburn they are forever erased.” I
wonder where George Coburn was that particular night? Possibly playing with
matches? EPILOGUE Warren
Rodman Coburn was born about 1826 in Fairlee, Orange County, Vermont. He died June 25, 1897 at
Maker’s Corner, Middletown, Lake county, California. He is buried in the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, San Rafael, Marin
county, California. Christiana
(Dickson) Coburn was born September 10, 1832 in Ryegate,
Caledonia County Vermont. She died August 1915 in Hemet, Riverside County,
California. She is buried with her husband in the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery,
San Rafael, Marin county, California. Luella
Jenette Coburn was born in 1874, she died August 19, 1936 in San Bernardino,
California and is buried in San Jacinto Valley
Cemetery San Jacinto, Riverside County, California. She never married. Edward
Carlos Coburn was born October 26, 1866, he died February 27, 1942 in
Riverside county and is buried in San Jacinto Valley Cemetery San Jacinto,
Riverside County, California. His wife, Isabella, was born in 1865 and died
July 26, 1923 in Los Angeles, California. Their daughter, Myrna M., born
August 13, 1902 died march of 1991 in San
Diego, California. A
man named George W. Coburn, born about 1865, died in Lake county, California
November 13, 1922. “George Coburn Must Be Back” CREDITS INDIVIDUAL
SOURCES · Mrs. Delores “Dee”
(Spooner) Groves · Mrs. Helen
Rocca Goss · Mr. Earle W. Wrieden · Mrs. Juanita “Skee” Hamann PRINT
MEDIA · Morning Union · Sacramento
Daily · San Francisco
Call · Middletown
Independent · The Calistogian INTERNET · Ancestory.com · Wikipedia · California
Digital Newspapers.com
MORE LOCAL HISTORY: GUENOC
RANCH AND THE DAYS OF THE FLYING MULESHOE THE STORY OF THOMAS KEARNEY DYE A.H.
BUTTS & THE STORY OF THE OLD SOLDIER ROAD/BLOODY ISLAND MASSACRE |
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