Saturday, April 30, 2022

May-June 2022

Administrator’s Notes

Ralph Gibson, Museums Administrator 

As the warming sunrays of May stretch into the longer days of June, we ease into a summer that promises to be as close to normal as we’ve had since 2019. This not only means getting all of our museums back to their regular hours of operation but also having a regular Heritage Trail. This year, 27 different museums/organizations will host visitors for museum tours and history hikes. We know there are a lot of families out there chomping at the bit to get things back to normal, so we expect big crowds for this year’s Heritage Trail. 

The Heritage Trail kicks off early on Saturday, June 4th at 10:00 am at the Sierra College Natural History Museum. The following weekend on June 11th, The Lincoln Area Archives Museum, the Wheatland History Museum and the Fruitvale Schoolhouse welcome Heritage Trail travelers. On June 18th, the Gold Rush Museum, Bernhard Museum and Belton Welty Schoolhouse open their doors for the event. The Bernhard will actually host Heritage Trail folks on the 18th and 19th this year because all five Living History stations will be operating for those students who were unable to attend due to COVID. Heritage Trail in June finishes out in Colfax when the Colfax Area Heritage Museum hosts their day, along with the Placer-Sierra Railroad Heritage Society. For a full calendar of Heritage Trail events, please go to:  
http://theheritagetrail.blogspot.com/

The Heritage Trail 2022 Calendar

The Grand Army of the Republic Collection

Kasia Woroniecka, Curator of Collections

More than 2 million soldiers served in the Union Army during the Civil War. When the war ended in 1865, they returned to their families, farms, and businesses, but the memories of war and fellow soldiers were not easily left behind. In 1866 the Grand Army of the Republic (G. A. R), a fraternal organization, was formed to offer fellowship and advocacy to Union Army veterans. The organization was made up of hundreds of posts, or local community units across America, and at its peak in 1890 had 490,000 members. Empowered by its large membership G.A.R. lobbied for veteran’s pensions, fundraised for welfare and medical assistance, promoted patriotic education, supported Republican political candidates, and voting rights for black veterans. It erected Civil War monuments, preserved battlefields, and donated cannons, flags, and other artifacts to museums. It was also instrumental in helping make Memorial Day a national holiday. 

Medals from the Michael David Lininger Collection, PCM.

G. A. R. organized national reunions, known as encampments, which took place in different cities around the country. The encampments lasted for several days and consisted of various activities, including parades, dinners, committee meeting, dedication ceremonies, and memorial services. Members who attended wore G.A.R. hats or souvenir badges as well as ribbons representing their home posts.

We are fortunate to have G.A.R. badges, medals, and ribbons in our collection. They belonged to Michael David Lininger. Lininger fought in the Civil War with the Union Army 28th Iowa Volunteers and took part in the battles of Vicksburg, Red River, Shenandoah, Berryville, Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. In 1872 he moved his family to Ophir and later, to Auburn. Known throughout town as “Uncle Dave,” he became a building contractor in charge of erecting many buildings in Auburn, among them the Episcopal Church and the Congregational Church. He also participated in the political and social life of Placer County, serving several terms in the Auburn City Council and two years as the mayor of Auburn. Lininger was a prominent Mason and a member of the Knights Templar. He was also a post commander of Colonel E. D. Baker Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.  The post was organized in 1884 in Newcastle. Its namesake, Edward Dickinson Baker, served in the U.S House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Oregon. He was killed in the battle of Ball’s Bluff while leading a Union Army regiment, becoming the only sitting U. S. senator to be killed in action. Lininger died in Auburn in 1931.

The final encampment was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1949. The Grand Army of the Republic was dissolved in 1956 when it’s last member, Albert Woolson, passed away.

 
“Upstairs Girls” in Early Placer County 

April McDonald-Loomis, Placer County Historical Society

Docent Carol Cramer, best known for her terrific walking tours of Old Town on Saturday mornings, and I gave a presentation to a group in Lake of the Pines about Women in Early Auburn. During the question and answer period, one intriguing question came up. Were there many prostitutes in Auburn during the early days of the Gold Rush? Documentation of the "world's oldest profession" is notoriously difficult to find no matter what the time period. Our local newspaper collection starts in 1852 thus missing the very early years and miner's diaries and letters home conspicuously leave out any reference to "ladies of the night." The miners were probably trying to keep their reputations intact when writing to the folks back home. San Francisco was the first port of call for most Argonauts and the history of prostitution there begins very early and tales of women, of whom there were few, making vast sums of money are documented. In San Francisco for a short while it was reported that well- to-do prostitutes even "set the fashion and style of the town." For a brief moment in time, female prostitutes were at the top of society before the inevitable plunge into disgrace.


In Auburn, 49'er and later Sheriff, John Boggs, who wrote several newspaper articles for the Placer Herald relating his first years in Auburn, recalled a dance in 1849 with only two women in town, Mrs. Nancy McCormick and Mrs. Eliza Elliot. Both of these ladies were respectable hotelkeepers. Though it was not uncommon to find "prostitution" listed as an occupation in those days. The 1850 Census does not list a single prostitute in all of Placer County, whether this represents the lack of "ladies" or the lack of reporting, is unclear. In nearby Nevada City, author J. S. Holliday mentions an account where in 1850, the "best house" in town was a whorehouse. In Sacramento in 1850, the first documented report of prostitution is at The Palace where Fanny Seymour held sway.

By the time of the 1852 California state census, Placer County lists seventeen prostitutes. Interestingly, seven were born in Chile, two in Mexico, one in Argentina, one in Spain, one in Louisiana, one in Vermont, one in Cuba and one in California. Their ages ranged from sixteen to thirty seven years old.

Excerpt from the 1852 California Census

Historian Leonard Davis quotes an editorial in the Placer Herald from sometime in 1852: "It is rare that real ladies would be seen on our streets – not only because they were few in numbers but because of the much greater abundance of females who would not justly be classed." In 1852, there is document in the Court of Sessions records charging John Wright and Susan, Jane, Eliza and others with "keeping a house of ill fame in Auburn. " The results of that charge are unknown. In the same year, John Wilson was charged with "keeping a bawdy house in Illinoistown," (near present day Colfax) He spent one year in state prison. In 1855, Sara Hannah was charged with running a bar room, dance hall and had nine bedrooms "for the purpose of prostitution" in Todd's Valley. She only got a $500 fine and one month in county jail.  In Dutch Ravine (near present day Ophir) Madame Hunter was a locally notorious brothel owner who routinely showed up in newspaper accounts with tales of stabbings and even murder at her establishment.

The 1870 census for Auburn lists an abundance of Chinese prostitutes in town. Nineteen in all, many of them are listed in the same household with a Chinese gambler. Their ages ranged from sixteen years to seventy-two years old.

The Placer Herald in 1889 reported the arrest of Carrie Stein and Lulu Sproulle in a house of "ill fame" on Brewery Lane: they were acquitted within days.

Newcastle News November 6, 1889

The next big uptick in reported prostitution in the area comes with the laying of the double track for the railroad in conjunction with the building of the Mountain Quarry rail line between 1910 and 1912. Lillian     Rechenmacher, who grew up on Brewery Lane, recalled an establishment called The Palace and recalled  some of the "girls’" she knew who worked there:  Leona, Black Rose, Ramona and Evelyn. To Lillian, as a young girl, the "ladies" were quite glamorous.

The 1920's were noted for excess in many forms, with prohibition leading the way. The Brewery Lane area in Auburn was a noted center of the "Red Light" district. Several fires in July and August of 1921 took out around 21 houses including 7 or 8 houses of prostitution, Lillian Rechenmacher recalled. While prostitution certainly has not disappeared over the intervening years, the heyday in Auburn, is long gone.

Sources: Kazmien – Essay "Gold Rush Prostitutes" - SFfound.org.,  Holliday – The World Rushed in, Sacramento's Gold Rush Saloons by L.  Davis,  Dry Diggings on the North Fork Knox,  database of Court of Sessions actions,  Placer Herald, Shroop.com,  Census, Rechenmacher, Lillian Oral History.

News from the Placer County Historical Society

April McDonald-Loomis, President, Placer County Historical Society

Greetings from the Historical Society

We have several newsworthy items to report this month.

There are two new local history books of interest. Dr. Tanis Thorne has written “Nevada City Nisenan.” I haven’t gotten a copy yet but it sounds like it is chock full of great illustrations and new insights about the local Nisenan community. To purchase, go to her website - tanisthorne.com.  Another new book just out is local historian Gary Noy’s “Hellacious California.” This should be a fun read as it covers the vices of 19th century California. Gambling, drinking, tobacco, overeating, fighting, eccentric entertainments, prostitution, and con artists, just to name a few! One reviewer wrote: “One of the best reads about the state I love! History penned with a sense of humor, insights, and compassion.” For this one go to www.heydaybooks.com/hellacious-California.

Be sure to mark your calendar for June 2, 2022, for the next general dinner meeting. Our speaker will be Rocklin native and retired teacher,  Alfred Corral on the arrival of the Spanish in Placer County.

April McDonald-Loomis


Placer County Historical Organizations Calendar 

Please confirm all meeting times and locations which each organization.

 Foresthill Divide Historical Society Meeting: Monday, May 16th at 6:00pm

Golden Drift Historical Society Meeting: Monday, May 2nd at 7:00pm; Monday, June 6th at 7:00pm

Historical Advisory Board Meeting: Wednesday,  June 15th at 5:30pm

Historical Organizations Committee Meeting: Tuesday, May 3rd at  9:00am

Loomis Basin Historical Society Meeting: Wednesday, May 18th at 6:00pm; Wednesday, June 15th at 6:00pm

Placer County Historical Society Meeting: Thursday, May 5th at 2:00pm, Dinner Meeting: June 2nd at 6:00pm

Placer Sierra Railroad Heritage Society: Tuesday, May 24th at 7:00pm; June 28th at 7:00pm

Placer Genealogical Society Meeting:  Monday, May 23rd at 7:00pm; Monday, June 27th at 7:00pm

Rocklin Historical Society Meeting: Monday, May 9th at 6:00pm; Monday, June 13th at 6:00pm

Roseville Historical Society Meeting: Tuesday, May 10th at 4:00pm; Tuesday, June 14th at 4:00pm

Placer County Historical Organizations


Colfax Area Historical Society 
Jay McIntyre, President, (530) 346-8599 
colfaxhistory.org 
 
Donner Summit Historical Society
Bill Oudegeest, (209) 606-6859 
donnersummithistoricalsociety.org
 
Foresthill Divide Historical Society
Annie DeMaria-Norris, (916) 206-4479 
foresthillhistory.org

Fruitvale School Hall Community Association 
Mark Fowler
 
Gold Country Medical History Museum
Lynn Carpenter, (530) 885-1252
 
Golden Drift Historical Society
Sarah Fugate, (530) 389-2121
 
Historical Advisory Board
Glenn Vineyard, (916) 747-1961
 
Joss House Museum and Chinese History Center
Larry Finney, (530) 305-9380
 
Lincoln Area Archives Museum
Elizabeth Jansen, (916) 645-3800 
laamca.org
 
Lincoln Highway Association 
Trey Pitsenberger 
vice.president@lincolnhighwayassoc.org
 
Loomis Basin Historical Society
Karen Clifford, (916) 663-3871 
ppgn.com/loomishistorical.html  
 
Maidu Museum & Historic Site
Kaitlin Kincade, (916) 774-5934 
roseville.ca.us/indianmuseum 
 
The Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics 
David C. Antonucci, (775) 722-3502 
tahoemuseum.org
 
Native Sons of the Golden West Parlor #59
Dave Allen, (530) 878-2878 
dsallen59@sbcglobal.net
 
Newcastle Portuguese Hall Association
Mario Farinha, (530) 269-2412 
 
North LakeTahoe Historical Society
Phil Sexton, (530) 583-1762 
northtahoemuseums.org
 
Placer County Genealogical Society 
Diane Fishburn
pcgs.pcgenes.com 
 
Placer County Historical Society
April McDonald-Loomis, (530) 823-2128
placercountyhistoricalsociety.org
 
Placer County Museums Docent Guild
Craig Norris
 
Placer Sierra Railroad Heritage Society  
Chuck Spinks 
Psrhs.org
 
Rocklin Historical Society
Jim Hammes (916) 624-3464
rocklinhistorical.org
 
Roseville Historical Society
Denise Fiddyment, (916) 773-3003
rosevillehistorical.org
 
S.N.O.W. Sports Museum 
Jill Short Milne, (415) 254-5686
thesnowmuseum.org


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