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A MESSAGE FROM
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD MARTIN ILIC
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Dearest Friends and Supports, |
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If 2020 held a lesson for us, perhaps it is that understanding and remembering our history is as important to our present as it is to our future. For the last 102 years, your Fresno County Historical Society has been an invaluable public resource.
As someone interested in the Society, you know that our archives hold personal diaries, recorded oral histories, thousands of photographs and a wealth of wisdom gained by the generations that came before us. These holdings tell us who we are as a community.
The agricultural knowledge and innovations that positioned our County to be the most productive land in the world are kept in this archive. Additionally, over 130 years of journalism from the pages of The Fresno Morning Republican and The Fresno Bee newspapers have been preserved by our organization.
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The stories of our region, humorous and heart breaking, personal and provocative are protected and shared because of the incredible support the Society has received for over a century.
At a time when being able to reflect on our collective past has become so important and our 103rd fiscal year begins, I wanted to take a moment to express how honored I am to be serving as Chairman of this incredible Fresno County Historical Society Board of Trustees for a second term and to acknowledge the 16 others who choose to volunteer to serve on this Board with me. Together with our small but mighty staff, led by President, Elizabeth Laval, you are invited to journey into the future with us. Whether you are a current member or have been thinking about joining, or are just a lover of history, our organization has never been stronger or more committed to preserving the past and chronicling the present – all for the generations yet to come.
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We have just passed the one-year mark of our facility closure due to COVID-19 with a reopening date, fingers crossed, later this month. Remarkably, due to the efforts of our entire team, we will have weathered a storm that many others have not. We are extremely grateful to everyone who made that possible. However, as you can imagine, our resources have been severely tapped. I hope that, like me, you will believe that the FCHS is an entity worth sustaining.
Watch for more virtual curriculum with our school district partners that teach our children how THEY are personally making history every day. We will be building an oral history booth to film, preserve and share the lives of residents with our Valley and beyond and have several major events planned as soon as we are able to fully open.
As the father of a young daughter, I am so excited to watch the FCHS utilize the most modern technology to bring the past to life and engage our children in new and interactive ways.
On behalf of the entire Board of Trustees, thank you for making a difference. I truly look forward to making history with you in 2021.
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Warmest regards,
Martin Ilic
Chairman of the Board, Fresno County Historical Society
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FCHS 2021 SLATE OF OFFICERS & BOARD OF TRUSTEES ANNOUNCED |
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With our new fiscal year beginning today, we are honored to introduce our current Board of Trustees. Without their dedication and selfless commitment to service, the Fresno County Historical Society could not be celebrating our 102nd Anniversary.
Certainly, especially now, history is being made every day and your FCHS has prepared an extraordinary budget that will include exciting upgrades to our infrastructure that will allow for virtual exhibits, video oral histories, interactive educational components and so much more.
As you can imagine, this is a difficult time for organizations such as ours and your support has never been more vital. Please consider becoming a member or renewing as soon as possible.
We are working hard to ensure our history doesn't become history! And if you happen to speak with one of our Trustees, tell them thanks.
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Executive Board:
Martin Ilic, Chairman
Chris Woolf, Vice Chairman
John Chandler, Treasurer
Sayre Miller, Secretary &
Immediate Past Chairman
Trustees:
June Boyce
Michele Cantwell-Copher, Ed.D.
Rhonda Herb, Ph.D.
Brad Jones, Ph.D.
Nathaniel Moore, CFP®, CKA®
John Paul
Hon. Robert H. Oliver (Ret.)
R. Gary Renner
Chris Rocha
David Rodriguez
Gregory Simpson, M.D.
G. Andrew Slater, Esq.
Walter Smith
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ROOTS OF THE VALLEY:
Happy 165th Birthday to our own Fresno County!
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California’s 1850 statehood was accompanied by formation of 27 counties, the largest being Mariposa. As more people came into Central California, pieces of Mariposa County began breaking off to become other counties – including Tulare in 1852 and Merced in 1855.
For those in the Fresno area, traveling to a distant county seat was difficult. Eventually, people who lived between the Chowchilla and Kings rivers petitioned the Legislature for their own county. Fresno County was created by an act of the Legislature of California approved on April 19, 1856. Its boundaries, as then established, included portions of what was at that time the territory of Mariposa, Merced and Tulare Counties - an area that comprises not only the present Fresno County, but also the present Madera County which was independently formed in 1893. Small portions of the original Fresno County were cut off and added to other counties as follows: Mono, 1861; Inyo, 1861; Mariposa, 1870; Tulare, 1874; San Benito, 1887; Kings 1909.
A little-known fact is that the legislator or clerk who penned the act creating Fresno County in 1856 wrote the name as “Frezno,” the official spelling which still stands in the state archives! An announcement in The Daily Union newspaper let readers know that a new county had been created in the center of California on April 19, 1856. The new county’s name was taken from the Fresno River that then flowed through the county and for ash trees (the Spanish word for ash trees is Fresno) that lined its banks.
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The Legislature, in creating Fresno County, in 1856, provided that "the seat of justice shall be at Millertown" and the election of the first county officers should be held on the second Monday in June. The county seat of Fresno remained at Millerton from 1856 to 1874. There were two successive courthouses at Millerton, the first a rented building, many years ago removed and wrecked; the second, built of stone and brick, which was painstakingly dismantled prior to the release of water into Friant Dam. After many years, the original building was reconstructed in its current location, above the town of Millerton which rests beneath the waters of the reservoir.
On June 9, 1856, the California Legislature designated as commissioners of the state, to inaugurate the new county, seven leading citizens of the Fresno area - Charles Hart, Ira McRae, James Cruikshank, C. M. Brown, H. M. Lewis, H. A. Carroll and J. W. Gibson. There is no known record of whom the commissioners selected as their chairman. The act directed that the first meeting of the commission should be held at the "house of Ira McRae and Company," evidently referring to the Oak Hotel at Millerton operated by Ira McCray, the usual spelling of "Ira McRae."
Voters elected County Judge Charles A. Hart; District Attorney J.C. Craddock; County Clerk and Recorder James Sayles, Jr.; Sheriff and Tax Collector W.C. Bradley; Treasurer George Rivercombe; Assessor John Greenup Simpson; Surveyor C.M. Brown; Coroner Dr. DuGay; and Public Administrator James Smith. The votes cast totaled 383.
However, it would seem from the records that possibly only two supervisors were chosen at this election on June 9th -James R. Hughes, who had a large store at Millerton, and John A. Patterson, cattleman of the "Upper Kings River" area, the area above the present Centerville. These two men were sworn in by Charles A. Hart, newly elected county judge.
A portion of the handwritten minutes of first Board of Supervisors meeting reads as follows, “The Board of Supervisors held a meeting at Millerton on Monday, June 23, 1856, present Supervisor J.R. Hughes + J.A. Patterson, on motion of Supervisor Patterson, John R. Hughes was nominated chair Ordered.” Also during that inaugural session, the first Fresno County Justices of the Peace were appointed.
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One of the initial acts of this first Board of Supervisors was to provide for an election of the third supervisor from the district north of the San Joaquin river. No date is given in the records for that election, but subsequently there was seated as supervisor from that district, John Hunt, a merchant at Fresno Crossing, on the Fresno river. Hunt attended only one regular meeting of the Board. Patterson attended only two meetings. Chairman Hughes evidently had trouble in getting a quorum for his sessions.
By December 1, 1856, after five months of operation, Fresno County generated revenues of $6,281 and expenditures of $4,268.
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Photo Credit: Mr. Clark Hoxie, Fresno County
Historical Society Archives
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Without note of resignations, on February 2, 1857, James E. Williams appeared as successor of Patterson, and on May 5, 1857, Clark Hoxie is recorded as successor of Hunt.
Mr. Hoxie attended meetings regularly, and on the resignation of Hughes sometime during this summer of 1857, became the chairman. The law at the time provided for annual election in September of all supervisors. In September of 1857, Hoxie, James Rankin, who had succeeded Hughes as member from Millerton, and a new man, James Smith, of Smith's Ferry (now Reedley) were elected by the people and Hoxie was continued as chairman for a full year. During this term, affairs of the county were conducted with vigor. Entirely new personnel for the Board appears after the election of 1858. Positions on the Board changed freely and excited little contest.
Clark Hoxie made such an impression during his administration, that he was long known as the "first chairman" of the Board of Supervisors of Fresno County, although not so, in fact. He had come to California from Massachusetts in the first gold rush and was skilled as carpenter and cabinet maker. He moved to Millerton in the early 1850s, worked at his trade, ran some stock and maintained a small farm and garden near Fort Miller. In 1866, Mr. Hoxie took all his family, except his oldest son, back to his old home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts where he died in 1874.
The rest of the family later returned to Fresno County. His daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mary McKenzie Hoxie, became a member of the Fresno County Historical Society. Their oldest son, John C. Hoxie, was a mines operator and noted citizen of Fresno for many years. Their oldest daughter was Mrs. Elizabeth Hoxie Barth, and their third child was Sewell. The fourth child, Caroline, Mrs. W. H. McKenzie, was married to W. H. McKenzie, the County Assessor, City Treasurer, petroleum operator and builder of the Griffith-McKenzie building. Clark Hoxie's fifth child, George L. Hoxie, was city engineer of Fresno and county surveyor for many years. He died in Oakland, August 17, 1931.
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KEARNEY MANSION MUSEUM & GALLERY
REOPENS TO TOURS ON APRIL 30, 2021
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Mark your calendars...thanks to the efforts of our entire community to flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19, Fresno County moved to Tier 2 on March 30th. This change will allow the Society to reopen the Kearney Mansion Museum & Gallery to tours at a limited capacity.
Today we are excited to announce that after a 13-month closure we will once again offer in-person, guided tours of the Kearney Mansion Museum & Gallery beginning on Friday, April 30, 2021.
For the protection of our visitors, staff and volunteers we will limit tours to no more than 12 guests at one time. Face coverings will be required to enter the building and visitors will be asked to confirm that they do not have a fever or cough at the time of entry. Tickets will be available in advance on the Society's website at valleyhistory.org/visit.
Tours are to be offered on Fridays at 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM and on Saturdays and Sundays at
1:00 PM, 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM.
The FCHS Reopening & Safety Plan is available for you to view at this link.
We look forward to welcoming you and your family back to Kearney Mansion and sharing the history of Fresno County with you in a real and meaningful way.
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NEW WALKING TOUR OF KEARNEY PARK STARTING MAY 1ST |
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The Fresno County Historical Society's tour guides will offer a new tour option on Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 PM starting on May 1st. This tour will guide visitors through Kearney Park on a trip back in time to the Fruit Vale Estate founded by M. Theo Kearney himself and operated on the site until the 1949. Visitors will learn about the many structures that stood on the Estate and will gain a glimpse into the life of the workers and colony farm families that lived there. Bring your walking shoes for this fascinating, hour-long tour. |
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MARK YOUR CALENDERS
MOTHER'S DAY TEA PARTY ON MAY 8, 2021
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Please plan to celebrate Mom on Saturday, May 8, 2021 at the Kearney Mansion Museum with a traditional tea party. The planned event is scheduled to be held on the Mansion's veranda with tables well-spaced apart. The event offers two seating times for tea at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM and is expected to sell out. In the event that Fresno County is not in Tier 3 by May, this event can be held virtually with beautiful tea boxes packaged for enjoyment at home during an online program.
Don't miss this special day. Ticket includes traditional tea service, a tour of Kearney Mansion, passes to view the current exhibition in the new Museum Gallery and a 10% discount coupon for use in the Museum Store.
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VIRTUAL TIME TRAVELERS EVENT
VISITS FRESNO COUNTY IN THE 19TH CENTURY
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Join us for a trip to Fresno County from 1856 to 1910 at out Virtual Time Travelers event. The experience offers 12 immersive and unique lessons will take students on a journey to the America of the late 1800s and will share the story of Fresno County in the 19th century through activities, video presentations and historic images. You will meet Fresno County's first doctor, first teacher and early pioneers. Tour a general store, learn about turn-of-the-century medicine, visit Fresno's colorful Chinatown and see what daily life was like during this historic time. Each lesson includes a discussion guide along with a video or photo gallery and narratives.
This project has been made possible by: Educational Employees Credit Union, Clovis Unified School District, Fresno Unified School District, Assemi Group Inc, The Smittcamp Family Foundation, The Bonner Family Foundation and California Bank and Trust, with additional support from the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools and Bank of America.
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COVID-19 UPDATE
Fresno County returned to Tier 2 - Substantial on March 30, 2021. This change has allowed for the Kearney Mansion Museum & Gallery to reopen at 25% capacity with precautions. We will begin tours of the Mansion for small groups beginning on Friday, April 30, 2021. The archive will remain closed to in person research, but we are accepting research requests via e-mail.
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THE FRESNO COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
valleyhistory.org
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