Statement of Dr. R. Beverly Cole

As related to his involvement in the Vigilance Committee of 1856

 At the time of the shooting of James King of William by James Casey, I was called with other passengers to the side of the wounded man after he was picked up and conveyed to the office of an Express company, corner of Washington and Montgomery Sts. Probably Wells Fargo Co.'s. When I entered, he was surrounded by a crowd of people, and I found one surgeon, Dr. Nuttall, in attendance, who had reached him before I did, each of us having been summoned by friends. He turned to me with an expression of confidence, as I interpreted it at the time, growing out of a knowledge which he had of a wound similar in character which I had been the recipient of two years before, and from which I recovered. We were personal friends to begin with, intimate friends indeed. At this time I found the wounded man, when I assisted in relieving of his clothing, to have a wound in the shoulder, right or left I cannot recollect which, about midway between the point of the acromial process of the shoulder and the sternum or breastbone, and an inch below the clavicle or collar bone. The wound was discovered on examination to range upward and outward. The wound was produced evidently by a ball projected, as was afterwards determined, by a Colts' navy revolver, which made its exit from the body through the posterior boundary of the axilla. Very soon several of the medical gentlemen arrived, and Dr Nuttal proceeded to staunch the hemorrhage by introducing into the wound a small sized surgeon's sponge, in which all the surgeons present acquiesced, to the best of my recollection. The wounded man was allowed to remain in the Express Company's office during the entire night, reaction not having taken place sufficiently to justify his removal, and he was left in my charge during the night, the proper and usual treatment in such cases having been instituted, upon consultation, and carried out in detail. In the morning some little attempt at reaction was apparent, and he was removed to quarters in Montgomery Block Building, where he remained until his death, which occurred on the fourth day. During the first night, while I was in charge, he frequently turned to me, and grasped my hand, and asked me if in my judgment there was any hope for him, and seemed to build what courage or hope he had when the history of my case, with which he was entirely familiar, being a constant and daily visitor an my bedside during my illness. He retained his consciousness up to the last day and to the last hour of his illness. The sponge was retained up to the morning of the day in which he died, to the best of my recollection and it was in consequence of the retention of the sponge for so long a time, which was in conflict with my better judgment, that in the morning or the third day retired from and severed my connection with the case, not being sustained in my opinions and suggestions by the other physicians in attendance, who were Drs. Hammond, Bartody and Toland. Dr. Nuttall had retired the first night. The sponge was removed on the morning of the day on which he died, and grave professional suspicion arose as to the agency of the additional shock to the nervous system produced by the removal of the sponge and subsequent examination of the wound with the finger and instruments, in producing the sudden and unexpected termination of the case.

On the night of the wound of Mr. King, I learned while in attendance at his side, that an organization was contemplated and in process of formation, similar in character to one or two others that had proceeded it in years past, known as the Vigilance Committee. I was led to believe that this was brought about not only by the shooting of Mr. King, but also by the shooting of Gen. Richardson, U.S. Marshal, by a man by the name or Cera, which took place but a short time before, together with many similar acts, in which the same class of men as were engaged in these two transactions were conspicuously concerned. I repaired, as soon as I could be relieved during the evening by the attendance of another surgeon, to the warehouse of Portoleo near North Point, and there I found an assemblage of a hundred or more gentlemen, representing the various interests of the city, commercial, financial, professional, mechanical, and there I enrolled my name and my number was 252. The next morning a meeting was held on Sacramento, between Leidesdorff and Sansome Sts., which I attended, and I assisted in the further organization of the Committee, and at which meeting a vote was taken to withdraw the patronage of the merchants, and particularly of the auction houses, from the Herald which had enjoyed that patronage up to that time, and transfer it to the Alta Californian, which had come out boldly and fearlessly in support of the action of the Committee, which had been denounced violently by the Herald. I voted against the Herald and in favor of the Alta, as supporting the movement in which we were engaged.

As soon as the Committee assumed such propositions and acquired such perfection of organization as to satisfy active operations, it was determined to proceed to the County Jail, and at any cost of life or property, to wrest from the custody of the Sheriff both Casey, who had shot Mr. King, and Cera, who had killed Gen. Richardson. At this time the Committee had been segregated into companies of a hundred men each, and officers appointed by a vote of the members of each company. They were enrolled in accordance with the members previously taken. Hence I was enrolled in the Third Company, to the command of which was elected Mr. Gavett, who had a China crockery establishment on California St. below Montgomery. I was made a Surgeon in this embryonic stage of the organization of Co.3, of which I was a member, and was present at the opening of the jail and the taking of Casey and Cera. I was there in my private carriage in private capacity, ready, however, to render any necessary professional assistance. They were taken from the jail to the rooms of the Committee, on Sacramento St. below Grant. Here these two men were tried by a sub-committee of the whole, which was denominated the Executive Committee, who conducted these and all subsequent trials of such as were brought before them, charged with crime. There was a Judge Advocate appointed by the Executive Committee, and as I understood it, it was optional with the defendant to select from the Committee his own attorney. I understood that the trials were conducted with the same decorum as before a regular legal tribunal, the individual in trial being allowed to plead his cause or assist his attorney during his trial. They were tried, convicted , and sentenced to be hung, and the sentence was carried into execution from two windows of the armory of the Committee. Being the first medical man whose name was enrolled in the Committee, I was required by the proper authorities,--I think it was Gen. Doane who was Marshal of the Committee, -- to be present at the execution of Casey and Cera, which command I obeyed, and in my professional capacity passed upon the question of death.

Soon after this, from the attitude which the state authorities assumed towards the Committee, it became necessary to fortify the building by throwing up breastworks round the front, consisting of gunny sacks filled with sand, from which fact the house itself acquired the name of Fort Gunnybags.

So soon as the Committee was perfectly organized in its executive departments, and the election of its various field officers was held, it was thought proper and best to organize its medical department, which up to this time I had solely represented, although these had in the meantime been enrolled in the Committee some forty or fifty members of the medical profession. A meeting was held, at my instance, of the members of the Committee who were medical men, with a view to organizing a medical corps and establishing a professional hospital in the buildings, these being two or three buildings brought into requisition, all communicating with each other. In one of these a large hall was assigned to hospital purposes, which was provided with all the probable necessary appliances of a hospital devoted to the immediate cure or charge of injuries. At this meeting, though I was the oldest medical member of the Committee, a Dr. J. B. Pigne, being the oldest physician present, was called to the chair. But the result of the meeting was in no wise satisfactory, nor did it result in any proper, efficient or satisfactory organization of the medical corps, and the consequence was that each physician fell back to the charge of the particular corps to which he had been assigned, in accordance with his number of enrollment, until all of the officers, from the second in command down to the Second Lieutenants of each company, including the Colonels and Majors of regiments and the Captains and Lieutenants of companies, numbering some three or four hundred officers, had signed a petition of their own accord and without my knowledge, addressed to the Grand Marshall and Executive Committee, requesting my appointment, as Surgeon General of the whole Committee. In accordance with this petition, there was issued to me, by Gen. Doune, the Marshal of the military forces of the Committee, in accordance with his own wish and the expressed wish of the Executive Committee, a Certificate of appointment to the rank desired, making me surgeon of his staff, which position I held till the disbandment of the Committee. During this service, covering a period of four months or thereabouts, I performed all of the professional duties which devolved upon the medical department of the Committee, including attention to several accidental injuries from gunshots, and particularly the case of S.C. Hopkins, who was stabbed in the neck with a Bowie knife, in the hand of Chief Justice D. S. Terry of the Supreme Bench of the State of California. During all this time I held myself in readiness to respond to the signal which was determined upon and recognized by the Committee as being the proper call to arms, and I kept a horse day and night in the stable for that duty, constantly saddled and bridled. During this time, I witnessed and was a party to, so far as I was required to be in my military and professional relations to the Committee the hanging of Brace and Heatherington, and passed upon the question of life and death in these cases. Heatherington was arrested, tried, convicted and executed for the killing of Dr. Randall. Brace, who has committed many thefts, burglaries and highway robberies, was pursued by the police of the Committee into some chaparral upon the southern border of the bay, and there was surrounded and finally starved out and compelled to surrender.
It became my duty during this service to visit the prisoners daily, there having been cells constructed in the Committee rooms, one of which was assigned to each prisoner. I visited them with reference to their physical health and condition, passing upon the same, prescribing when necessary. During one of my visits to Brace, who could not receive any liquor without my order , and who I know had received none during that day, he made the assertion, in the course of conversation, that he was born a thief, that he was created a thief in his mother's womb, and was brought forth as such, and would die as such: and as evidence of the fact that nature had designed him as a pickpocket with which he had been frequently charged, he, with perfect facility and ease, and the utmost coolness, slipped his hand out of the handcuffs which the officers had put upon him as a safeguard, knowing his intrepid character, and put his finger to his nose to me, and then with equal facility restored his hands to the cuffs, and a casual observer would never have suspected that it was possible. Food, raiment and drink were admitted to these prisoners only upon my written requisition, and I am

consequently responsible for all that transpired as growing out of these requisitions and preferred to verify the statements that I here make. On the morning of the execution of Brace and Heatherington, I made my usual visit to the prisoners, found them in usual good health, Heatherington being somewhat depressed, yet evidently making an effort to conceal that fact, whilst Brace assumed, as he had always done when I visited him, the air of a bravado, cursing his mother, cursing his father, his God, his country, and particularly the Committee yet beneath this manner, there was evidently a want of primness, and I consequently allowed him to have, assembled for him, at ten o'clock in the morning one ounce of brandy, and an hour before his execution one ounce more, and this, I solemnly aver, was every drop of stimulus that he received during the day of his execution, and was as much as he received on any day during his incarceration and trial. During the executions, being in attendance in my professional capacity, I have my position near the scaffold, and I could distinctly hear all that was said and witness all that transpired. Heatherington addressed the assemblage, consisting of the Committee principally, though the house tops around were literally covered with a living mass of idle lookers on, and explained the reasons for his action, and attempted to justify himself in the eyes of his fellowmen. During his speech, which was well tempered and characterized by discretion and intelligence, Brace assumed, as he had always done, the air of a bravado, and a manner which was calculated to convey to the bystanders and members of the Committee the impression that he was under the influence of liquor, but I positively knew it to have been impossible for him to have received from anyone liquor in addition to that which I had prescribed for him, and I knew therefore that his whole manner upon the scaffold was that of a desperado and bravado, he turned to Heatherington and damned him, insisted upon his shutting his mouth and declared to those around him that he was going to hell, and wanted to go at once, without loss of time, without being delayed or molested by the idle harangue of Heatherington, who stood by his side and was trying in his speech to justify his own action. In this manner he submitted to the drawing of the cap over his face, having been properly pinioned, and met his death. I passed upon the question of death before each one was cut down, and after having them cut down, they were removed to the Committee rooms, and there I more particularly examined them, and when satisfied that life was extinct, turned them over to the proper authorities of the Committee.
During the time of the incarceration of Brace and Heatherington many arrests were made and the parties were disposed of by being expatriated or sent away upon vessels to various ports. Amongst others, Charles P. Duane was arrested, the Committees having been called together by the usual signal of the bell, which was placed upon the roof of the building, and upon repairing to the rendezvous I discovered that the police had in charge, in a hollow square, prisoner, whom I discovered to be Mr. Duane, who was escorted to the Committee rooms and placed in durance vile. Also, in what particular date I don't remember, as I was passing up the street, I heard the signal from the bell, and rushed to the Committee rooms. There I learned that there had been an order for the arrest of one Maloney, who, I was informed, had taken refuge in the building at the northwest corner of Washington and Kearny Sts., on the ground floor of which was located the banking house of Palmer Cook, & Co., the upper floor being occupied by law offices. The said party was then particularly under the protection of Judge D.S. Terry of the Supreme Bench. A party of the police force of the Vigilance Committee, under the order of S.C. Hopkins, attempted to make the arrest. They called at this building, and Terry and the friend of the accused refused to deliver him up, but escaped, or attempted to, from another door of the building, in charge of the accused. Hopkins, with his posse, followed, and went up and laid hands on the accused, when Judge Terry, who was at his side, turned upon him most fiercely drawing a Bowie knife, and drove it through his neck, from left to right, in the course of which the knife opened the larynx, the oesophagus, and divided the superior thyroid artery, which is one of the largest branches of the carotid artery. He fell, and was carried into the engine house of the Pennsylvania Engine Co. No. 12, located upon Jackson St. above Kearny, on the north side, of which Company Hopkins, I believe, was a member, or at all events, he was a member of the National Guard, a military company occupying the upper floor of said Engine house as an armory. As I approached the building where I had learned that Judge Terry and his friend the accused were ensconced, I saw a crowd, and the evidence of great excitement. On repairing to the spot to which I was directed, I entered the building, and there I found the wounded man Hopkins sitting on a chair, bleeding profusely from the wound, and also from the mouth and nose, extremely pale and ensanguined, and immediately on entering, he fell into the arms of those surrounding him, in a state of syncope from the loss of blood. I had him laid upon the floor, and administered stimulants, restoratives oe so soon as reaction came on, hemorrhage recurred, and I compressed the vessel from without, which controlled the hemorrhage completely, whilst I had him carried into the meeting room of the Engine company, and there placed upon a lounge and cushion. It soon became apparent, from the excessive loss of blood to which he had been subjected that ligation of the vessel involved was indispensably necessary, that a recurrence of hemorrhage in any degree must necessarily terminate his life. Meanwhile, other physicians arrived upon the ground, both members and nonmembers of the Committee, and whilst I left the compression of the vessel in the charge of another, several of those assembled and myself conferred as to the necessity of immediately ligation the carotid artery of the right side, from which was given off the wounded vessel. The conclusion being unanimous as to its propmety, I proceeded at once to the operation, having nothing at hand

in the shape of instruments, save such as are found and in only in the pricket case. It was now twilight, when it was too light to utilize artificial light, and yet too dark to see with distinctness at every step of the operation. Yet it was successfully performed, the man being so far exhausted from loss of blood, however, before the commencement of the operation, that when the ligatures were about to be thrown around the vessel, he had become so weak as to induce one of the surgeons present to urge me to be a quick as possible, he having lost his pulse, and to all appearances being in extremis. The great danger of applying the ligature at this moment was the liability, through want of sufficient light, of including within the same (the ligature) the pneumogastric nerve, which undoubtedly, had it occurred, would have proved fatal, and which was avoided only through the sense of touch or feeling, rather than by the aid of light and vision. Stimulants were applied through the operation and subsequently, with a view to sustaining him and inducing reaction from the loss of blood, which being accomplished, a cot was ordered brought to the room, and he was placed upon it in bed where he was kept during the period of some three weeks, covering his treatment, during which, from first to last, the Executive Committee of the Vigilance Committee made ample provision for his care, nursing and maintenance, keeping two officers in charge of the doors, subject to my order only, who were placed there not only to keep away the crowds that assembled day and night but to exclude idlers and the curious, in which latter class were included the numerous friends, official and social of Judge Terry, who had inflicted the wound, all of whom were exceedingly exercised as to the probable result of Hopkins's case, upon which unquestionably hinged the verdict and the fate of Judge Terry, who without doubt would have been hanged had the case of Mr. Hopkins terminated fatally. During this time, so great was the interest felt in Judge Terry's fate by his friends in every quarter of the state, that I was hourly in receipt of telegrams from medical men and laymen from every quarter, and particularly from Stockton, inquiring as to Hopkins condition, and the probable result of the case and I know that there was an organization brought into existence after the stabbing of Hopkins, composed of the friends of Judge Terry, who were sworn, in the event of Hopkins' death, to take my life, under the conviction that I was the employee of the Vigilance Committee, and that, in order to establish a precedent and principle from the Committee's standpoint, I would sacrifice the life of Hopkins to that end whereas the truth was that in my whole connection with that Committee, I was actuated and impelled solely to see justice done, and where the laws, however perfect they may have been, were so patently maladministered, as they were, that I recognize the right of the people, in their sovereignty, to rise and to administer justice, irrespective of the representatives of the law, and I never expected to and never did, receive one sow for my services in this case, nor in any other, during my service of four months, or the continuance of the Committee nor did the Committee, either as a whole, or any individual member of the same ever tender to me, directly or indirectly, any sum for my services, or intimate to me but that their greatest anxiety was that Hopkins should be saved, recognizing as they did the necessary consequence to Judge Terry in the event of his death, and I was daily visited by the various members of the Executive Committee, and in every interview with them, the greatest possible anxiety was expressed in that direction, each seeming to recognize the magnitude and importance of such a result, which it was so desirable, if in any manner possible, to avert. On the fifth day, erysipelas occurred in the wound produced by the operation, and the greatest anxiety was felt by me as to the probable result, for the reason that erysipelas attacking a ligated vessel is extremely apt to dissolve the plug produced by the ligature, and reproduce hemorrhage and extension of the inflammation thereby greatly increasing the liability of death resulting, particularly in one already so frustrated by an excessive loss of blood. But through the administration of the proper remedial agents, the erysipelas subsided after four days, and on the twelfth day after the operation the ligature was cast off, and the healing of the wound progressed until at the expiration of the third week he was discharged cured.

It may be worth while to mention that during the incarceration of Judge Terry and progress of his trial, I had occasion to visit him in my professional capacity, as other prisoners, and on one occasion I met the wife of Judge Terry in the cell with him. I believe that was the second or third day after his arrest. On the occasion of one of my visits, whilst the Executive committee were endeavoring to induce him to resign his position of Chief Justice. Mrs. Terry raised her voice and said "Judge Terry, I would rather see you hanged from one of those windows than to recognize that you were compelled to resign your official position!" --so distinguished was this lady for courage, decision and pride.
During the process of the trial of Judge Terry, a character whose sobriquet was Yankee Sullivan, a notorious pot house politician, shoulder striker and ballot box stuffer, was arrested and incarcerated in one of the cells. In my repeated visits, in the line of my duty, to the said Sullivan, he manifested great apprehension as to his fate, recognizing, as he confessed to me, that he had done many things that he ought not to have done, and left many things that he should have done. Early after his incarceration he became impressed with the concern that he would be convicted and executed by the Committee, under the impression that them were a band of stranglers, rather than men who were actuated by correct and just motives and principles, and that there would be in their hands no earthly hope for him and this idea prayed upon his mind so constantly, day

and night, that I am led to believe that it disturbed the throne of his intellect, and though I had seen him in the evening, and talked with him, and had to the utmost of my ability endeavored to quiet his mind as to his apprehensions, reasoning with him that his offenses had not been of such character and magnitude as to justify them, the Committee, in taking his life, and that the most that would be likely to befall him would be exportation, -- yet so firmly was this thought impressed upon him that during the night he unquestionably put an end to his own life, as I am led to believe from the fact that in the morning, in being called early at daylight, and repairing to the rooms, and entering his cell, I found him dead and cold, lying on his bed, with an ordinary dinner knife lying by his side, partially clenched by his right hand, whilst at the bend of the elbow at the left, which was bared, I discovered a deep gash or wound, such as would be produced by such an implement, and which on examination I discovered to extend so deeply as to involve the brachial artery, which is the main vessel of the arm, and from which he has without doubt bled to death, there being a large pool of blood, sufficient to cause his death, upon the floor, immediately beneath the arm and elbow, which hung over the side of the bed, the bed itself being in a large measure saturated with blood. The eyes were open, and there was no evidence of struggling nor of violence upon his person, other than the wound alluded to, and hence the only inference to be drawn was that it was a case of self murder. I viewed the room, discovered upon the table the remnants of his last meal upon a plate, by which there was also a fork, and the knife with which the wound had doubtless been inflicted was the knife which had accompanied his meal. It was so quietly done, and apparently without any convulsion or struggle or moaning or other sign that even the guard at the door of his cell on the outside seemed not to be acquainted with the fact until the man who had charge of his cell and supplied him with his meals, entered in the morning on his roll of duty and discovered his condition. It was the opinion of myself and others, on viewing the room, its furniture, its surroundings, and the body, that it was a case of self murder, and that he had been dead several hours, since his body was both cold and stiffened by the rigor mortis.

During Hopkins' illness, there was a regular bulletin issued daily of his condition, and while he was beginning to convalesce, a gentleman whose name I have forgotten, a partner of Judge Terry in some flour mill located in San Joaquin County, called upon me, -- whether with authority or in his own individual capacity I cannot state clearly, -- and said to me, in a private conversation, after inquiring as to Hopkins's condition, that he would give me a check for ten thousand dollars if I would only save Hopkins's life whereupon I replied that my own self respect, my own personal status in the community and in the Committee, as well as my professional pride, would impel me to do all in my power to save his life, independent off the importance, that I recognized of the situation of Judge Terry, who was then Chief Justice of the State, and that no proffer or offer such as he had made me could in anywise influence me additionally in that direction. In my capacity of surgeon of staff of the Marshall, it made me de facto the Surgeon General, or ranking Surgeon of the Committee, and during this time had necessity arisen, it would have been competent for me to have commanded assistance and service of any of the medical gentlemen who had enrolled themselves as such in the Committee. But, however, no such necessity arose or presented itself, and so far as my knowledge goes, and I believe it to be complete, I attended to all of those who were wounded, by accident or otherwise, of the members of the Committee, whilst on duty and I recognized this as my share, as a citizen of the State and city , of duty to the Committee.
During my connection with this body, I never recognized or countenanced, from first to last, any right on the part of the Committee or the individual members thereof to introduce the question of politics into its discussions or movements. There were others, however, who did not act on this principle. E. H. Washbourne, a member of the Committee, and I think one or the Executive Committee, then an auctioneer of prominence in the city, inaugurated, with his allies and coadjutors, members of the Committee, a political movement, just about the time of the disbandment of the Committee, and they caused a call to be made signed by many members of the said Committee, upon the Citizens of San Francisco, to convene in mass meeting, in front of the American Exchange, on the west side of Sansome St. between California and Sacramento, and there set in motion the call which eventuated in the notorious Vigilance, who were by that meeting, which duly assembled according the notice, authorized to organize themselves into a Nominating Committee, who in a few days presented the results of their labors and deliberations in the shape of a ticket for municipal officers, at the head of which the name of E.W. Brewer appeared for the position of Mayor. I was strenuously opposed to any such movement, which not only compromised the dignity of the Committee, but tended to detract from the value and importance of the service they had performed, in the mind of the community at large, and to create a suspicion as to their real purpose and aim, and in evidence of my disapproval of the movement on the part of some of the leading members of the Committee in a political direction, I consented, much against my will, to accept a nomination for Mayor as against what was recognized as the Vigilance Committee ticket, without any earthly hope or success, but purely with a view of placing myself on record as being opposed to the prostitution of this Committee to political purposes, contrary to its original and well known design and character. The advantage which these men thus took of their position as members of the Vigilance Committee to accomplish their own selfish ends, and the prestige which they secured by their connection with a body so powerful, so bold and so successful in all its undertakings, resulted in the success of their movement in the political field, their ticket, being elected by an overwhelming majority, and that on which my name appeared being correspondingly defeated. But the movement was, nevertheless a very discreditable one, and I have never ceased to bestow upon it my entire condemnation.