Charles James Brenham
Encyclopedia
Charles James Brenham was the second and fourth mayor of San Francisco in 1851 and from 1852 to 1853.
Brenham was born on November 6, 1817 in Frankfort, Kentucky
. At an early age, he left home to work on riverboats on the Mississippi
. By age twenty, he ran his own steamship. He learned the hard lessons of self-reliance and endurance after seeing other ships sink and burn.
In 1849, he moved to California, where he ferried passengers between San Francisco and Sacramento
. Not long thereafter, he was asked by the Whig
party to run for mayor of San Francisco. He refused at first, but later acquiesced on the condition that he not leave his ship to campaign and that if he won, his duties as mayor did not interfere with his ferry business.
He lost to John W. Geary
in the 1850 election but ran again in 1851 at the Whigs' insistence. He won the 1851 election and became mayor on May 5 of that year.
During Geary's term the city went into massive debt and violent crime became an epidemic in the city. While a new city charter allowed the city to issue bonds to pay off the debt, the crime rate skyrocketed to such a point that the citizens began forming squads called Committees of Vigilance
.
Brenham's response to the vigilance committees was to provide police protection to accused criminals to prevent lynchings. (He may have taken other measures—it is said that Brenham stood in front of a vigilante mob with his watch and gave the crowd ten minutes to disperse or face arrest, resulting in a relatively peaceful night in the city.)
The adoption of another city charter pushed forward the date of the next mayoral election and Stephen Randall Harris
was voted into office unanimously as the only official candidate. Brenham contested the election and refused to allow Harris to sit in the mayor's office until the California Supreme Court declare the election valid on December 27, 1851.
Brenham was reelected as mayor in September 1852. While crime continued to be an issue, immigration had led to higher food prices and water shortages. Brenham signed a city ordinance that allowed water to pumped in from a nearby lake. Brenham also cut city spending dramatically and resisted (along with four San Francisco assemblymen) attempts by the state to fill in sections of the San Francisco Bay
and selling the filled in sections as lots to pay off a huge state deficit.
After the end of his second term, he went into banking. However, he was soon unemployed after his banking house, Sanders & Brenham at 129 Montgomery St., failed. After a succession of odd jobs, he ultimately became an agent for a steamship company.
He died of apoplexy
in San Francisco on May 10, 1876, aged 58.
Brenham was born on November 6, 1817 in Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
. At an early age, he left home to work on riverboats on the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. By age twenty, he ran his own steamship. He learned the hard lessons of self-reliance and endurance after seeing other ships sink and burn.
In 1849, he moved to California, where he ferried passengers between San Francisco and Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. Not long thereafter, he was asked by the Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
party to run for mayor of San Francisco. He refused at first, but later acquiesced on the condition that he not leave his ship to campaign and that if he won, his duties as mayor did not interfere with his ferry business.
He lost to John W. Geary
John W. Geary
John White Geary was an American lawyer, politician, Freemason, and a Union general in the American Civil War...
in the 1850 election but ran again in 1851 at the Whigs' insistence. He won the 1851 election and became mayor on May 5 of that year.
During Geary's term the city went into massive debt and violent crime became an epidemic in the city. While a new city charter allowed the city to issue bonds to pay off the debt, the crime rate skyrocketed to such a point that the citizens began forming squads called Committees of Vigilance
San Francisco Vigilance Movement
The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance was a popular ad hoc organization formed in 1851 and revived in 1856. Their purpose was to rein in rampant crime and government corruption. They were among the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of the American Old West.These militias...
.
Brenham's response to the vigilance committees was to provide police protection to accused criminals to prevent lynchings. (He may have taken other measures—it is said that Brenham stood in front of a vigilante mob with his watch and gave the crowd ten minutes to disperse or face arrest, resulting in a relatively peaceful night in the city.)
The adoption of another city charter pushed forward the date of the next mayoral election and Stephen Randall Harris
Stephen Randall Harris
Stephen Randall Harris was the third mayor of San Francisco from January 1 – October 2, 1852.He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. After his father was killed in the War of 1812, he went to live with relatives. He was then apprenticed to a surgeon and entered New York's College of Physicians and...
was voted into office unanimously as the only official candidate. Brenham contested the election and refused to allow Harris to sit in the mayor's office until the California Supreme Court declare the election valid on December 27, 1851.
Brenham was reelected as mayor in September 1852. While crime continued to be an issue, immigration had led to higher food prices and water shortages. Brenham signed a city ordinance that allowed water to pumped in from a nearby lake. Brenham also cut city spending dramatically and resisted (along with four San Francisco assemblymen) attempts by the state to fill in sections of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
and selling the filled in sections as lots to pay off a huge state deficit.
After the end of his second term, he went into banking. However, he was soon unemployed after his banking house, Sanders & Brenham at 129 Montgomery St., failed. After a succession of odd jobs, he ultimately became an agent for a steamship company.
He died of apoplexy
Apoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
in San Francisco on May 10, 1876, aged 58.
Source
- Heintz, William F., San Francisco's Mayors: 1850–1880. From the Gold Rush to the Silver Bonanza. Woodside, CA: Gilbert Roberts Publications, 1975. (Library of Congress Card No. 75-17094)
See also
- List of Mayors of San Francisco, California