John Alexander Brewster
Encyclopedia
John Alexander Brewster was the fourth California
Surveyor General, serving from 1856 to 1858.
He first traveled to California with explorer John C. Frémont
. Although the exact date of his arrival in California is not known, it probably predated the arrival of any other Surveyor General; he was most likely a resident of California prior to the Gold Rush
. Brewster was elected Surveyor of Sonoma County
, and his 1854 map of Santa Rosa
was the first map recorded in that county.
collapsed and a new political party emerged. This party called itself the American Party and its candidates were elected overwhelmingly in the 1855 California state election. General John A. Brewster was elected as a member of the American Party.
Although popular in its day, the American party’s platform opposing the election of Roman Catholics and "foreigners" was controversial. The American Party came to be known as the "Know Nothing Party", because when asked about its platform, the members said: "I know nothing".
In October 1856, he led a second expedition through Calaveras County. In his Annual Report of 1856, Brewster recommended funding the survey and construction of 6 major routes into California, as well as the building of other roads, and a railroad for commerce and transportation.
General Brewster discovered that surveys of Swamp and Overflowed lands by the United States Deputy Surveyors differed, in some cases by several million acres, from the amounts recommended by the California Surveyor General to be donated to the State.
Like General Marlette before him, Brewster noted significant errors in surveys of county boundaries, calling for alterations in the boundaries of several counties to avoid ambiguity, since, “in some instances it is impossible to determine the lines at all.”
"The existing official map of the State is a broad burlesque upon the topography of California…and (it) should be replaced at once by a map conforming to the true character of the country.” It is not known if Brewster ever completed a new, official map.
. The General and his wife returned to California and made their home in Sonoma
.
General Brewster mustered in to the 63rd Indiana Volunteers, US (Union) Army during the American Civil War
. He penned the following to his infant daughter during his service:
Brewster survived the Civil War, and died in California at the age of 62. He is interred in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, Colma, California
.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Surveyor General, serving from 1856 to 1858.
He first traveled to California with explorer John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
. Although the exact date of his arrival in California is not known, it probably predated the arrival of any other Surveyor General; he was most likely a resident of California prior to the Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. Brewster was elected Surveyor of Sonoma County
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
, and his 1854 map of Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
was the first map recorded in that county.
Know-Nothings
In the early 1850s, the Whig partyWhig 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...
collapsed and a new political party emerged. This party called itself the American Party and its candidates were elected overwhelmingly in the 1855 California state election. General John A. Brewster was elected as a member of the American Party.
Although popular in its day, the American party’s platform opposing the election of Roman Catholics and "foreigners" was controversial. The American Party came to be known as the "Know Nothing Party", because when asked about its platform, the members said: "I know nothing".
Wagon roads
By the mid-1850s, the public cry for developed wagon roads became so insistent that two routes over the Sierra Nevada mountains were proposed. In August 1856, Brewster led a reconnaissance party to Downieville, Sierra County, in order to examine one of these alternative routes over the Sierras. On the eastern side of Sierra County, they
“… passed parties of Indians, over 350 in number, belonging to two different tribes, who had been holding a “grand talk,” to settle some disputes about their hunting grounds; and their council having broken up, they were now on their way to their autumnal haunts. A few had horses, on which the happy possessors pranced in great state, while the squaws and half grown children, dragged after them the lodge-poles, on which were fastened their household gear, and in some instances, a papoose, whose glittering eyes shone out in wonderment amid the confused mass of Indian baggage.” Surveyor General’s Annual Report, 1856
In October 1856, he led a second expedition through Calaveras County. In his Annual Report of 1856, Brewster recommended funding the survey and construction of 6 major routes into California, as well as the building of other roads, and a railroad for commerce and transportation.
Official problems
General Brewster inherited a legacy of problems with his office.“…it often happens that survey returns of locations of warrants are made when the register in this office shows the same to have been located in a different county and by a different person. The law should either prescribe some system, or authorize the Surveyor General to issue instructions whereby this conflict of title should be avoided.” - from the Surveyor General's Annual Report of 1856.
General Brewster discovered that surveys of Swamp and Overflowed lands by the United States Deputy Surveyors differed, in some cases by several million acres, from the amounts recommended by the California Surveyor General to be donated to the State.
Like General Marlette before him, Brewster noted significant errors in surveys of county boundaries, calling for alterations in the boundaries of several counties to avoid ambiguity, since, “in some instances it is impossible to determine the lines at all.”
"The existing official map of the State is a broad burlesque upon the topography of California…and (it) should be replaced at once by a map conforming to the true character of the country.” It is not known if Brewster ever completed a new, official map.
Family life
After his term as Surveyor General, Brewster traveled east to marry Julia E. Kaene, a native of Canada, on November 1, 1858, in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. The General and his wife returned to California and made their home in Sonoma
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
.
General Brewster mustered in to the 63rd Indiana Volunteers, US (Union) Army during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He penned the following to his infant daughter during his service:
- John A. Brewster
…Should I fall on the battlefield or fall a victim to the disease of camp, remember you are a soldier’s daughter, to whom a legacy has been left, - a charge to so live that beyond the grave you may be reunited to brother, and mother, & the father who so dearly loved you, & who now leaves you to the God who doeth all things well.
Brewster survived the Civil War, and died in California at the age of 62. He is interred in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, Colma, California
Colma, California
Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924....
.