Historical Tidbits: July 4, 1880-1881, San Francisco
Daily Diary, July 4, 2023, Day 1038
Near the beginning of Deadly Proof, the fourth book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, I took most of the main characters to a picnic at Jefferson Square, a local park, to celebrate the Fourth of July. This permitted me to introduce (or remind readers) of a good number of the characters they had met in earlier books all at once, as well as describe what the real Fourth of July celebration in 1880 San Francisco was like.
Everything I mention came from the San Francisco Chronicle, which gave a detailed account of the planned activities ahead of time and then reported on how the festivities went afterwards, including the amusing incident described in the second excerpt. There were also fireworks planned in a vacant lot near Jefferson Square, where the young boys were going to go, after the picnic.
Here is the description in the Chronicle of these planned fireworks; “The block of land in the Westeren Addition bounded by Post Sutter, Pierce and Scoot streets, has been selected by the Committee for the pyrotechnic display n the evening. The fireworks will consist of eighteen set pieces, costing from $75-$300 a piece, with side accompaniments of innumerable sky-rockets, roman candles, bombs, etc.”—San Francisco Examiner, July 1, 1880
The third excerpt comes from the short story Beatrice Bests the Burglars, that was set a year after the events of Deadly Proof, and I assumed I would learn the same level of detail about the day’s festivity from the local newspapers. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that San Francisco had canceled the July Fourth parade and events because two days earlier President Garfield had been shot in what would eventually be a fatal assassination attempt. Nevertheless, I decided to still send my characters off to picnic, since later articles made it clear that this decision didn’t discourage people from celebrating the day, often with their own, unsanctioned, pyrotechnics!
The local newspapers had been filled the week before with advertisements for various devices, despite how dangerous this was in a city built of wood that had already suffered innumerable devastating fires. Reports for the day itself included numerous small fires that kept the local firefighters very busy. I confess, living as we do, overlooking a canyon filled with flammable brush, in a city that has had its own history of devastating fires, I identified with Beatrice O’Rourke’s anxiety, and I am glad we have had such cool, drizzling weather the past months so we aren’t quite the tinderbox of the past couple of years of drought.
In any event, I hope as you read these three excerpts, you are able to enjoy vicariously celebrating Independence Day as it was experienced in the 19th century.
Excerpt 1:
Jefferson Square Park was considerably more crowded by the time the first group of friends and boarders returned from watching the parade. The first to arrive were three of her boarders, Mr. David Chapman, and Mrs. Barbara Hewitt and her son Jamie, along with her maid Kathleen’s younger brother Ian. They’d all been invited to see the parade from the upper floors of the firm where Chapman worked.
Annie, watching the boys tell Kathleen and Beatrice about the parade, said to Barbara Hewitt, “They certainly seemed to have had a splendid time. How long did the march go on? I expected you all would get to the park earlier. Were the crowds just awful once the parade ended?”
Nate was now two hours late, and she was trying not to worry that more than crowded horse cars were the cause. What if he’d gotten cold feet after last night? Setting the date making their future together all too real. No, she was being silly.
“My goodness, yes. While the tail-end of the procession passed us around three, just getting across Market Street took forever.”
Annie turned to Jamie who had come up beside them, saying, “What was your favorite part of the procession?”
“Oh, the wagon with the mining camp. They were so jolly. There was a fiddler, and they were doing some sort of jig. You should have seen the cart that was supposed to be the North Pole with the ship the Jennette that is stuck up there. The ice looked so real, and there was a polar bear and everything.”
“My, that does sound wonderful. I gather there were a good number of bands. We could hear some of them as we left the boarding house. They must have been quite loud.”
“Deafening, some of them,” said Barbara. “Each trying to outdo the next.”
“Well, from where you were watching the parade, you were probably getting them coming and going,” Annie said. “I am just glad everyone had a good time. Jamie, why don’t you go and ask Mrs. O’Rourke to start distributing the food? I expect you and Ian are pretty hungry after all that excitement.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jamie said with fervor and ran back over to Beatrice.
His mother laughed and said, “You would think they hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast, but Mr. Chapman was so thoughtful––providing lemonade and sandwiches for us all. I don’t see Laura yet. Is Mr. Dawson bringing her?”
“No, Laura was invited by her friend Kitty Blaine to attend the procession, and I do believe they were going to attend the literary and musical events after the parade. As for Nate, I don’t know what has kept him.”
Barbara pointed towards the street and said, “Look, isn’t that Laura getting out of that carriage? Oh, and there is Kitty behind her.”
“Oh, Annie, Barbara, what an extraordinary treat today has been,” Laura said, running up and giving each of them a hug. “Kitty’s father rented a room right at the corner of Third and Market, so we saw everything. And since we were at the beginning of the procession, there was lots of time for us to make it to the Grand Opera House down on Mission for the later events.”
Annie reached out her hand to Kitty, who hung shyly in back of Laura, saying, “Miss Blaine, so pleased you were able to come to our picnic. And I know that Mr. Dawson would like me to convey his thanks to you and your father for entertaining Laura today. He should be here soon to thank you himself.”
“It was all my pleasure, Mrs. Fuller. Father knew I wouldn’t want to sit with him on the viewing stand, and literary events aren’t exactly his cup of tea, so he was delighted I would have a companion for the day. And John the coachman did an excellent job of making sure we weren’t bothered by the crowds.”— Chapter Two, Scene 2, Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
Excerpt Two:
“One of the tableaus puzzled them because it just looked like a number of burned buildings. Laura and Kitty knew the real story. It was supposed represent the Battle of New Orleans, but someone threw a firecracker that ignited the cotton bale breastworks. Laura said it was really quite exciting to see the poor dray horses charging ahead with the mock soldiers jumping off the sides of the burning wagon.”
Nate put down his fork and said, “My word, I hope no one was hurt.” He shook his head and said, “I expect we will be able to read all about it in the papers tomorrow. Did Laura and Kitty like the literary exercises at the Grand Opera? Did they have good seats?”
“Yes, near the front of the first balcony. Laura seemed most taken by the Amphion Quartette, while Kitty professed to be impressed by the rendition of Frank Soule’s Flag of Freedom. Mostly, I think they were just having a good time looking at all the high-society women in their fancy outfits.” —Chapter Two, Scene Three, Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
Excerpt Three:
Beatrice was proud that Patrick, her young nephew and one of San Francisco’s policemen, was following in the footsteps of her deceased husband. But sometimes her nephew could be too full of himself, showing off in front Kathleen. When she recommended that Annie hire Kathleen Hennessey to come work for the O’Farrell Street boardinghouse, Beatrice had never expected that her nephew would fall head over heels in love with the young servant. Or that Kathleen would return the sentiment, although––sensible girl that she was––she’d made it very clear to Patrick that she wouldn’t even consider an engagement, much less marriage, until she’d successfully shepherded her youngest brother, Ian, through school and into a decent profession.
But that seemed to have only encouraged Patrick to work harder to impress Kathleen––and Annie––whom he steadfastly believed was his ally in his campaign to get a ring on Kathleen’s finger. Patrick claimed that this part of town would remain untroubled today on account of the city canceling most of the festivities in response to the attempted assassination of President Garfield two days ago.
Beatrice did think it was a shame that the poor man had been shot––and if the papers were to be believed––was at death’s door. Seemed even more of a shame that the bigwigs had decided to deprive the poor San Francisco workingmen of this one summer holiday they could count on. Most of the other cities in the state hadn’t felt the need to cancel their celebrations––just add on prayers for the president in all the speechifying.
As for the kind of mischief the shiftless young men of the city might get into, she wouldn’t be surprised if, without the parade and sporting events for people to attend, there wouldn’t be more––rather than less––trouble. She’d lived through enough July Fourths to know that no part of the city was safe from how much men of every age and station loved devices that made loud noises and threw off dangerous sparks.
That’s the main reason she’d volunteered to stay home when her mistress declared they were going ahead with the picnic at Jefferson Square. Beatrice had already heard the distant clanging of a fire engine twice this morning and she wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself at the picnic, worrying the boardinghouse might burn down in her absence. —Beatrice Bests the Burglars: A Victorian San Francisco Story
Hi, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series.
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