Confederate Privateers in California

ErnieMac

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Part 1 - The Plan

“The Federal authorities learned of the plan through an informer and set up a 24-hour watch on the J. M. Chapman. A nearby steam tug kept her steam up and fires banked, ready to stop the privateer the moment she set sail. Not far away, the Cyane kept careful watch as well.

The J. M. Chapman raised anchor at dawn on March 15, 1863, and sailed slowly out from the wharf. Only two officers were visible on deck, and the vessel looked as innocent and harmless as any craft that ever left the port of San Francisco. When she was about 300 yards from the dock, however, two boatloads of armed seamen from the Cyane drew even with the schooner and boarded her without resistance. The steam tug had held back because the undependable Captain Law, having arrived too late to catch the ship after a night of drinking, was still on the wharf calling for the J. M. Chapman to come back for him.”[1]

So ended the attempt by two native Kentuckians and a British acquaintance to outfit a privateer and use it to capture Pacific steamer carrying California gold bullion. Confederate sympathizer Asbury Harpending, Jr., born into a wealthy southwestern Kentucky family, was the brains behind the operation. Online descriptions refer to him as an adventurer and entrepreneur, but a look at his autobiography The Great Diamond Hoax would suggest con-man would be a good addition to the list. If Harpending were writing this article he would also claim to be a “Southern gentleman” as well.

When Asbury reached the age of 16 it was apparent that he was not going to sit back and run the family farms. He'd already run off to join one of William Walker's filibustering expeditions, but had returned home broke and bedraggled after it was broken up by U.S. authorities. With his father’s consent and a little financial backing he left for California in 1857. By his own account he parlayed his last $5 into $400 by the time he reached California and then, by means of good luck, charm and an inborn financial acumen increased that to $60,000 before his 17th birthday. By 1860 Harpending was financially well off and had made a niche for himself in the pro-Southern element of California society. He became a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle (in his autobiography Harpending names the society the Band of Thirty) and over the next couple of years took part in plots to have California secede or to seize control of the state.

By the autumn of 1861 it was apparent neither of those events was going to happen. Many Confederate supporters returned to the South to serve militarily or politically. Others chose personal fortune over military glory and headed for the silver mines of Nevada. Asbury Harpending went east with another goal in mind. Among the ideas hatched by the Knight of the Golden Circle was a plan to seize one of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s vessels carrying California gold to the east and divert it to the Confederacy. Traveling across Mexico and through a then rather porous blockade Harpending arrived in Richmond in early 1862. In his autobiography Harpending claims several meetings with Jefferson Davis and Judah Benjamin. He returned to California in July, 1862 with a naval captain’s commission and blank letters of marque issued by the Confederate government to be filled in when the details were known.

Putting the plan into action was another matter. Harpending was known for his outspoken pro-Southern beliefs. He claimed he had been rigorously searched on his return to California from Richmond by authorities looking for anything suspicious, but he’d taken the precaution of sending his papers ashore with another passenger. This is where Alfred Rubery came into play. Rubery was a British citizen and nephew of John Bright, a prominent British Quaker politician who was well known for his anti-slavery views. Traveling in the South before the war Rubery had become enamored of the southern ‘aristocracy’. Having made acquaintance of Harpending after his return to California, they became inseparable friends and Rubery became a willing conspirator. He would be used to make the necessary purchases.

The plan began to come together. A ship, crew and armaments and other supplies would be necessary. An island off the Mexican coast would be used as a staging area. After landing the supplies the ship would make a quick trip to Manzanillo to deliver the appropriate paperwork to Confederate agents. The ship would then return to the island and outfit as a privateer. A Pacific Mail steamer would be seized and its cargo of gold shipped to the Confederacy. In The Great Diamond Hoax Harpending stated “Then we proposed to equip the captured liner as a privateer and figured to intercept two more eastbound Pacific Mail steamers before the world knew what was happening, in those days of slow-traveling news. After that we proposed to let events very much take their own course. It was a wild, desperate undertaking at the best, but we were all of an age that takes little stock of risks.” Harpending and Rubery went so far as to check out the Mexican Cerros Island (now Isla Cedros) for use as their base.
 
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Part 2 - The Preparations

The first acquisition would be the ship. Harpending would later write about an attempt to purchase the steamer Otter in Oregon but noted in a trial run “she failed to develop a speed much greater than that of a rowboat”.[2] Early in 1863 they settled on the 90-ton schooner J. M. Chapman that had recently arrived in port. Documents state she was a fast sailer and had been credited with a 138-day run from New York City. Court records indicate that in January or February, 1863, Harpending was introduced to William C. Law a sea captain that had previously sailed slave transports from Virginia to New Orleans, had worked for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and more recently had been an officer on the Oregon trading into Mexico. The Sacremento Daily Union would later state he knew the exact routes of the steamers. Harpending laid out the plans to Law and the captain signed on. The exact sequence of events is unclear. Court records state Law selected the Chapman. Harpending’s recounts the ship and armaments had already been purchased before Law was approached. Whatever the sequence the J.M. Chapman was to be purchased for $6500. When it came time to complete the sale it was discovered Rubery’s willingness ran deeper than his checkbook. Ridgley Greathouse would make the necessary purchases going forward.

Greathouse, also Kentucky born, with brothers George and Henry had set up business in Yreka and prospered in the gold, banking and transportation fields. In addition to gold investments the brothers owned a bank, operated canal boats on the Shasta River and ran express and passenger stages in the area. The 1860 Census indicated Ridgley had real estate holdings of $25,000 and personal assets totaling $40000. Harpending’s account in The Great Diamond Hoax states that Greathouse was the only member of the Band of Thirty to remain true to their cause. Harpending introduced him to Law as ‘a capitalist’ which agreed with Greathouse’s view of himself.

After the purchase of the J. M. Chapman events moved quickly. With the Chapman came its sailing master, Lorenzo Libby. He was briefed on some of the details. A crew was engaged, “twenty picked men - all from the South, of proved and desperate courage”[2] according to Harpending. “Arms and ammunition were purchased, consisting of two brass rifled twelve-pounders, shells, fuse, powder, muskets, pistols, lead, caps and knives. These were packed in cases marked ‘oil-mill’ and ‘machinery’ and shipped as quietly as possible; and there was also shipped a number of uniforms, such as are usually worn by men on vessels of war. A large amount of lumber was also purchased and shipped, with which to construct berths, a prison room, and a lower deck.”[3]

Harpending would write that the supplies were arranged through a Mexican friend who was ignorant of their intended use. The Mexican would arrange the purchase, Greathouse would pay. Greathouse while purchasing supplies would put out that they were going to assist Benito Juarez’s forces in Mexico. “While these preparations were going on, and everything was being made ready to get off, the relations in which the participants were to stand in respect to one another were arranged. It was settled that Greathouse, in consideration of the material aid he had furnished, should be first, and that Law should be sailing-master, and second in charge. There was some discussion as to the share each was to have in the fruits of the expedition; and though nothing definite was settled, it was understood that Greathouse was to have the largest share, Harpending the next, Law next, Rubery fourth, and Libby fifth.”[3]

The final action plan came together at this time. “The plan of the cruise was to sail from San Francisco on Sunday, March 15th, 1863, to the island of Guadalupe, which lies some three hundred miles off the coast of California (about 250 miles SSW of San Diego); there land Harpending and the fighting men, who were to be shipped on the night of Saturday, March 14; thence proceed to Manzanillo, and discharge such freight as might be taken; then return to Guadalupe, and fit the schooner for privateering purposes; then proceed again to Manzanillo, where the men were to be enrolled and their names inserted in the letter of marque, a copy of which was thereupon to be forwarded to the government of the Confederate States. It was their plan first, to capture a steamer bound from San Francisco to Panama, on its arrival at Manzanillo, land its passengers, and with the steamer thus taken, capture a second steamer; next to seize a vessel from San Francisco, then engaged in recovering treasure from the wreck of the steamer Golden Gate; thence they were to go to the Chincha Islands, and burn United States vessels there; thence to the China Sea, and finally into the Indian Ocean. In pursuance of this plan, and to prevent suspicion, the schooner was ‘put up’ for Manzanillo.”[3]

March 14, 1863 arrived. “On Saturday (the 14th) afternoon the Chapman was cleared by W. C. Law, he swearing that the crew consisted of one Captain, one mate and four seamen. …. Her manifest was apparently all right, quicksilver, merchandise and machinery.”[4] The Chapman docked at the Jackson Street Wharf (Farwell said the Pacific Street in his account 33 years later). Harpending recounted that Greathouse and Law were to be on board by 10:00 p.m. Harpending and Rubery met the crew as they arrived behind the American Exchange Hotel (Sansone St. between California and Sacremento). Divided into three groups, the men made their way to ship and boarded. They were moved into the cargo hold where a space had been cleared to conceal them. When Harpending and Rubery boarded a short time later they discovered that their navigator, Law was not aboard.

Harpending would write “I experienced a shock such as a man receives when a bucket of ice water is emptied on him in his sleep. The suggestion of treachery could not be avoided. We cast loose from the wharf and anchored in the stream. But we were helpless. We could not sail without our navigator. We had nothing to do but wait. We scanned the bay for an approaching boat, but the dark waters answered not. At two o'clock we turned in for a much needed rest. We left a trusty man as a lookout with orders to waken us at five o'clock if nothing happened before. We still had a lingering hope that Law might appear in season to carry out our plans. And soon, as the hours glided by, the Chapman rocked us to sleep.”[2] Others painted a different picture with loading activities continuing into the night and the Chapman not pulling away from the dock until dawn (about 5:30 a.m.).

[1] An Unexpected Guest in Nashville’s City Cemetery: Admiral Paul Shirley; Monuments and milestones; Vol. 7, No 1 Spring/Summer 2011
[2] The Great Diamond Hoax and Other Stirring Incidents in the Life of Asbury Harpending, 1913
[3] 2 Abb.U.S. 364, 4 Sawy. 457, 26 F.Cas. 18, No. 15,254; Circuit Court N. D. California, United States v. Greathouse et al., October 17, 1863
[4] The Pirate J.M. Chapman; Sacramento Daily Union; Volume 24, Number 3740, 18 March 1863.
[5] How a Confederate Privateer was Captured in San Francisco Bay; San Francisco Call; Volume 79, Number 99, 8 March 1896.
 
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Part 3- The Debacle

As events turned out the conspirators were not the only people aware of the plot. Federal and local authorities had been watching and waiting for weeks. As early as February Captain Edward Travers approached Willard Farwell, the Naval Officer of the Port of San Francisco (a civilian position under the Collector of the Port)* and advised him that he was being employed by some men who were planning “to turn pirates under the sanction of the Confederate Government.”[5] Farwell asked Travers to keep him informed and the following day Travers told him that he had “bought the schooner J. M. Chapman for Asbury Harpending, Ridgley Greathouse and a young Englishman named A. Rubery.”[5] For the next three weeks Travers made daily reports about the supplies and armaments being procured and loaded aboard. Farwell brought the Surveyor of the Port* John T. McLean into the picture. The two men arranged to keep the Chapman under close watch.

On March 14 Travers notified Farwell the Chapman would sale the next day. The USS Cyane, commissioned in 1837, a veteran of the Mexican War and commanded by Lieutenant Commander Paul Shirley was stationed in San Francisco Harbor. The Collector of the Port of San Francisco* Ira Rankin and the Surveyor James T. McLean apprised Shirley of the situation and planned the seizure of the Chapman. Shirley positioned his ship off Goat Island (Yerba Buena) and readied two boats of armed seamen and marines to move on the Chapman as soon as it prepared to sail. Farwell, McLean and San Francisco Police Captain of Detectives Isaiah Lees boarded the steam tug Anashe with four police officers and half a dozen other men. The Anashe would wait with boilers banked at the Clay Street Wharf and would signal Cyane when the Chapman began to move. Brigadier General George Wright and Lieutenant Colonel Richard Drum, Commander and AAG of the U.S. Army’s Department of the Pacific were apprised of the situation, but operations were left to the Navy and the San Francisco Police.

“At daylight, Law being still absent, Libby cast off the lines and began working the schooner out from the wharf into the stream. The mainsail was partially hoisted; but no sooner had the wharf been left, than two boats were observed putting off from the United States sloop-of-war Cyane, then lying at anchor in the bay. As they headed for the schooner, Libby, pointing at them, said to Greathouse that they were after them. Rubery then insisted on running up the sails; but Libby replied that there was no wind, and it would be useless.”[3] The Cyane’s seamen approached and boarded the Chapman, brought the ship to anchor and arrested Greathouse, Rubery, Libby and another sailor on deck. The Anashe pulled alongside and Lees, accompanied by McLean, Farwell and three police officers boarded. Captain Law suddenly appeared on board in the midst of the seizure and was taken into custody as well. A search of the vessel was made and Harpending and the remaining 16 members of the crew were discovered in the hold with the armaments and supplies. The prisoners were secured and the Chapman was taken under tow to Fort Alcatraz, were arrangements had been previously made through the Army to receive them.

Harpending’s account in The Great Diamond Hoax differs substantially. In his version the Chapman is at anchor as the Cyane’s boats approach. Alerted by the cry of a lookout, he races to the deck, realizes the situation is hopeless and, after rousing Greathouse and Rubery, joins them in a desperate attempt to destroy incriminating paperwork. Harpending then states that as the ship was boarded he, accompanied by Greathouse, Rubery and Libby went to the deck to surrender and assume responsibility for the ship and its contents. No other account or record supports Harpending’s version of events. The only evidence of destroyed papers was found in the hold where Harpending and the rest of the crew were apprehended.

The question arises as to what had gone wrong. Many opinions were offered. Harpending, writing his account , blamed William Law for selling them out. “As for Law, he had actually gone with us in good faith up to a certain point, then had a case of cold feet. It occurred to his sordid mind that a handsome sum of money could be obtained from the Government without any risk at all, by betraying his associates. He made a cold-blooded, mercenary bargain with the authorities through which he realized a small fortune, disclosed all our plans, and our steps had actually been dogged by detectives for days.”[2] Other accounts attribute the failure to Law talking too freely in the bars of the San Francisco waterfront.

The notoriety of the main conspirators could have been a factor. Both Harpending and Greathouse were outspoken supporters of the Southern Confederacy. Harpending had claimed to have been thoroughly searched on his return to California after his trip to Richmond. The San Francisco Daily Alta newspaper, reporting the seizure of the Chapman, wrote “In her cabin was found Ridgeley(sic) Greathouse, who had acted as the purchaser of the schooner Chapman, late from Yreka, and a native of Kentucky; a man who has never disguised his sympathy with the rebels. He has relatives in this city and the interior, and from his not being generally known in this city, was the person selected to conduct the affair, although, it must be confessed, the fact that a man from the interior, unfamiliar with maratime(sic) usages, and albeit a loud-mouthed Secessionist, would, to our mind, attach suspicion to any movements he might make. It seems that these facts militated against him, and led to investigations which resulted in the successful arrest of the expedition and the parties concerned.”[4]

Harpending and company were also none too careful in covering their tracks. The book Law in the Western United States (Gordon Morris Bakken, 2000) devotes a few pages to the conspiracy. The article states “The conspirators made only feeble attempts to cover up their activity, however. They discussed the plan in public taverns, and Harpending bragged about his commission in the Confederate navy as he continued to solicit supporters.” Willard Farwell’s 1896 account in the San Francisco Call of Edward Travers’ role has the ring of truth about it. When the J. M. Chapman was sold as a war prize on May 26, 1863 Travers received a 50% share for his information. The most likely explanation is that when Harpending, Rubery and Greathouse purchased the Chapman through the agency of Travers they let too many details slip. After that Federal authorities had no trouble following the trail.

* The Collector of the Port, Surveyor of the Port and Naval Officer of the Port were customs officials appointed by the president. They were lucrative positions and highly sought.
 
Part 4 – Trial and Punishment

After securing the Chapman and her crew at Alcatraz Captain Isaiah Lees went to work. Documenting the cache of armaments and supplies was the easy work. Lees combed the ship and picked every torn scrap of paper he could find, some chewed, others partially burned. Over the next six months he was able to reassemble an array of incriminating documents. One of the documents was the Confederate issued Letter of Marque. In the conspirators luggage additional documents were found including “a proclamation to the people of California to throw off the authority of the United States; a plan for the capture of the United States forts at San Francisco, and particularly Alcatraz; also, the form of an oath of fidelity to their cause, with an imprecation of vengeance on all who should prove false. It was shown that some of these papers were in the handwriting of Harpending; and Rubery admitted that he and one of the defendants had spent some time in preparing the oaths.”[3]

On May 26, 1863 the J. M. Chapman was sold at auction. The New York Times of May 29 reported “The schooner J.M. Chapman, recently condemned as a privateer, was sold to-day by the U.S. Marshal, for $7,000. She will be hereafter used for the Mexican coast trade. Her contraband cargo, embracing two 12-pounders, brass howitzers, shells, powder, rifles and pistols, were knocked down for Government account.” Harpending, Greathouse, Rubery, Law and Libby were indicted “under the act of congress of July 17, 1862, for engaging in, and giving aid and comfort to, the then existing rebellion against the government of the United States.”

Greathouse was released on bail furnished by a relative. Harpending, Rubery and Libby were removed from Alcatraz and incarcerated in the Broadway jail in San Francisco. As noted earlier Harpending believed Law had sold out before the Chapman was seized. While there is no evidence that is the case, Law does not seem to have been imprisoned at Broadway. In the Great Diamond Hoax Harpending also wrote of Libby’s defection. In his own words “Greathouse visited us one day at the Broadway jail. He was handsomely caparisoned, full of spirits and I think had just risen from a good dinner, or rather lunch. Libby asked him anxiously about our prospects. "Well," said Greathouse, "they are not exactly flattering. I guess all of us will have to go to prison for a long term, but," he added somewhat grandly, "I will be able to buy my way out." He didn't say a word about the rest of us.

This remark started Libby to thinking. He was scared stiff before. Now he became a nervous wreck. He knew that Greathouse was powerful enough to be at large on bail. He knew that Rubery and I had influential connections. He was himself a poor fellow from Canada, adrift on the Pacific Coast, without a cent or a friend. He saw himself made what we moderns call the "goat" for the whole Chapman incident and concluded that the wisest thing was to look out for his own hide. Somehow I have never had it in my heart to blame Libby overmuch for whatever happened. My impression is that he intended to "sit tight" until he thought himself left in the lurch.”[2]

The trial opened on October 2, 1863 in the recently established Circuit of the United States for the District of California. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field and U.S. District Judge Ogden Hoffman presided. U.S. Attorney William H. Sharp and Assemblyman Thompson Campbell acted for the prosecution, attorneys Delos Lake and Alexander Campbell for the defense. “The indictment alleged in substance: (1) The existence of a rebellion against the United States, their authority and laws; (2) That the defendants traitorously engaged in, and gave aid and comfort to, the same; (3) That in the execution of their treasonable purposes, they procured, fitted out and armed a vessel to cruise in the service of the rebellion, on the high seas, and commit hostilities against the citizens, property and vessels of the United States; and that the vessel sailed on such cruise.”[3] The jury was empaneled. Harpending recounts “It did not take long to pick a jury in those days. The very dogs of San Francisco knew of the Chapman case, yet the twelve good men and true who swore they were unbiased were impaneled in less than an hour. Some of them were later noted. Here are the names: John Wheeler, Jacob Schrieber, A. S. Iredale, Samuel Millbury, Joseph D. Pearson, Joseph A. Conboie, G. W. Chesley, J. K. Osgood, James W. Towne and W. P. C. Stebbins.”[3]

The prosecution presented their evidence, including the testimony of Law and Libby who were not prosecuted, and the numerous documents found intact or pieced together by Captain Lees. The evidence was overwhelming and the defense did little to refute it. They instead argued two legal points. The first was that “privateering on the part of either side was a legitimate mode of warfare, and made those engaged amenable only to the laws of war; that at least, the defendants could not then be held to have committed any offense of which the court could take jurisdiction.”[3] The second argument held that “the schooner had not started on her voyage, but had left the wharf with the intention of anchoring in the stream and waiting there for the captain and papers; that whatever the ultimate intention might have been, there had, in fact, been no commencement of the cruise, and that, at any rate, no offense could have been committed until the schooner had reached Manzanillo, and been ready to commence hostilities. They finally insisted that there could be no treason and no conviction under the indictment, for the reason that “aid and comfort” had not been actually given.

The judges dismissed the defendant’s arguments and sent the case to the jury on October 12. Harpending would state it took the jury all of four minute to convict. The defendants were brought back into court for sentencing on October 17. Despite popular calls for hanging, that was not an option at this point in the war. All three were sentenced to ten years imprisonment and fined $10,000 each. The crew of the Chapman was released after taking an oath of allegiance to the Federal government.

They would not remain in jail long. On December 8, 1863 President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction allowing for “a full pardon for and restoration of property to all engaged in the rebellion with the exception of the highest Confederate officials and military leaders”. Harpending and Greathouse fell under those provisions and after a court hearing in February, 1864 during which they swore the prescribed oath and posted a bond on future behavior were released. Rubery, as a British citizen, was not eligible for the amnesty. At the request of his uncle John Bright, Lincoln issued a separate pardon for Rubery on December 16. The pardon was to take effect on January 12, 1864 with the proviso the Rubery would “leave the country within thirty days from and after that date.”
 
Part 5 - Afterward

J. M. Chapman – The ship was condemned and sold on May 26, 1863. It was lost along the California coast in December 1864.

USS Cyane – Remained on duty along the Pacific coast until decommissioned on September 20, 1871. Sold on July 30, 1887.

Lieutenant Commander Paul Shirley – Shirley was commended for his action, promoted to Commander and transferred to the Atlantic. In his new command he was involved in the pursuit of the CSS Shenandoah. After the war he remained in the Navy and was promoted to Captain in 1870.He died in 1876 and was buried in Nashville, Tennessee. His tombstone claims the rank of Admiral.

Officers, Sailors and Marines of the USS Cyane – They claimed a share of the prize money from the condemnation and sale of the Chapman and sued to obtain it. They were denied as the court ruled the ship was seized under the confiscation act and was not taken as a prize of war and the money, after expenses, was divided between the government and Edward Travers, the informant.

Isaiah Lees – remained Captain of Detectives until 1897, then Chief of Police until 1900. He is credited as being one of the best police detectives in history.

William Law and Lorenzo Libby – Harpending claimed they were paid a large reward and shipped off to China. I have been unable to find any further record of them after the trial.

Crew of the J. M. Chapman – In his 1896 recounting of the capture of the Chapman Willard Farwell gave the following names, in addition to Libby, as members of the Chapman’s crew: Thomas Reole, Joseph W. Smith, Alfred Armond, Henry C. Boyd, R. H. Duval, W. D. Moore, J. W. McFadden, William M. Maron, John E. Kent, Albion T. Crow, D. W. Brown, John Fletcher, James Smith, George W. Davis and M. H. Marshall.[5] The name Thomas Reole is a misprint, the man’s actual name was Thomas Poole. Poole joined a Confederate guerilla group in Santa Clara County and would be hanged in September, 1865 for his role in the death of a deputy sheriff during one of their raids. In an odd twist of events the crew was awarded one month’s salary for their service on the Chapman by the prize court as they had not been tried and convicted and were entitled to their wages.

Ridgley Greathouse – Greathouse’s freedom was short-lived. He was rearrested in April, sent east and confined in Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor. Prison records show he was confined on May 5, 1864 with the notation “Rebel Pirate Confined on Ord(er) of Sec’y of War”. On July 12 (July 10 in his account) Greathouse escaped. At least one account stated “Greathouse and several others killed the guard at Fort Lafayette and escaped.”[4] His own accounts vary, but seem to center around cutting the bars with a saw and a swim.

Ridgley escaped to Canada, then spent time in England and Mexico before returning to the U.S. after President Johnson’s General Amnesty. Shortly after the war he and brothers George, Henry and Robert planned to establish a cattle ranch in Idaho. Ridgley and Robert went to Texas, acquired a herd and started north. Robert died of cholera on the trail and the whole venture fell apart with Ridgley selling the herd at a substantial loss in Kansas. 1870 Census records show him a banker with a personal estate worth $17,000 in Boise, Idaho and in 1900 Census he appears as a boarder in King County, Texas as a ‘Capitalist’.

Asbury Harpending – Harpending, by his own account, left prison broke. For a couple of months he lived on the sufferance of friends. Then Greathouse was arrested and Asbury figured he would be next. With the help of friends and supporters providing cash and contacts Harpending set out for Kern County in southern California. Remarkably enough he had arrived just in time to take part in the discovery of the Havilah gold mines. By the end of 1865 Harpending had banked $800,000. He spent the next few years involved with banking, real estate and mining investments.

In 1871 while in London selling investments in his mining operation he became reacquainted with Alfred Rubery just in time for their participation in the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872, a fraudulent gem mine in southwest Wyoming. Harpending always claimed he and Rubery were victims in the hoax; others thought him a participant. Harpending left California after the collapse of the diamond bubble, retired to Kentucky for a few years, the reentered the financial world in New York City where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1923.
 
A comrade in the SFCWRT once asked me about this episode. I said I knew nothing of it. Thank you! I'm sending him the link.
 
asbury_harpending.jpg

Asbury Harpending (post Civil War)

Isaiah Lees.jpg

Isaiah Lees

USS_Cyane.jpg

USS Cyane
 
I picked up a book titled The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War by Leonard L. Richards at the local thrift bookstore. It had a three paragraph synopsis at the very end which was intriguing enough that I had to know more. The rest was picked up from online articles.
 
Interesting story. The California Gold Rush played a significant part in causing the civil war and gold was essential in financing the Union war effort. Confederates were desperate to get a hold of it.

I was curious about Rubery and wondered how he went so far astray from his Quaker roots. My google search finds nothing to connect Rubery to John Bright. Did Rubery change his name?

"Bright was shocked by the outbreak of the American Civil War. As a Quaker he was totally opposed to slavery and was a passionate supporter of Abraham Lincoln."

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbright.htm

If there was a fallout between father and son, this could be an interesting part of the story.

Note, John Bright is said to have coined the phrase "flogging a dead horse."
 
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I was able to find very little on Alfred Rubery aside from his interactions with Asbury Harpending in the Chapman affair and the Diamond Hoax. Harpending put forth that Rubery was John Bright's nephew, I've found no other source indicating that was the case. Other sources say Rubery was a friend or a constituent. There seems little doubt there was some type of relationship, Lincoln specifically stated that Rubery's pardon was at the request of Bright. Text of the pardon follows:

"Whereas one Alfred Rubery was convicted on or about the twelfth day of October 1863, in the Circuit of the United States for the District of California, of engaging in, and giving aid and comfort to the existing rebellion against the Government of this country, and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, and to pay a fine of ten thousand dollars;

And whereas, the said Alfred Rubery is of the immature age of twenty years, and of highly respectable parentage;

And whereas, the said Alfred Rubery is a subject of Great Britain, and his pardon is desired by John Bright, of England;

Now therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, these and divers other considerations me thereunto moving, and especially as a public mark of the esteem held by the United States of America for the high character and steady friendship of the said John Bright, do hereby grant a pardon to the said Alfred Rubery, the same to begin and take effect on the twentieth day of January, 1864, on condition that he leave the country within thirty days from and after that date."
 
Thank you for digging that up. This is a very interesting detail and clears up part of the mystery of the connection with John Bright. I'm still curious about Rubery -- why he left England, how he got involved with the Confederates, etc. I'll let you know if I can find out anything more about him.
 
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I think it's clear, Rubery was no relation but a constituent of Bright, who took pity on the boy despite the fact that he went against everything he believed in. Said to have been the "greatest orator of his time," Bright kept up a correspondence with Sumner and others before and during the Civil war.

"Bright's reputation and influence in international relations also attest his preeminence. He corresponded regularly with Charles Sumner, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sumner often passed his letters on to others in the government, including President Lincoln. In 1861, Seward, then Secretary of State, wrote to Sumner: "Many thanks my dear Sumner for the perusal of the noble letter from John Bright. [¶] How sad for the cause of humanity, yet how honourable to John Bright, that he is the only Englishman having public position or character, who has written one word of favour to or desire for the preservation of the American Union. Tell him that I appreciate his honesty, his manliness, his virtue."4 Bright kept Sumner up to date on his activities, in order that his speeches might be used as effectively as possible for the Northern interests, and he maintained contact with other American officials, such as Governor James Smith of Rhode Island.5 Though Lincoln did not write directly to Bright, he showed his admiration for the Englishman by granting a Presidential pardon to one of his constituents: ". . . whereas . . . this pardon is desired by John Bright of England; Now therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, these and divers other considerations me thereunto moving, and especially as a public mark of the esteem held by the United States for the character and steady friendship of the said John Bright, do hereby grant a pardon to the said [conspirator]. . . ."6

Bright's stature emerges as well from his correspondence with other American citizens. Bright exchanged letters with the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier until the end of his life, and in 1863 Bright cooperated with Whittier to obtain economic relief for the working men of Manchester.7 Four years later, Whittier introduced an American acquaintance to Bright by affirming that, "In common with all loyal, freedom-loving men, he is grateful for thy generous vindication of the North during our late terrible contest. . . ."8 In 1863, Bright replied to his receipt of a pamphlet by a pro-Northern writer by affirming, " 'Secesh' in England must be out of spirit, as it is doubtless in America, & there will be lamentation in the hearts of those who wish ill to the great republic."9 In the correspondence he carried on with the American inventor Cyrus Field, his concern with the moral well-being of the United States and his influence with the American people are constant topics.10 Bright also kept up an association with the Abolitionists, and in particular with the most prominent of these, William Lloyd Garrison, and he enjoyed a close relationship with one of the most renowned of the former slaves, Frederick Douglass. On the last night of Douglass's visit to England, he stayed at Bright's house, and when the English edition of The Life and Times (1882) appeared, it contained an introduction by John Bright. Writing in his old age, Bright declares that the autobiography "shows what may be done, and has been done, by a man born under the most adverse circumstances -- done not for himself alone, but for his race and for his country." Here, at the end of his life, Bright views the sufferings of Douglass and the savagery of the War as righteous payment for the nation's sins. Bright's introduction was actually no introduction at all; it was composed as a letter to the publisher, who included it not because it illuminated Douglass's life, but because Bright (besides being an associate of Douglass) had become by this time a national institution whose name could be counted upon to sell books.

Bright had earlier thought less about sin. He worked tirelessly for reform and individual freedoms, and one focus for his energies was the plight of the slaves in the United States. Bright's indirect effect upon the fate of black Americans was quite strong, through his contact with various ambassadors and envoys. Besides his frequent exchange of letters with Thomas H. Dudley, American Consul in Liverpool, Bright apparently met with the envoy often and received from him tokens of Northern gratitude, such as a banner from Philadelphia.11 Long afterward, Dudley recorded his impressions of the situation in England during the War. Predictably, he took a partisan view of Anglo-American relations, but he wrote of Bright: "He was opposed to human slavery and opposed to war, but among his countrymen at that time he stood almost alone. . . . Bright stood alone in England when he arose to make this speech, but when he sat down, there were hundreds, including such men as Richard Cobden, William E. Forster, the Duke of Argyll, Professor Cairns, Professor Beasley, and Charles Edward Rawlins, who were ready to gather around and stand by him."12 John Bigelow, American consul in Paris, was similarly inclined to praise Bright as the foremost supporter of the North and the black man: "I don't know how to express my gratitude sufficiently to Mr. Bright for his Rochdale speech. It was worthy the heart and the head of Chas. J. Fox. He will live to bless the day that he was inspired to make it."

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3571
 
Here is the full account, written by Asbury Harpending, in his autobiography The Great Diamond Hoax. In it he mentions Rubery was Bright's "favorite" nephew:

"Mr. Alfred Rubery was a young English gentleman of fortune and culture, with the roving disposition and love of venture that was part of the make of high-strung Englishmen of his day. Traveling in the South just before the war, he had acquired an admiration for its aristocracy. Thus happened something that seemed paradoxical. Rubery was the favorite nephew of John Bright, the great English statesman and publicist. It was due to his influence and leadership among the laboring masses that England declined to interfere in favor of the Confederate States when its industries were ruined and the industrial classes starving, because the cotton staples from the South, on which they depended, were suddenly cut off. Thus, while John Bright, across the Atlantic, was resolutely upholding the North, his dear nephew in San Francisco was openly expressly sympathy for the South."

http://www.books-about-california.c...mond_Hoax/The_Great_Diamond_Hoax_Chap_08.html

And yet again, the facts are contradictory. According to this Rubery's relatives were constituents of Bright:

"Rubery was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His relatives, constituents of John Bright, a member of British Parliament, were stunned by the news of his offense and imprisonment.

http://www.timesleader.com/stories/...-Abes-birthday-Kevin-Blaum-In-The-Arena,48757
 
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