H68.206.6
Broadside. Description: "To the People of San Francisco!" Vigilante Committee. Broadside, 1851, in which minority of Committee is requesting punishment of 2 prisoners. Printed signature: Samuel Brannon, Wm. H. Jones, E. A. King, J. B. Hail. "Sunday morning, Feb.23, 1851" Pasted on cardboard, soiled but readable. Dimensions: 11 3/4" x 9 1/8" Notice 7" x 5". From the History Information Station: Object: Broadside "To the People of San Francisco," from the Vigilance Committee," dated February 23, 1851. History: This sheet, signed by some of San Francisco's early leaders, denounces their fellow citizens for acquitting Joseph Windred and James Stuart, two notorious defendants in a robbery case. Later in 1851 these same men created the first Vigilance Committee, to punish criminals who it said were escaping the city's established legal system. James Stuart, also known as "English Jim," was a member of the "Sydney Ducks." The Ducks, a notorious gang of Australian immigrants, were accused of numerous crimes but seldom arrested. After the Vigilance Committee came to power Stuart was one of the four men hanged under their authority. Other members of the Ducks were arrested, and a third group left San Francisco.
