Amador
County
Biographies
ANTHONY CAMINETTI
The specific and distinctive office
of biographer is not to give voice to a man’s modest estimate of himself and
his accomplishments, but rather to give a perpetual record of his character as
established by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellow men. That great factor, the public, is a
discriminating factor, and yet takes cognizance not so much of insinuating
exaltation or subjective modesty as the intrinsic essence of character,
striking the keynote of individuality and pronouncing judicially and
unequivocally upon the true worth of the man, and invariably distinguishing the
clear resonance of the true metal from the jarring dissonance of the baser. Thus, in touching upon the life history of
the subject of this review, the biographer would aim to give utterance to no
fulsome encomium, to indulge in no extravagant praise; yet would he wish to
hold for consideration those points which have shown the distinction of a pure,
true and useful life, one characterized by indomitable perseverance, broad
charity, marked ability, high accomplishments and well earned honors. To do this will be but to reiterate the
dictum pronounced by his fellow men.
Anthony Caminetti is a “native son
of the golden west,” his birth having occurred in Jackson, Amador County, on
the 30th of July, 1854, and here his entire life has been
passed. It was on the 1st day
of that month that the County was organized, and therefore he has been identified
with its progress, development and welfare throughout the entire period of its
existence. As his name indicates, he is
of Italian descent, his father, Roche Caminetti, having been born in Sicily, in
1821. He went to Boston, Massachusetts,
in 1839, and in 1849 came to California with the Argonauts who sailed around
Cape Horn from New York in search of the golden fleece. He became the owner of one of the rich placer
claims of Ohio Hill, and has been engaged in mining and farming up to the
present time. He is now in the
seventy-eighth year of his age, one of the highly respected pioneers who has
borne his share of hardships of life on the frontier, and has met with losses
and successes. He was married in Boston
to Miss B. Guisto, a native of that city, and to them
was born eleven children, of whom five are still living. The mother also survives, and the worthy
couple has many warm friends in Jackson, where they make their home.
Senator Caminetti is the eldest of
their children now living. He was
educated in the public schools of Jackson and in the grammar school of San
Francisco, after which he attended the University of California. His law education was obtained in the office
of Quint & Hardy, in San Francisco, and in the
office of Senator James T. Farley, of Jackson.
He applied himself diligently to his work, and after his admission to
the bar made rapid advancement toward a foremost place in the ranks of the
legal fraternity of his native county.
His marked ability, strong mentality, thorough understanding of
political questions and his sympathy for the people as against monopolies and trusts
have led to his selection to various offices.
In politics he has always been an ardent Democrat.
In 1877 he was elected district
attorney, and so capably filled the office that he was re-elected in 1879,
discharging the duties of that position with great credit to himself and to the
fullest satisfaction of the citizens of the county for five years. He manifested energy, ability and
impartiality in the discharge of his duties.
In his treatment of citizens who required his service as a law officer
of the county and in prosecuting violators of the law he made no distinction politically
or otherwise. He met some of the
strongest counsel in the state and won many noted forensic triumphs during the
years of his incumbency as district attorney.
His talent as a criminal lawyer is most marked, and the same power of
analysis that characterized his handling of his cases has been a potent element
for success in his political career.
In 1882, upon his retirement from
the office of district attorney, he was elected to the general assembly and
took his seat in that body in January, 1883.
He at once became one of the most efficient members, exerting a wide
influence in behalf of the people whom he represented. His efforts were instrumental in securing
many needed reforms and progressive measures.
In the regular session the bill introduced by him on municipal
corporations was made the basis of the act which afterward became a law. Many of the reforms introduced in the county
government system in that year were offered by him. He also took an active interest in the
educational and mining affairs of the state.
In 1886 he was elected to the state senate, and while a member of that
body did much valuable work, winning distinction in connection with his labors
on behalf of education. He was the
chairman of the committee on education, and as such secured many amendments to
the then existing law, which are today incorporated in
the school system of the state. Through
his labors he secured changes in the grammar-school course intended to give
additional facilities to the interior, and obtained for this purpose a large
appropriation. Many schools under this
system were established throughout the state, and have since been converted
into high schools. The president of the
University of California, in his report of 1886 to the governor, speaks in a
most commendable manner of what he terms the Caminetti course. While a member of the senate Mr. Caminetti
was also the author of the law providing for the erection of the monument to
James W. Marshall, the discoverer of gold, and introduced a bill making
Admission Day, September 9, a legal holiday in California. He is also the author of the proposition
establishing at Ione City a public institution for the training of wayward
children, now known as the Preston School, and since its establishment he has
been most active in promoting its interests.
As a result of his labors the United States Foothill Experiment Station,
near Jackson, conducted under the auspices of the University of California, was
located there.
In 1890 Mr. Caminetti was nominated
and elected to congress. During the
campaign the mining and river questions were made prominent issues, and early
in his congressional career he proceeded to maintain his pledges thereon. He was the author of what has since been
named the “Caminetti mining bill,” which made hydraulic mining again possible
on the basis of protection to river interests and by which new life was given
to the mining industry of the state and general prosperity thereby
enhanced. He was also active in securing
the passage of the river improvement measures, which resulted in opening the
navigation of the Sacramento River to Red Bluff and to other river points on
the Sacramento, and the San Joaquin River to landings where for twenty years
vessels had been unable to go. Freight
rates to all points reached by navigation were thus greatly reduced.
For this valuable service the state
assembly passed resolutions congratulating Mr. Caminetti upon the successful
enactment of these laws, and the Democratic state convention of 1892 passed
complimentary resolutions stating that the whole commonwealth owed him a debt
of gratitude for the salutary and wise legislation introduced by him for the
relief of the suffering mining industries and for the preservation of waterways.
In consideration of these eminent
services he was re-elected to congress by a large majority, and during the
succeeding session assisted in defeating the Pacific Railroad funding bill, and
introduced the bill for government operation of the Union and Central Pacific
roads from Omaha to the Pacific coast in California. He was again re-nominated for congress, but
mainly through the efforts of the railroad interests interested in the funding
scheme he was defeated. In 1896 he was
again tendered the unanimous nomination for congress, but declined. The same year the Amador County convention of
the Democratic and People’s parties, notwithstanding his refusals to run for
congress, nominated him for the assembly, and after an exciting campaign he was
elected by a large majority. The minority honored him with the complimentary
nomination for speaker, thus naming him as their leader, a position for which
his talent and legislative experience eminently fitted him. He at once entered upon the work, and with
his party associates well organized kept up an able fight on behalf of the
people. In 1898 he was again elected to
the legislature, and received the complimentary vote of his party for United
States Senator. In 1880 he had the honor
of being alternate elector on the Hancock ticket, and in 1888 he was a
candidate for presidential elector on the Cleveland ticket. In 1896 he was a delegate to the national
convention, and assisted in the nomination of William J. Bryan for president of
the United States.
On the 29th of May, 1881,
Mr. Caminetti was united in marriage to Miss Ella E. Martin a native daughter
of California, born in Springfield, Tuolumne County. Her father, Dr. R. E. Martin, was one of the
prominent physicians of the state. The
union of Mr. and Mrs. Caminetti has been blessed with two sons, Farley Drew and
Anthony Boggs, both of whom are attending school. The family has a pleasant home in Jackson,
where Mr. Caminetti has spent his entire life.
He is an active member of the bar, and engages in the general practice
of the law in his home county and elsewhere.
He is also deeply interested in mining properties in Amador and
Calaveras counties and has valuable farming property. He is the first native son of California ever
elected to the United States congress, a distinction that was well deserved and
worthily won. His study of political
questions has ever been comprehensive, and his opinions were the result of
mature deliberation, of earnest thought and of deep interest in his fellow men. He is numbered among the most eminent men of
the commonwealth, and as a statesman is widely and favorably known among the
most prominent people of the nation. A
good parliamentarian, with an extensive acquaintance among prominent men, long
experience in public affairs and a thorough knowledge of the needs of the
people, he proved most capable in public office. Agricultural, mining and educational
interests owe their progress in no small degree to his labors, and the material
welfare of the state has been advanced by him in a large measure. He regards public office as a public trust,
and has ever placed the welfare of the nation before partisan prejudice and the
good of the many before personal aggrandizement.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 104-110. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies