Santa Clara County
Biographies
REV. JOSEPH WILKINSON HINES
The subject of this biographical sketch is at the present writing (1904) the president of the Santa Clara County Society of California Pioneers, a member of the board of trustees of the University of the Pacific and also actively identified with several other local associations designed to promote the various material, social and intellectual interests of the state for whose expansion and upbuilding he has, in various relations, spent the prime and strength of his manhood. From the time his feet first pressed the soil of California, nearly half a century ago, until now, when his brow wears the silver crown of nearly four score years, his hand has never wearied and his heart has never faltered in honorable and intelligent effort to make his adopted state what it confessedly is at the present time—one of the grandest and most promising commonwealths in the great American Union. Independent but not obtrusive, zealous but not impulsive, possessed of a wonderful versatility, his mental habitudes were well adapted to the varied and pressing demands of a new and rapidly growing community, where ideals for future guidance were to be created, and various uplifting and progressive agencies were to be employed and fitted to the demands and exigencies of a rapidly shifting and varying scene. A mind thus endowed could scarcely be expected to remain indifferent to any phase of society that might, in the process of social development, present itself for consideration by the people.
Mr. Hines, therefore, in common with many others at the early day in our history, lost no time in fearlessly grappling with all questions of interest a they successively presented themselves. His genius for planning and pushing forward all enterprises calculated to improve the condition and prospects of society in all its essential needs was truly wonderful. No community that ever enjoyed the benefits of his counsel and labor but could show in many directions substantial evidences of his public-spirited efforts in its behalf. His consciousness of personal honesty and integrity would never allow him to apologize for appearing in the foremost ranks of progress and reform, or to participate in efforts to compromise with wrongdoing in order to gain some personal advantage by the sacrifice of the public good. His mind was never groping in the dark alleys of agnostic uncertainty or striving to feel its dubious way in the twilight uncertainties of questionable expediency. With a positiveness sometimes bordering upon obstinacy he always stood
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“Firm as an iron pillar strong, And steadfast as a wall of brass.” |
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Like all men of advanced views, with positive and aggressive feelings and purposes, he was compelled at times to wait with patience for the day of vindication; but that day was sure to come, responsive to the demands of a faith that would never falter and a spiritual instinct that cheerfully allied itself with the omnipotent energies of eternal truth.
Mr. Hines, in common with a host of others of similar traits of character, was privileged to live during one of the most trying eras in the history of the Pacific coast. And we are assured that to their wise and determined efforts the people of the present day are greatly indebted for the prosperous and enviable condition of its material, social and religious interests. But very few of those heroic men who faced the fearful crisis of 1860-1865 and saved human freedom for ourselves and for the world are with us today. Nearly all are now dwelling in that “city not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
The subject of this sketch took a prominent part in organizing the Republican party, which at that time was the only reliable force that could be depended upon to turn back the rapidly rising tide of secession in California. He was a delegate to the first general convention of that party in the state, served on the committee on platform, of which he was the chief author, and labored with unflagging industry and devotion in carrying the state for Lincoln and Stanford. This political victory saved the Pacific coast from becoming plunged into the dark, yawning gulf of rebellion, and drew the eyes of the nation to her unrivaled importance as a member of the American Union.
When our national authorities wisely decided not to call for recruits for the Union army from California he took an active part in raising the seventeen thousand volunteers who so bravely and effectually guarded our extended frontier, which then reached from Puget Sound to the borders of Texas. It was those noble men who headed off the expedition from the South who were expected to form a junction with a band of conspirators from California and together sweep the whole coast into the Southern Confederacy. Then Maximilian would have had an empire on the Pacific, and Jeff Davis another on the Atlantic, and the sun of religious and civil liberty would have set forever. Men of today, will you remember the men who trod the burning sands of the desert and scaled the rocky summits of the mountains that you and your children might have a country to love and defend, and a brightening hope to cheer the generations yet unborn?
At the opening of our Civil war Mr. Hines received commissions from the proper authorities in the east to act as agent of both the sanitary and Christian associations on the Pacific coast. He at once entered upon his work with his accustomed zeal and devotion. His entire time, together with all his surplus income, was freely given to the cause of the country; and his success in raising money and other supplies for the army was such as to call forth an autograph letter from General Grant, which he now has in his possession and which is kept as an heirloom valued beyond all price. The special incident which called forth this letter from the general may be stated in the following words: The ladies of Humboldt county, where Mr. Hines and family then resided, and where Grant, when but a captain in the United States army, had once been stationed, conceived the idea of sending a unique memorial present to Mrs. Grant. In order to do this, and at the same time raise funds for the Christian commission, they made a quilt composed of thirty-six separate and distinct Union Flags, with the coat of arms of the United States wrought on a field of blue as a centerpiece, and the coat of arms of each state on a blue field for each separate banner. These thirty-six flags represented the number of states then in the Union, while eight silver spangles on the border stood for the number of the territories then existing. The material of which this quilt was composed was beautiful colored silk, and the stars, numbering about six hundred, and the coat of arms, both of the United States and of each separate state, were of floss silk, and all wrought by hand, nearly all by Mrs. Hines, she being especially skillful in the use of the needle. When this unique gift was completed (but very few people having been let into the secret) almost the entire population for miles around came together to witness the unveiling. It was given out that each banner would be sold separately and only those coming from the state the banner represented could vote upon it. The central field, representing the United States, was to be bid for promiscuously, without regard to state lines or nationality. The interest in the affair was most intense and at the close it was found that the sum of $2,400 had been raised for the cause of the Union. The quilt was then sent to Mrs. Grant, and in response the general returned the short but beautiful autograph letter now in the possession of Mr. Hines. When General Grant and his wife made the circuit of the world they visited San Jose, and she stated to Mrs. Hines that she cherished that beautiful quilt, made by the ladies of Humboldt, as one of her most valued treasures.
Space will not permit of an extended recital of the thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes through which Mr. Hines passed in his travels over the coast during its pioneer history. They would fill a volume, and if told in his graphic and earnest style would be deeply interesting and instructive to future generations. His travels in the earlier days frequently took him among the Indian tribes of Oregon and northern California, and into association with the rough element of our frontier settlements; but such was his tact and quiet, fearless demeanor that he never failed to command, and never lost the confidence and respect of both the good and the bad with whom he came in contact. He never carried about his person any deadly weapons and never displayed any doubts or fears; and even the wildest Indians seemed so attracted and pleased by his cordial, unsuspicious conduct that they were at once disarmed of all feelings of hostility.
When the Civil was closed with the signal triumph of the Union cause Mr. Hines, with the same broad patriotic feeling that had characterized his conduct during its continuance, bent all his energies to bringing about those feelings of mutual sympathy and respect between the north and the south, without which he felt that no permanent union or prosperity could be expected for the country. He fully endorsed the sentiment expressed by General Grant at the surrender of Lee, “Let us have peace,” and he labored to that end with constant and intelligent devotion.
Having been elected as superintendent of public instruction for one of our most populous counties, Mr. Hines found himself associated with many of the leading educators of the state in revising our common school system and bringing it more in harmony with the advanced ideas of the eastern states. This work was accomplished in such a thorough and satisfactory manner that California stands today without a superior in all the states of the Union for the perfection and practical operation of its common school system. He served also for about two years as agent of the University of the Pacific. His success in that position was so signal and timely that the board of trustees passed a vote of thanks, in which they ascribed the success of its financial affairs largely due to his devoted and determined effort. In more than one pressing emergency he bravely met the demands of the crisis and caused the somber clouds of doubt and uncertainty to give place to the sunlight of hope and assurance.
Mr. Hines possesses a decided literary taste, and has always managed, notwithstanding the pressing duties incident to a new and growing state, to keep in touch with the literary and scientific progress of the age. As editor of the first labor paper published on the Pacific coast his editorial writings attracted the attention of the secular press throughout the country, and were universally regarded as masterly expositions of social and economic science. His contributions to other periodicals, both religious and secular, were numerous and able, and read by the people in general with decided interest and profit. As a ready entertaining speaker he was everywhere listened to with decided appreciation. He possessed in a wonderful degree the power of concentration, one very competent judge having once declared that “he could say more in five minutes than any other man he ever heard.” As an after-dinner speaker he had but few superiors.
By referring to the ancestry of Joseph Wilkinson Hines we find he was the tenth child of James and Betsey (Round) Hines, the latter a daughter of Bertram and Alice (Wilkinson) Round. Bertram Round was the son of James and Susannah (Seamen) Round, and was born in Rehoboth, Mass., December 1, 1741. James Round was born in Rehoboth, Mass., July 19, 1722, and was the son of George and Susanna Round. George Round was the son of John and Elizabeth Round. John Round’s will is recorded in the town records as made October 16, 1716. This John Round was the boy saved from the Indian massacre of Swansea in 1675. It is probable his parents were then killed. James Round and his son Bertram, who was grandfather to Mr. Hines, emigrated from Swansea to Rhode Island, and thence to Richfield, N. Y., in 1793, where he died October 1, 1835, leaving two hundred and thirty-six descendants; one of whom, Stephen Hopkins of Rhodes Island, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Round family were of pure English descent. Alice Wilkinson, wife of Bertram Round and grandmother of Mr. Hines, was the daughter of Joseph and Martha (Bray) Wilkinson, great-granddaughter of Samuel and Plain (Wickenden) Wilkinson and great-great-granddaughter of Lawrence and Susanna (Smith) Wilkinson.
Lawrence Wilkinson came to Providence, R. I., in 1645. His ancestry is given in a book entitled “Americans of Royal Descent,” pages 287-289, and shows him to have been the fifteenth from King Edward I of England, and also that he was descended from the royal house of both France and Spain. The Wilkinson genealogy is given fully in a volume published in 1869, by Rev. Israel Wilkinson of Illinois.
Mr. Hines was married August 30, 1847, to Miss Elizabeth Meridith, of Steuben, Oneida county, N. Y. Her parents were both natives of Wales, but were brought to this country when children, and were reared in full sympathy with American life and institutions. Eight children, four sons and four daughters, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hines. Three of these, one son and two daughters, died in early life, while three sons and two daughters now live within easy access of the paternal home.
We have here attempted to give a few incidents in the long, eventful career of one who was ambitious only to live a true, manly life, devoted to the best good of universal humanity. His ideals of life were always found to harmonize with man’s highest needs and his purest and most earnest aspirations. Such men, though not always understood and appreciated while living generally have an influence that will unfold itself in the flowering beauties and ripening harvests of future generations. To lose such lives from the records of time is to obstruct in a positive degree the march of civilization and to foster the sinister impulses that will tend to gradual but fatal retrogression. So let us give the world the light that we now have, and when the summons comes drop into the swelling current of the stream of time those noble influences that will make it a broader, deeper and a swifter river. Through these and their work, as the prophet has said, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Transcribed
Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 569-572. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Joyce Rugeroni.