Quarto (ca. 25x20 cm or 10x8 in). 1 p. Black ink on lined laid paper with the printed letterhead of the “Office of the District Attorney of Lassen County, State of California, James Branham, District Attorney.” Foldmarks, a minor tear on the centrefold, but overall a very good letter written in a legible hand.

A historically interesting original autograph manuscript letter by one of the earliest Masons in California and the founder of Lassen Commandery No. 13 of the Knights Templar at Susanville, Gen. Allen Wood (Ca. 1812-1890), informing a Sir Knight from Plumas County and a pioneer California lawyer about the “cold blooded affair” of one of the first murders investigated in Lassen County, mentioning “a considerable feeling” among the inhabitants about the prisoner’s expected arrival in Susanville, and discussing the Commandery’s decision to “indefinitely postpone” the celebration of Ascension day. Dated 20 April 1880, the letter captures the first years of Lassen County and documents the activities of one of the earliest Masonic lodges at Susanville.

A Mexican War veteran and receiver of the Land Office, “Wood was a Pennsylvania man who made his way to Arkansas in 1839. There he was elected to the legislature, twice, before, beginning his military career. Fighting in the war with Mexico, Wood was raised to the title of major…. Arriving in Plumas County’s Humbug Valley in 1858, Wood built a hotel, which later burned. In 1860 he was elected to the assembly on the Douglas ticket. [Wood] … was instrumental in bringing chapters of the Masons to sections of Butte County, and he later established a commandery of the Knight Templar in Susanville.” (Feather River Bulletin. P. 9. 19 January 2000).

The author moved to Susanville in the mid-1860s, less than a decade after the first building was erected on the site of the town and only a few years following the Sagebrush War (1863). The armed conflict between the Plumas and Roop Counties over the jurisdiction of Susanville led to the establishment of Lassen county with Susanville as its county seat. In 1865, twelve years after Templary reached California, Wood founded one of the first Masonic lodges in Susanville, Lassen Commandery No. 13 of the Knights Templar. The Commandery organized numerous parades and closely collaborated with the Knights from the other subordinate lodges of California, including Quincy Longe No. 129 (1879) and Plumas Lodge No. 60 (1854), a member of which was the recipient of this letter.

The letter is addressed to a district court judge and a Sir Knight from Quincy, Plumas County “Hon. John D. Goodwin” (Ca. 1829-1908). “John D. Goodwin was born in South Carolina on November 6, 1829. He came to California in 1850, prospecting for gold in Plumas County. He was elected County Clerk in 1859 and began to study law. In 1863, he became an attorney and formed a partnership with Creed Haymond. From 1865 to 1867, he represented Plumas County in the State Assembly. After 1867, he practiced law at Quincy, the county seat, until 1876 when he was appointed a district court judge.” (see the Online Archive of California)

In the letter, the author writes about the prisoner’s expected arrival in Susanville and mentions “a considerable feeling about it” among the inhabitants. Apparently, Wood refers to the case of a sheepherder Richard Walsh (Ca. 1850-1880) shot and killed by C. F. Miers in Big Valley (a small unincorporated community in Lassen County 75 miles from Susanville) on 27 April 1880. “Walsh called Miers a liar, when the latter raised a rifle he held in his hand and shot Walsh dead. Miers gave himself up.” (The Pacific Bee. 01 May 1880. P. 5) Later in 1880, following a trial at the Lassen County Superior Court in Susanville, Miers was found not guilty and was released from prison. In the text, Wood also informs Goodwin, a Sir Knight from Plumas County, about the Commandery’s decision to “indefinitely postpone” the celebration of Ascension day due to the “continued stormy weather” and asks the addressee to “give such notice” to all the other Sir Knights.

Overall, a historically interesting original autograph letter, capturing the first years of Lassen county and documenting the early activity of one of the earliest Masonic lodges at Susanville.

The text of the letter (original spelling and punctuation preserved):
“Owing to the continued stormy weather and bad conditions of the roads, the Committee appointed to make arrangements for the celebration of Ascention day have concluded to indefinitely postpone it. You will please give such notice to all Sir knights about Quincy. There is no news here except that there has been a murder committed in Big Valley which if the account we have of it is true was a cold blooded affair. The prisoner is expected in town in a day or two (provided nothing happens on the road). There seems to be considerable feeling about it out there. My kind regards to all.”