Medford Mail Tribune, November 21, 1926, page 4  Jacksonville citizens rebutted this article on December 2, transcribed below.


    As an aged mother mourns the departure of her best loved child, so mourns the old town of Jacksonville today over the loss of her court house and the distinction of being the county seat of Jackson County.
    The recent election held in the county gave a majority of over 900 for the removal of the court house from Jacksonville to Medford.
    The entire state of Oregon, which meeds [sic] a reverence for this pioneer town, and the entire county of Jackson, which saw fit to vote for the removal of its county seat, and triumphant Medford as well, proud victor in the recent fight for removal, sympathizes with the little town in its loss and admires the valiant fight which its few hundred citizens put up to retain its one remaining glory.
    Four years ago the same measure came up before the voters of Jackson County. At that time Jacksonville had as its able champion Colonel H. H. Sargent, personal friend of President Roosevelt, and a retired army officer, who had been prominent in the reconstruction of Havana and Manila after the Spanish war. When Colonel Sargent retired from army life he selected the beautiful, peaceful little town of Jacksonville in Southern Oregon as his home, for no other place which he had seen in all his world wandering had appealed to him as this quaint, picturesque town did.
    Here he bought a home on the hillside and devoted himself to literary pursuits. In a short time he grew to love the old town and took as much interest in it as if he had been a native son. When the proposed removal of its cherished court house was put on the ballot Colonel Sargent came forth from his retirement, and with all of his old fighting spirit entered the conflict; thanks to him, the result at that time was a loss of the measure by 90 votes.
    Never since those early days of wild mining excitement had the little town been the scene of such revelry as it was on the night it gave a celebration in honor of its victory. The entire countryside was invited to share its joy over the defeat of the measure. Every public building in the town was open to the public. A musical program was given in the Masonic hall, at which Colonel Sargent was tendered an enthusiastic ovation.
    A banquet, such as no other town but Jacksonville, long famous for its hospitality and excellent housewives, could serve was attended by hundreds of people. People came not only from all over the county and state but from other states as well. Toasts were responded to by native sons and daughters who had gone forth from this, their home town, and had attained distinction and prominence in the outside world.
    The court house, town hall, various lodge rooms and streets swarmed with people as it had not done since the early days of mining excitement. A big dance, which young and old joined, lasted till daylight, when another banquet was spread. Jacksonville was jubilant, and even those who had opposed her in the past campaign caught the contagion of happiness and were glad for the old town's victory. The spirit of the celebration obviously was not one of arrogant triumph, but one of joy and thankfulness for having retained its own rights.
    But today it is different. Colonel Sargent is dead; but had he lived he could not have kept sentiment from being pushed aside in the path of progress. It was inevitable that the county seat would eventually be taken from the little town, which is tucked off in a far corner of this large county, and is also five miles from the railroad, and be placed in a more central and populous district.
    But it is tragic--it is heartbreaking to Jacksonville, which now has only its memories of past grandeur to live on.
    But such memories.
    No other town in the state has had such a colorful and romantic past. Jacksonville was not built up slowly and arduously by weary men and women, worn out after a long journey across the plains, as the northern part of Oregon was; in fact, this rich domain was shunned by the first pioneers on account of its surroundings; impassable mountains and its treacherous, cruel and warlike Indian tribes. It was known as "the Indian country," and the few daring white people who tried to pass through it prior to 1850 were killed by the Indians or barely escaped with their lives. [Those who took adequate precautions passed without incident.] In 1851, however, two men, more foolhardy and daring than most, were passing through and discovered gold in the locality where Jacksonville stands today.
    Those who seek gold forget all hardships and danger, and as soon as a report of this first gold strike was circulated, men swarmed into the vicinity from all directions, and suddenly a town of thousands of people sprung up where formerly only the Indian held undisputed sway. [Farmers preceded the discovery of gold.]
    Tents, cabins, shacks grew up overnight among the creek banks. Adventurers, courtesans, miners, gamblers and pioneers came in over the hills with pack trains following close behind. What is now only a town of less than 500 people at one time boasted of 5,000 or 10,000 population. [The population of the entire county probably never reached 5,000 during the gold rush.]
    Millions of dollars were taken from the creek beds and quartz hills nearby. Soon roads were cut through the stubborn mountains and the stage coach rumbled and jangled through the streets, bringing news and people from the outside world. Saloons, gambling halls and dance halls flourished. A substantial trading post was established and gold dust and nuggets were used in exchange instead of coin.
    All was excitement, rush, gaiety and splendid adventure, instead of the usual worry and sordid struggle of building up a civilization in the wilderness. There was, of course, the oft-recurring troubles with the Indians and at one time a terrible and devastating scourge of smallpox, but these calamities were overshadowed by the lure and excitement of gold.
    When the first rush was over, Jacksonville began to assume the semblance of a town instead of a camp, and began to build, not as mining towns usually do--flimsily, for the present only--but solidly and substantially for the future. Respectable families began to come into the town, and homes were built which are occupied today by descendants of those early pioneers. Furniture was brought "around the Horn" and packed in from the nearest seaport, giving a social prominence to those possessing such things. Brick business buildings were erected, which are as solid today as they were when they were built, even though all the granite steps in front of them are worn to half-moon circles by the many feet that have ascended them through the years. [The steps are sandstone.]
    Flagstone sidewalks took the place of paths and a church was built, being one of the first Protestant churches west of the Rocky Mountains. The first money donated toward the building of this little church, in which services are still held, was won over the faro table by a famous gambler. In fact, if it had not been for the generosity of those early-day gamblers there would not have been a church built until a later date. [Thomas Fletcher Royal's records of donations for the church survive. "An exact copy of all subscriptions, headings, names, amounts, and for what purposes" (Royal's words) is transcribed here. One of the gamblers usually cited in this myth is listed as having donated $5; others are not mentioned.]     Jacksonville also had the first photograph gallery established in Oregon. The photographer was Peter Britt, who used to bluntly tell the ladies, when they were displeased with their likeness and prone to lay the fault onto the photographer, "If you want a pretty picture, you must bring a pretty face." This interesting old gallery is kept just as it was in the early '50s when the dance hall girls and bearded miners preened and posed for their daguerreotypes.
    Then there was the U.S. Hotel, another brick building, at which the tired travelers rested after their rough stage trip into the valley, and in which President Hayes once slept. It is used as a pioneer museum now. The express office, combined with Beekman's banking house, which was one of the first banks in the state, is also unchanged by time, and one feels as he enters its doors today as if he had stepped back over half a century. In it are the gold scales used in those early days, and notices on the walls, dimmed by time, still read, "Gold dust shipped to the Atlantic states" "Gold dust exchanged for United States gold coin."
    And there is an advertisement for the Oregon and California stage coach with a picture of that ancient vehicle proudly exhibiting the comforts and safety of travel behind its six prancing horses, with an armed express messenger on the box beside the driver.
    The counter, worn by time and use, where miners used to empty their buckskin pokes of nuggets, still holds, as if ready for instant use, tin candlesticks with half-burnt tallow candles in them. About the rusty box stove, still arranged in a companionable circle, are the crude chairs and rough-hewn benches where the leading men of the community once sat and discussed momentous affairs. There may be more imposing banks in the state of Oregon than this little one, but few--if any--through which so much wealth has passed.
    All of these things and places, which are only landmarks and objects of curious interest today, at that time were important factors in the new country. And as the town began to grow and a definite form of society crystallized, it became necessary to establish some kind of law and order.
    Oregon was a territory and Jackson County an empire in itself, comprising within its boundaries at that time what has since been subdivided into Josephine, Lake, Klamath and Curry counties. The few territorial laws that had been compiled hastily for the state related mostly to property rights and did not suffice for the dispensation of justice in a thickly populated--and sometimes lawless--community, such as Jacksonville had suddenly become.
    In 1852 the necessity of mutual protection caused a "people's court" or a sort of vigilantes committee, to grow up. The decrees of the court were inflexible and punishment was swift and certain. When a man was condemned for murder he was taken out and hanged as soon as sentence was pronounced. [This "people's court" was only convened once, to try Robert S. Maynard for murder. Accounts report variously that he was hanged the next day, or after a week or ten days.] In 1853, on account of increasing crime and property disputes, it became necessary to do away with such informal proceedings and establish a judicial court. A mass meeting was held on Jackson Creek by the citizens and miners, who, by general consent, appointed a man as "alcalde," investing him with unlimited jurisdiction. But it soon developed that the man chosen was unworthy of public confidence and a "superior alcalde" was appointed over him. [The alcalde was a feature only of the ad hoc government of the valley prior to Jackson County's organization under the laws of Oregon Territory in 1853. There is no record of a "mass meeting" until it became necessary to override an alcalde's decision.]
    In September, 1853, this court held the last session, for Matthew P. Deady, who had been appointed United States district judge of the Territory of Oregon, held the first regular court in Jacksonville, in a building next to the "New State Saloon." [Jackson County was organized on March 4, 1853, initiating a conventional county structure on that date.] The bench was a dry goods box, covered with a blue blanket, and, as one history says: "Probably the uncomfortable seat occupied by the judge was so irksome that it had something to do with his rapid dispensation of justice."
    Eventually a wooden structure was built for the court house, and in 1883, against bitter opposition from all over the county, the present two-story brick building was erected. Jacksonville was stronger than her county in those days.
    A history of Oregon, written at that time, in summing up Jacksonville's merits and acquisitions, says: "But the crowning glory of Jacksonville is its magnificent court house, built in 1883, at a cost of $32,000 and after a strenuous opposition from rival points and citizens. It is the cheapest public building of its kind ever erected in Oregon, and the bill of costs never exceeded a single dollar from the amount stipulated in the contract, which disappointed the must bitter opponents, who predicted the building would ultimately foot up $100,000."
    The historian fails to add that Mr. Byers, the contractor, was either that rare thing--a conscientious contractor--or else very deficient in calculation, and he lost $1500 on his contract. This was made up to him, however, by the ladies of Jacksonville, who gave a grand ball in the edifice when it was completed, and turned the proceeds over to the honest and deserving Mr. Byers. [Byers & Guerin were the subcontractors for the brickwork and plastering. The ball was to honor the contractor, L. S. P. Marsh.]
    Since that day, when the court house was deemed a magnificent and awe-inspiring structure, Jackson County has increased to a population of 20,000 people. An accumulation of important records during the 43 years has outgrown the capacity of the old building. Valuable records have been relegated to storerooms outside the court house and some have became so stained that they are illegible and useless. It was impossible to remodel the old building for the present or future needs, and so the tragedy of losing the chief prize came to Jacksonville.
    The new generation sees nothing amazing or imposing in the stately, solid, old brick building, whose small offices are Dickensesque in their quaintness, each boasting paneled wainscoting and a fireplace. The old court room, saturated with years of strong cigars, has in its center also a huge, big stove, which somehow mars the dignity of what is otherwise an unusually imposing court room. Magnificent it may have seemed at the time it was built to those men who had attended court when his honor sat on a packing box, but it fails to impress the present generation and is inadequate for the growing needs of the thriving county.
    Not only as a hall of justice has the court room served, for being the most imposing and important structure in Southern Oregon, it was used in the past for all the large social and civic gatherings which the town and county had. It has been the scene of famous Fourth of July celebrations and those wonderful pioneer reunions, community Christmas trees, grand balls and even formal weddings.
    Its old walls have resounded with the eloquence of some of the ablest jurists on the coast, and many a sensational trial has been conducted there. Murderers have listened to their doom and innocent people have been freed within its portals. But no more will the life and stir of intense interest animate its old frame. Its doom is sealed, and it, too, passes into the limbo of Jacksonville's memories.
    Many of us who knew it when it was young and proud--and we were young, too--knew that it was not only a "court house" in one sense of the word, but in another sense as well. For, having no other park in the town, its large yard, shaded by splendid maples, served as a meeting and a trysting place for the young people of the community. Many who spent their early life in Jacksonville and who are fathers and mothers--even some who are grandfathers and grandmothers now--treasure, I know, as their fondest memory those wide granite steps and the shaded court house yard splashed with moonlight.
    They remember as if yesterday the fragrance of rain-washed lilacs and the cloying sweetness of locust blossoms blended with the perfume of high lush grass sprinkled with buttercups that made youth and love most glorious things in those spring evenings of long ago. The unfolding quiet of the village evening, broken only by the rustle of leaves above them and the trickling of the creek that flowed nearby, was like a benediction which has attended them through all the years.
    Jacksonville will come into her own some day. Like children, seeking adventure, who have strayed from their mother's knee, people will gratefully and happily return to bless her in her old age. Situated as the town is in the sheltering arms of pine- and laurel-clad hills, commanding a view of the rolling valley before it, with a background of towering and snow-capped mountains in the distance, it has the most beautiful location in the Rogue River Valley. Already homes are building rapidly toward it along the highway, and the time is not far distant when it will be the exclusive residence district of Southern Oregon.
    Towns, like people, have a distinct personality, and Jacksonville attracts with its dignity, its peacefulness and contentment. Out of its hectic early life it has sifted the useless and only retained the things that endure. Things that make life worthwhile, after all. And these it will hand on as a heritage to those who live within its boundaries.
    First, Jacksonville was robbed of her gold and deserted by those who ravished her; later the railroad snubbed her and cut her off from the main thoroughfare of progress. She has seen her younger generations depart, seeking success in faraway places, and finally in her old age the upstart town of Medford, like an ungrateful stepchild, has stolen her court house from her.
    But there are some things that are all her own. Some things which nothing ever can take from her, and these are her memories and traditions.
    The love, gratitude and reverence which are her due will grow stronger as the country grows older and will be handed down through the generations by those who know that the very name of Jacksonville is synonymous of all that is brave, strong and courageous. The whole state is proud of that indomitable pioneer spirit concentrated in Jacksonville, which mothered our civilization, which fought for right and justice in days of hazard and strife and still fought--and went down fighting an outnumbering and overpowering foe.--Oregonian.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 28, 1926, page B2  Reprinted from the Oregonian of November 21, page E4.


Medford Mail Tribune, December 2, 1926, page 4  This is in response to an article transcribed above, November 21, 1926.


    Passing by a majority of about 65 percent in the November election of last year, a measure was adopted by Jackson County voters whereby after July 1 of this year the county seat, now located in the pioneer city of Jacksonville where it was established more than 50 years ago, will be moved to Medford.
    A new temporary building to cost $75,000 is to be constructed by the City of Medford for the use of the county for a five-year period, at the end of which time the county will construct its own building at an approximate cost of $210,000, not including site or furnishings.
    The temporary structure will be located at the corner of Fifth Street and North Central Avenue, directly opposite the Elks building and directly east of the Barnum apartment house. It will be constructed of reinforced concrete, and will have a 100-foot frontage and will be large enough to provide for all the needs of county officers, a number of whom at present are forced to maintain offices outside of the court house, which during the past 40 years has gradually grown too small to provide ample space to carry on the county business.
    Upon the construction and completion of the permanent court house on a site in this city to be given the county free by Medford and to be chosen by the county court, the temporary building will revert back to the use of Medford as a city hall. The present headquarters of municipal government will be moved to the vacated court house and the present city hall will be sold to private interests.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 2, 1927, page D5


    SALEM, Jan. 18.--(Special.)--Until the Jackson County delegation has an opportunity to study the situation, no bill requesting an enactment by the legislature to remove the court house, in accordance with the expressed will of the voters of Jackson County, will be introduced. It is highly probable that a special election will be called again upon the issue.
    SALEM, Jan. 18.--(AP)--The supreme court today knocked out the removal of the Jackson County court house from Jacksonville to Medford. This was by dismissal of the writ of mandamus in the original proceeding of A. L. Hill and E. D. Briggs against W. J. Hartzell, Jackson County judge, to compel the judge to proclaim in effect the vote by which the people demanded the removal.
    The opinion was written by Justice Belt.
    An act of 1903 provided a special method for the removal of county courts requiring a 60 percent petition of the voters to put the measure on the ballot and a majority of 60 percent vote. In 1907 the statewide initiative law was enacted, requiring among other things the publication of voters' pamphlets. In 1919 there was enacted an initiative law applicable only to counties.
    In the case of Briggs vs. County Clerk Stevens, brought to ascertain whether the procedure could be under the less stringent 1919 act, which did not require the publication of pamphlets, the supreme court held that the petitions for the removal should have been filed by the county clerk.
    In its opinion today the supreme court holds that the procedure should have been under the act of 1907 which requires the use of pamphlets.
    In his opinion Justice Belt says: "Since the election was special and no attempt was made to comply with the mandatory provisions of section 4103, Oregon laws as to the mailing of voters' pamphlets, it follows that the election relative to changing the county seat is void. Courts ought to be and are very reluctant to interfere with the will of the people as expressed at an election, but cannot validate an election of this character wherein there has been a total failure to follow the plain and explicit mandate of the statute as specifically pointed out by this court in Briggs vs. Stevens."
    The following is a summary of the situation:
    After the election for the removal of the county seat had been held it was realized that the failure to send out voters' pamphlets raised a serious question as to the validity of the election. Not that the holding of the election was not generally known, but that technically the voters' pamphlet was the election notice upon the question, and that the failure to send it out raised a serious question that might finally be decided either way. For that reason Mr. Briggs of Ashland and Mr. Hill of Medford became plaintiffs in the case just decided. The real purpose to be accomplished by the case was to obtain from the supreme court a quick decision that might be of value to the legislature, which is now in session.
    It is within the power of the legislature either to remove the county seat now that the will of the people upon the subject is known, or to pass the necessary legislation to submit the question at a special election held upon that subject. The provision of the statute preventing an earlier election would have to be amended so far as this special election is concerned. Whether or not the legislature will take such action remains to be seen. But in view of the fact that both sides to the controversy carried advertisements in the papers throughout the campaign preceding the election, and both sides entered into debates and discussions over the county, so that it was generally known that the question was to be voted upon, coupled with the fact that the vote in favor of the removal was overwhelming, would now justify the legislature in taking this action if it should see fit to do so.
    When the question was first raised it seemed desirable to have the question passed on immediately, rather than to allow to be dragged through the courts by the slow procedure with which it was progressing in the suit that had been brought by taxpayers of Jacksonville, and any decision either way at this time is particularly welcomed. It has been determined that the method that was followed was defective.
    Methods are now open to make the removal in such a manner as will stand the test of the courts. It is up to the people of the county who wanted the court house removed to do what they can towards the accomplishment of this result.
    There were more votes cast on the county seat than any other measure or candidate on the ballot last fall excepting for governor. The total vote was:

	Governor	7760
	Court House	7702
	U.S. Senator	7535
	State Senator	7148
	Eastern Oregon Normal	6579
	Tuberculosis Hospital	6328
	Tobacco Tax	6529
	Motor Bus	5788
	Income Tax	5953

Medford Mail Tribune, January 18, 1927, page 1


    The supreme court has enjoined the moving of the county seat from Jacksonville to Medford on a technical error in the election, said error being failure to publish a pamphlet containing the arguments pro and con. This is another evidence that the voter's pamphlet law should be repealed. Does anyone imagine that the people of Jackson County were not thoroughly familiar with the proposed project which has been before them for a dozen years? Ashland people favored placing the county seat in Medford, where it ought to accommodate the most people.
    If there is any way for the legislature to move the county seat regardless of this technicality, it ought to be done at this session.--Corvallis Gazette-Times.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 28, 1927, page 6


    Welcome news to the vast majority of the people of Jackson County is that hereafter no more sessions of the circuit court will be held at Jacksonville, following the removal of the court's law library recently to Medford and the removal of the circuit judge's office or chambers 10 days later to the Liberty Building, and the official sanction received in the city this forenoon of Judge R. S. Bean of the federal district court at Portland, granting the use of the United States court room in the federal building at Medford for all jury trials or chamber hearings in which there are a large number of witnesses.
    This rule will be in effect from now on until the new temporary courthouse in Medford is ready for use, no matter if that structure is not ready for use by July 1st next, in accordance with the law passed that a courthouse removal to Medford could be effected by that time.
    However, the federal court room will only be used for trials or hearings in which there are a large number of witnesses. The other business of the circuit court will be held in the chambers of Judge C. M. Thomas.
    Shortly after the removal of the circuit court library and his chambers office from Jacksonville to Medford, Judge Thomas, realizing that his office here was too small in which to hold trials or hearings where a number of witnesses would be examined, and deeming that the trial place should be in the city where was located his office and the law library, decided that the U.S. court room would be an ideal place until the temporary courthouse here was built.
    Hence he took up the matter of gaining the government's consent to the use of that court room and its jury room and incidental court offices with Postmaster Wm. J. Warner, who is local custodian of the government building. Mr. Warner in turn wrote to the government department in charge of federal buildings, explaining the local situation and endorsing Judge Thomas' request. The headquarters office replied to Mr. Warner, stating that the government had no objection to granting the request if the federal district court should agree to it.
    This entailed taking up the matter with Judge R. S. Bean of Portland by further correspondence, and a letter was received from the judge this morning by Mr. Warner which stated that he was not only willing for the federal court room to be used for state circuit court use, but was glad to extend this privilege to Judge C. M. Thomas.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 9, 1927, page 1


Medford Mail Tribune, March 16, 1927, page 3


Medford Mail Tribune, March 20, 1927, page 1