JOHN QUACKENBOS PACKARD
&
THE MARYSVILLE LIBRARY
THE PACKARD LIBRARY OF MARYSVILLE
by Earl Ramey
On February 3, 1855 a meeting was called with
the announced purpose of organizing a "Young Men's Association." This call was
not as exclusive as it might appear because a large fraction of the male
residents of Marysville, at the time, were young.
The main objective of the association was to be the
establishment of a library and a reading room. Marysville was yet quite
primitive. A suitable place with enough light to allow reading after dark was as
scarce as were suitable books to read. Not many persons could afford the cost of
a private library, and living quarters were poorly lighted. So these young
pioneers with literary interests concluded logically that they would have to
organize a cooperative library and reading room as a means of satisfying these
interests.
Twenty men signed a preliminary document setting forth their
intentions and objectives. Nine of these were elected to form the first Board of
Directors.
A few days later another meeting was held and officers were
elected. Edwards Woodruff, of anti-debris fame, because [became] the first
president of the Association. Dr. D. W. C. Rice, president of "Cal P," Sutter
County's first railroad, was vice-president. Dr. J. T. McLean and F. H. Woodward
were secretaries and Mark Brumagim, the first banker of Marysville, was
treasurer. At this meeting a plan of solicitation to build the membership was
adopted. The latter part of the year 1855 was devoted to this campaign for
subscriptions. At a called meeting on February 22, 1856, the results of the
campaign were announced.
There were six life members who subscribed $100 each and 138
share holders subscribing $25 each. Nineteen members pledged to contribute a fee
of five dollars per month for the privileges of the library. The subscriptions
would have provided a beginning capital of $4,145, but as we shall note later
not all of the pledges were fulfilled.
The list of charter members would serve as a directory of the
professional and commercial pioneers of Marysville. The physicians were D.W.C.
Rice and J.T. McLean. Attorneys were J.O. Goodwin, R.S. Messick, T.B. Reardon
and C.E. Filkins. The bankers were Mark Brumagim, John Jewett, Peter Decker,
Lewis Cunningham, John Paxton and Frederick Low. Warren Miller was the leading
architect and builder. The Reverend Messrs. D.A. Dryden, W.A. McKaig and
E.B.Wallsworth were pioneer clergymen of the town. H.S. Hoblitzell, C.M.
Patterson and A.G. Coffin were bookkeepers and accountants. The others were the
early wholesale and retail merchants, including W.T. Ellis, Sr., John C. Fall,
John Q. Packard, W.K. Hudson, Wm. Hawley, Lorenzo Babb, A.A. Vantine, J.S.
Eckman, G. Amy and Levi Hite. This list could be extended to include the 163
charter members.
At the first regular meeting of directors
held on March 4, 1856, standing committees were appointed and authorized to rent
a room for library purposes and to engage a librarian. A room over Cheesman's
store on D Street and the Plaza was secured at $25 per month. Henry Walton
volunteered his services as librarian without cost to the Association.
A.G. Coffin made a trip to the eastern states during the
summer of 1856. His literary tastes were evidently valued because he was
authorized to purchase books while in New York at a cost of $1,000 provided that
he could get terms of $500 cash and $500 on credit. At the time there was only
$240 in the treasury, but it was assumed that some member would advance the $260
needed to make the cash payment. Just where the $500 to meet the time payment
was to be found was not clear until later when banker Brumagim advanced the
amount.
This problem of paying for the first purchase of books is
evidence that the pledges subscribed had not been met. But Mr. Coffin was able
to purchase 70 books in spite of his very limited fund. It is of interest to
note that he enlisted the assistance and advice of the librarian of the New York
Mercantile Library Association in selecting and purchasing the books. Also the
New York Association sent the Marysville Association copies of their catalog,
by-laws, reports and other records which served as a guide for the organization
of the new Association.
One problem regarding the new books was very discouraging.
They had to be shipped by sea around the Horn, and were so long in arriving
(December, 1856) that some members despaired of ever opening the library.
Fortunately, a large number of books, pamphlets, maps and
magazines were donated to the Association by benevolent friends of the project,
which gifts allowed the fitting out of a reading room. The largest single
donation came from a pioneer of Sutter County, Congressman Joseph W. McCorkle,
who gave nearly his entire private library. This collection of 141 volumes was
valued at $1,500. The directors ordered that the collection be kept intact on
shelves and be designated as the McCorkle Library. But to the shame of
succeeding custodians there is no trace of this special collection today. This
case illustrates a sad phase of the history of the Marysville City Library. Many
valuable items have been entrusted to the care of the institution only to
vanish.
The Rev. Mr. Wallsworth donated a large number of volumes,
and many others gave single or smaller numbers of volumes. The leading
stationers, Amy Brothers, maintained a table on which they kept the latest
newspapers and magazines from the East. Governor Latham, Senator Gwin and other
elected officials supplied documents. The Association succeeded in getting on
the free list for publications of the Smithsonian Institution, and the
publishers of the local newspapers furnished free subscriptions.
The Association had several other objectives in addition to
the library and reading room. They proposed to sponsor a series of lectures to
be delivered by visiting celebrities. Only a few of the proposed lectures were
presented because it was discovered that not a sufficient number of persons were
willing to pay one dollar to produce the fee of fifty dollars for the speaker.
Even after reducing the price of admission to fifty cents the lectures did not
pay, and they were abandoned.
Another project was of general interest at the time. This was
referred to as the "cabinet." It was a case designed to hold, behind glass,
specimens of gold-bearing ore. There was intense interest in quartz mining which
was taking the place of hand placer extraction which produced only gold dust.
Dust was no longer a novelty, but a piece of rock showing a deposit of gold was
a spectacle. This cabinet and its contents also have vanished.
The Association proposed to collect works of art. A Mrs.
Wills donated a picture of Joan D'Arc and was made an honorary member, becoming
the first woman to hold membership. Colonel Emil Sutter, son of Captain John
Sutter of Hock Farm, donated a collection of shells and medals, and he was given
honorary membership. Many other objects of art, including a plaster bust of
Captain Sutter, were donated, but they are not to be found today.
The library and reading room were opened on March 22, 1856.
The room, with the librarian in charge, was to be open on Tuesday and Thursday
evenings for reading and withdrawing books. The directors very gallantly decreed
that ladies would be admitted on Tuesday evenings and would be allowed to draw
out books on order of a member. The member, presumably, would be responsible for
the books taken out by the lady.
On February 17, 1857, Mr. Walton, the librarian, made his
first annual progress report. There were 125 members including 16 life members,
70 shareholders, four honorary members and 35 active members paying the monthly
fee of five dollars. There were 2,000 books and pamphlets on the shelves. The
circulation was 709 for the first year.
The second annual report made by President Coffin on February
17, 1858, was very discouraging. Interest in the Association had declined. The
lecture program had been abandoned. Membership had increased to 131, but 57
members had declared intentions to withdraw. There were debts outstanding to the
amount of $121 with only $57 in the treasury. Delinquent dues amounted to $174.
However, there were 2,060 volumes on the shelves and circulation for the year
had increased to 1,113.
At a special meeting on September 17, 1858, a committee was
appointed and instructed to investigate the proposals to arrange for the Masonic
Order to take over the library, or for the City of Marysville to accept
ownership and to operate the library as a public city institution. This
committee reported on September 23 that the Masons had declined to undertake
operation, but that the Common Council of the City had appointed a committee to
confer with the library committee.
Peter Decker was mayor of the City at this time and was also
a charter member of the Library Association. He is credited with persuading the
Council to accept the library, although two members were opposed.
On December 15, 1858, a "Deed of Gift" was signed by A.G.
Coffin, President, E.E. Rice, Secretary and H.G. Walton, Treasurer of the
Marysville Library Association as party of the first part and by the Mayor and
Common Council of the City of Marysville as party of the second part. The
Association gave to the Mayor and Council and their successors in office forever
all of the books, bookcases, maps, pictures, mineralogical and cabinet specimens
and all other property belonging to the Association to have and to hold subject
to these conditions:
The Library and property would be under the direction, management and
supervision of a Board of Directors.
The Directors would be ten persons including the Mayor as presiding officer and
Three to be elected by the Council;
Three to be elected by the School Commissioners;
And three to be elected by these seven and to represent the shareholders and
donors of the Association.
The Mayor and Council would make the Library free to the residents of
Marysville.
The Directors would keep the library rooms open from early candlelight to 10
o'clock on those nights designated by the Directors, and would provide
adequate lighting.
The Council would appropriate $250 each year for books.
A further condition provided that if the City failed to
fulfill its obligations the property conveyed would revert to the Association.
But any property added by the City would remain City property.
A farewell meeting of the Association was held on Christmas
Day of 1858. The announced purpose was to thank and honor Henry Walton who had
given three years of free service as librarian. There is evidence that these
three years of Association by the young men had caused the Marysville Library
Association to take on some of the characteristics of a fraternity. The last
record made in the book of minutes carries a slight note of sadness:
"A friendly glass of eggnog was drunk all around in memory of the past, and as a
pledge for the future of the Library which was about to pass into the hands of
the City. The deed of gift having been perfected, speeches were made and toasts
drunk by sundry gentlemen present, and after a pleasant hour of rational
enjoyment the company separated."
So ended the Marysville Library Association.
**********
The first meeting of the Directors of the
Marysville City Library was held on December 29, 1858, at the office of W.C.
Belcher who was serving as School Commissioner at the time. Mayor Peter Decker
presided. Representing the Council were Aldermen Thad Dean of the Union Lumber
Company, John Love, a county official and S.W. Selby, a pioneer hardware
merchant. The School Commissioners were Belcher, an attorney, S.C. Tompkins,
city assessor and the Rev. E.B.Wallsworth. These members elected A.G. Coffin,
John Jewett and J.T. McLean to represent the donors. Augustus Wedel was elected
to serve as librarian.
The Council had assigned a room on the second floor of the
City Hall at Third and Maiden Lane (now Oak Street) to be used as a library and
reading room. The Directors met in this room on January 10, 1859, and adopted a
very elaborate set of rules which defined in detail the duties of the Directors,
committees and Librarian as well as regulations of circulation and conduct of
the reading room. Borrowers were required to deposit five dollars as a guarantee
of care and return of books, but this deposit was to be returned on demand.
The new City Library was opened to the public on January 13,
1859. On March 8, 1859, the Librarian reported that 37 persons had deposited the
fee of five dollars and were using the library. Presumably, the 16 life members
and 42 shareholders of the Association at the time the City took possession were
considered eligible to use the library without the deposit.
During the year of 1859 many developments and problems were
recorded in the minutes of the meetings of the Directors. The Council had to be
reminded to appropriate $250 for books as required in the gift deed. The salary
of the Librarian was set at $40 per month. A label for books was adopted, which
label listed the rules to be observed. A gift of books was received from Mr.
Sands of New York. A rack for newspapers was purchased. Some books were not
returned. The room was open from 10 to 12 a.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. every day except
Sundays. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company offered free transportation of books
from New York. An order for books to cost $244 was sent to New York. And it was
ordered that a book be kept to record donations (which book does not exist
today). The Directors approved a proposal to communicate with public libraries
in the East requesting any duplicate volumes which might be sent to the
Marysville Library.
Evidently the position of librarian was not very attractive.
Augustus Wedell resigned in 1861 and was followed by Messrs. Vail, Kennedy and
Leonard who were in turn followed by the Rev. Mr. McKaig. Mr. McKaig resigned in
1872 and was replaced by Miss Jane Jones, who had the longest tenure, from 1872
until her death in 1894.
Miss Jones and her sister, Polly, had come to Marysville from
their native England in 1868 and were conducting a private school for small
children. The library position which paid only $25 per month, having been
reduced from $40, was a means of supplementing the limited income from the
school.
Miss Jones was a very capable woman. It is evident from her
annual reports that she is to be credited with the professional character and
the literary achievements of the Marysville City Library during the early years
of its history.
The position and function of the donors on the Board of
Trustees (or Directors) is an interesting matter to follow in the records of the
City Library. It has been noted that Jewett, Coffin and McLean were the first
donors to serve in 1858. Mr. Coffin left Marysville in 1859 and Peter Decker
took his place. Dr. McLean left the City and D.W.D. Rice replaced him. Dr. Rice
was in turn replaced by W.T. Ellis, Sr. These three, Decker, Jewett and Ellis,
were the last charter members of the Association to serve as donor
representatives on the Board. After these three died or moved from the City they
were replaced by younger men of the second generation. Decker died in 1888 and
F.W.H. Aaron took his place. Jewett moved to Sonoma County in 1890 but
maintained interests in Marysville and was kept on the Board as donor until his
death in 1911. W.T. Ellis, Sr. was probably the last surviving charter member
serving as donor representative. He died in 1913.
After 1915 the donor representatives included Richard Belcher, Harry Carden, W.B.
Swain, and George Rubel, no one of whom had been born when the original
Association was disbanded in 1858.
Very soon after the City Library was founded a fund was
established, the earnings of which were to be used for the purchase of books.
This fund was provided by bequests made by residents and former residents of
Marysville. There were ten bequests which by 1925 provided a fund of $9,250
giving an annual earning of $754. After 1900 it was no longer necessary for the
Council to appropriate $250 annually for books as required in the deed. The
income from the trust fund provided more than was being spent for new books.
Over the years this trust fund and the earnings became
somewhat confused in and mingled with the general City budget. On February 4,
1935, at the request of "The Marysville Library Association" the Council
appointed a committee to administer the fund and agreed that the earnings would
be used for library purposes only. Again on September 17, 1951, the Council gave
official recognition of the fund and repeated the policy of using the earnings
for the purchase of books.
The term "Association" was continued by the Trustees for many years after the
City acquired the original library. This practice was probably continued in
deference to the donors and their descendants. In the minutes of the period from
1884 to 1892 the references are to the "Marysville City Library Association."
Then it becomes "Marysville Library Association" which designation gradually
gave way to the "Marysville City Library."
There have been some practices and customs in the history of
the library which today seem quaint. During the month of August in 1896 and 1897
the library was simply closed to allow the librarian to take a vacation without
pay. In March of 1903 during an epidemic of scarlet fever, measles and smallpox
when several homes were quarantined, the City Board of Health ordered that no
books be issued and that those books returned from the quarantined homes be
fumigated.
The librarians were authorized to purchase and pay for supplies. They were
reimbursed if the Council approved. The librarians also employed and paid
persons to do cleaning before regular janitors were employed and paid directly
by the Council.
City bonds of $3,500 had been purchased for the trust fund.
When the bonds became due the Council redeemed them but put the City's note in
the fund rather than cash. However, the interest was paid in cash until the note
was taken up.
In April, 1901 the Trustees ordered that the library be
opened during three shifts each day -- morning, afternoon and evening; but the
librarian's salary was increased from $35 to $50 per month.
A suitable location and rooms for the library were a
difficult problem for the Council for fifty years after the City took
possession. It was provided in the gift deed that adequate rooms would be
furnished by the Council. It has been noted that a room at the south end of the
second floor of City Hall was assigned. There arose many objections. The view
from the windows included the recreation yard of the jail and the inmates at
play. Council ordered the only solution possible which was to brick up the
windows.
The room was heated by a wood burning stove. It was necessary
to employe a man to start a fire each morning. Then the librarian had the
responsibility of keeping the fire going. A large box for wood occupied needed
and limited floor and wall space. This problem was solved by moving the box to
the hallway to allow more shelves where the box had been.
The most serious objection was made by ladies who found it
very distasteful when their floor length skirts brushed the filthy tobacco
stained steps of the stairs leading to the second floor. There was no solution
to this problem. The ladies could not shorten their skirts, and the men could
not stop chewing tobacco.
As early as 1860 the Council was looking for a better
location for the library. They considered renovating the room over the quarters
occupied by the Salamander Hook and Ladder fire company, but the cost was
estimated to be too great. Then it was proposed to rent a room in the new Odd
Fellows building at Third and D, but the rental was more than Council was
willing to allow. A new Masonic Hall had been erected at Third and E in 1861; so
a room on the second floor was rented at $25 per month.
In 1858 when the City of Marysville had granted a franchise
to D.E. Knight for his Marysville Coal Gas Company, it was provided that the
City Hall would receive gas for lighting free of charge. The library room had
been furnished free lighting according to this provision; but when Council
assumed that the free gas would be supplied at the new location in the Masonic
building, the gas company refused, contending that they were obliged to furnish
free gas only to City Hall. So, rather than pay the monthly charge for gas,
Council ordered the library returned to City Hall in 1871.
The heating problem was solved in 1873 by extending steam
pipes to the library room from the boiler in the fire station on the first floor
of City Hall. A head of steam was maintained constantly by the fire department
to allow quick action by the steam pumpers on the horse-drawn engines before the
modern motorized equipment was available. Heating for the library was a
by-product of the fire department.
The lighting by gas was never very good. In 1885 a company
was granted a franchise to generate and distribute electric current for
lighting; and again it was provided that free lighting would be furnished for
rooms in City Hall.
This first electric current was very weak, and the type of
lamp was inferior. The librarian noted in her report of 1885 that "so called"
electric lights had been installed, although she admitted that the new lights
made the room more cheerful. Not until after 1898 when stronger current from
Yuba river power and the new incandescent lamps were available was the library
room adequately lighted.
John Q. Packard, a charter member of the Association, had
prospered in Marysville as a merchant, property owner, and capitalist. But this
versatile pioneer was not content to limit his activities to Marysville. He was
away from the City much of the time, although he maintained interests which
called him back frequently. From 1862 to 1872 he was a cotton grower in
Louisiana. From 1879 to 1886 he was a mining capitalist in Utah. During the
1890's he built a railroad from Santa Cruz to San Francisco and acquired 8,000
acres of land in Santa Cruz County, which land included valuable deposits of
limestone which he later sold at a profit to the Portland Cement Company.
Packard was acquiring so much wealth that he needed an outlet
for some of it. When he learned of the bad time the Marysville City Library was
having in maintaining adequate quarters he resolved to provide a building.
In October, 1900, Packard deeded to the City of Marysville
lots number seven and eight on the northwest corner of Fourth and C Streets. In
this deed he reserved control of the land for five years during which time he
proposed to erect a building for library use. He was prepared to spend $70,000
for the building. The Council accepted the deed with the conditions.
Packard came to Marysville on a visit in March, 1905, and
announced that work on the new library building would begin soon. He had
employed William Curtlett, an architect of San Francisco to draw up plans. And
he had awarded the contract for construction to R. Dewar of San Francisco. The
cost of the building was to be $66,300.
The gray sandstone for the new building came from Packard's
land in Santa Cruz where it was quarried. The raw stone was sent to San
Francisco on Packard's railroad where it was cut into building blocks by the
latest mechanical devices of the time. From San Francisco it was shipped to
Marysville on the Southern Pacific railroad. A few years earlier it would have
come to Marysville on river boats and barges.
After the old Gillispie brick stable was removed from the
site, work began, and the cornerstone was "quietly put into place." A copper box
containing newspapers, personal cards, coins, history and other items was placed
in the cornerstone. This was done "quietly" because Packard, who was a timid and
retiring person, had requested that there be no ceremony.
The last stone block was hoisted and put in place on October
29, 1905, and the last nail was driven on March 14, 1906.
The architect and A.C. Bingham, Packard's agent, accepted the
building from the contractor on April 4, 1906, and the keys to the new library
were delivered to the Mayor on June 4, 1906. The building was lighted for the
first time on July 13 and was opened to the public at 7:00 p.m. on October 12,
1906. On this opening evening, 1500 persons visited the new building.
The Mayor and Council soon discovered that the fine new
library building was bringing far more cost than the old simple one-room
quarters in City Hall. The librarian was paid $50 per month and a full-time
janitor was paid $95 per month. There was an electric bill of $28, a bill of $10
for oil, one for coal of $205 for the coming winter and a monthly bill of $5 for
water. An insurance policy on the plate glass window cost $27 and equipment and
furniture had cost $3,800. The tax-conscious residents became alarmed.
There had been no professionally trained librarian employed
throughout the history of the Association or the City Library. The position was
assumed to be a part-time job requiring no special skill. But after the new
plant was occupied there was recognized a need for professional administration.
The Council appropriated $125 towards the cost of sending the librarian, Miss
Mary Subers, to summer school "to instruct her in the different methods of
handling a library."
In 1908 the Women's Improvement Club of Marysville undertook
as a project the installation of pedestal lights on the steps facing Fourth
Street. The Club gave dances and other fund raising programs. On November 12,
1908, it was announced that "the new electroliers on massive bronze columns,
each globe containing a cluster of five lights, were burning brightly."
These ladies of the Improvement Club assumed a special
interest in the new library. They are the first on record to propose making the
library a county institution. At one of their meetings a resolution stated "The
members wish it understood that the reading room in the City Library is open to
the public. The room is arranged in a very comfortable manner." These ladies
also announced and demanded the removal of "a dilapidated and unsightly fence on
Fourth Street across from the library. The fence is an eyesore."
In 1914 W.H. Parks, Jr., son of a prominent pioneer, provided
in his will a small sum of money to be used by the Improvement Club for any
purpose they might choose. They chose to have a book plate engraved to serve as
a memorial to Mr. Parks, which plate was to be furnished for use by the library.
Imprints of this plate might be found in some of the very old volumes if they
have not been discarded.
In 1910 The Native Sons of the Golden West proposed to gather
pioneer relics, photographs and other items then in private possession and place
them in the City Library for safekeeping. For this purpose they established the
California Room on the second floor. This room was in the beginning referred to
as the Poppy Room. The contents of this would-be museum and archive have become
dispersed, some of the material going indirectly to the Mary Aaron Museum.
A very useful and much-needed feature of the new library
building was the "Little Theatre" on the second floor. The availability of this
informal meeting place encouraged the women of Marysville to organize an Art
Club in 1913. This Club used the theatre for many years for their meetings and
programs until the 1930's when a separate building was erected on D Street.
The ladies of both the Art Club and the Improvement Club came
to the rescue of the library in 1920 when they organized opposition and
prevented the erection of a large billboard by Foster and Kleiser on C Street
opposite the library where the present Post Office is located.
In August of 1911 Miss Harriet Eddy of the State Library came
to Marysville on a campaign to promote the establishment of county libraries.
She appeared before the Supervisors and explained the system and published a
long article in the Marysville Appeal describing the plan of assistance offered
by the State; but no action was taken by the county government.
The library building at Fourth and C Streets had one narrow
escape from demolition. In October of 1955 a committee of the Chamber of
Commerce selected the library site as a desirable location for off-street
parking. The building was to be razed and the land sold for an amount adequate
to construct a new library. The committee proposed to pay $150,000 for the land,
which amount they deemed sufficient to pay for a new building. But the Council
demanded $200,000 as necessary for construction. The committee then offered
$175,000.
A special committee of citizens was appointed by the Council
to choose a site for the new library, but this committee never reported. Then
when the Supervisors accepted Cortez Square as a site for a new courthouse, it
was provided in the deed from city to county that any space not needed for the
courthouse would be available for the library. In the meantime, however,
interest in the parking lot shifted to the southeast corner of Fourth and C
Streets and the library site was dismissed.
The growth of the library during the 66 years from 1859 to
1925 could be estimated in terms of volumes on the shelves, circulation and
borrowers. But there are only incomplete records of these factors. It has
already been noted that in the first year of the Association (1856-57) there
were 2,000 volumes with a circulation of 709. The next year (1857-58) these
figures were 2,060 and 1,113. At the time of a report in March, 1859, we are
told only that there were 37 borrowers who had made the required deposit of five
dollars. For the next twelve years the records are scant because the several
librarians evidently did not feel obliged to make annual reports and probably
were not keeping specific accounts. After Miss Jane Jones became librarian the
annual reports were improved.
In 1879 there were 142 borrowers, but by 1880 this figure had
decreased to 126. It had risen to 141 by 1883 but there are no further records
of borrowers for the next eighteen years.
The figures for circulation after 1880 are more nearly
complete, and it is this factor by which we must estimate the growth. In the
years 1883, '84 and '85, the circulation was 2,956, 3,261 and 2,748. In 1890,
'91 and '92 the figures were 2,792, 2,770 and 2,759; but by 1900 it had grown to
6,451.
In April, 1900 new requirements for borrowers were adopted.
Citizens of Marysville were given the choice of two qualifications. They could
continue to maintain the deposit, or they could secure the signature of some
responsible resident as sponsor. Non-residents were required to make the
deposit. During the year of 1901, 231 new borrowers qualified and circulation
rose to 10,947. The next year, 1902, it grew to 14,416. We are given no more
figures in the minutes until 1925 when there were 758 borrowers and a
circulation of 12,840. A final indication of the use or misuse of the library is
an item in the minutes of 1925 stating that $80 in fines was collected.
The last figure for the number of volumes in the library was
given in 1880 at 3,295. For some years we are told the number of new books
purchased. One gets the impression from the minutes that about 100 volumes were
being added each year. During the period from 1880 to 1925, this number, 4,500
added to 3,295 of 1880 would have given 7,795 for 1925; but this estimate is
probably too low.*
After 1925 the Council allowed nearly all traces of the old
Association to disappear. The Board of Directors provided in the gift deed was
allowed to die a natural death. The charter member donors were gone. Even the
School Commissioners no longer existed, having been replaced by trustees of
special districts. The library became a department of the city government and
was administered directly by the Council.
Those of us who have spent the last fifty years using the old
Packard Library at Fourth and C are going to feel some of the sadness which was
felt by the young pioneers on Christmas Day of 1858 when they disbanded their
Association an donated their library to the City of Marysville. However fine the
new city-county library might be in contrast to the old sandstone building, the
nostalgia we shall inevitably experience could become slightly painful. But this
experience will serve as a preconditioner for the sadder event when we must
witness the destruction of the last souvenir of the venerable institution where
five generations have exercised their literary interests.
*Aside from the librarians in charge during the earliest years of Marysville's
literary venture, and after the death of Librarian Jane Jones in 1894, numerous
persons filled the position as the years went by.
The list, although incomplete, included Mrs. Susan K. Saul, Miss Mary E. Suber,
Mrs. Jennie C. Engell, Miss Clara Tietjens, Mrs. Mary R. Hatch, Miss Donna
Louise Burchell (who became Mrs. Kenneth Dempsey), Miss Maxine Rogers, Mrs.
Dempsey (second term), and Miss Ella T. Danielson. The latter was followed by
Miss Thelma Neaville, who continued until her retirement in 1972. She was
succeeded by Ivan Edelman. The present librarian is Jonanthan Little.
Sutter County Historical Society New Bulletin, Vol XVI, No.2, April, 1977 pp
6-27 - Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
Marysville Daily Appeal - July 30, 1905, page 4
Mr. Packard Rears A Noble Monument
By request of the founder, the corner stone
of the public library building, which John Q. Packard is erecting for the people
of Marysville, has been laid without ceremony or ostentation. And, unlike the
Carnegie libraries, this structure will bear no indication of the name of the
giver. It is to cost $75,000, and will be an architectural ornament.
It is of interest to learn that the new building is rising on
the spot where Mr. Packard, in partnership with the late Col. Edwards Woodruff,
did business fifty years ago and laid the foundation of his fortune. From
Marysville he removed to Salt Lake, and in Utah he was successful in mining
enterprises. For some years he has lived near Santa Cruz, in California, but his
heart is still true to the little city of the plain where his early ventures
prospered, and where he enjoyed the friendship of many pioneers whose
descendants will profit by his generous gift.
This is the second public library building Mr. Packard has
erected. The first was presented to the people of Salt Lake City, in like modest
fashion, characteristic of the man.
In making such good use of his wealth, Mr. Packard is
exhibiting excellent taste and judgment, as well as a kindly and generous
spirit. His example is one that many other men of means should follow. There is
no nobler monument to the memory of any man or woman than the gift of some
public institution of genuine worth, such as a college, school house, library,
museum, art gallery, baths, a hospital, park, garden or other pleasure ground.
Such a benefaction, although it may not bear the name of the donor, preserves
his memory in honor and gratitude, making it far more lasting than if graven
upon a costly tomb, which usually blazons to the world the vanity and pride of
the dead rather than his virtues and good deeds.
Some rich men build imposing mausoleums, in anticipation of
death, carving their names deeply upon granite or marble, lest they be forgotten
when their sordid and selfish lives are done. They take a vulgar satisfaction in
the delusion that thus they are imposing themselves as persons of distinction
upon generations to come. But how poor and mean the gratification of such
folish[sic] pride appears by comparison with that self-approval which flows from
the contemplation of a gift to posterity so beneficent and lasting as an
institution of learning, a storehouse for books, or any other beneficial
endowment for free public use and enjoyment.
Although Mr. Packard has not marked the marble with his name,
and likewise out of modesty has declined to have the beginning of construction
formally honored in any way, no doubt the people of Marysville will always speak
of the institution as the Packard free library. And they will be the more
grateful and appreciative of the gift, for the reason that it is not hampered by
such conditions as the pride or prejudice of a donor often prescribes. -
Sacramento Bee.
Marysville Daily Appeal - October 10, 1900, page 1
The City Council Meet to Accept a Magnificent Bequest to the Municipality - John Q. Packard's Gift
A Seventy Thousand Dollar Library Building, Together With the Required Grounds
A special meeting of the City Council was
held at 10 o'clock yesterday morning, all the members being present except
Councilman Hamerly.
Mayor C. S. Brooks, who presided, stated that the most
liberal gift ever offered to the city of Marysville had been tendered to the
municipality by John Q. Packard, who was anxious to pass into the custody of the
city the deed embodying his benefaction.
Following the Mayor's announcement Clerk F. E. Smith read the
deed which had been drawn up by Attorney Richard Belcher and which was from John
Q. Packard to the city of Marysville, to whom it donated lots 7 and 8, block 5,
range D, city of Marysville, excepting and reserving to the party of the first
part, the exclusive possession of said lots for a period of time not exceeding
five years from this date, and the right to remove the present improvements, and
to make and substitute other buildings and improvements.
The deed is made upon the conditions and trusts following:
That in case of the grantor on or
before the expiration of five years from the date hereof shall expend in the
improvement of said lots not less than the sum of $70,000, at the reasonable
cost thereof, on lot improvements, and in erecting thereon a building with
fixtures and appurtenances suitable for a city library building, with library
and reading room or rooms, and a hall suitable for lectures on literary,
scientific and educational subjects, that then the party of the second part
shall perpetually maintain the property and the building, as a library building,
and perpetually maintain and keep open at reasonable hours free to the residents
of the city, a public reading room or rooms in said building. And the party of
the second part having consented and agreed to accept this conveyance upon said
trust and for said uses, and to perpetually devote the same to the uses
intended, this deed is made and delivered in pursuance thereof.
Councilman Divver then submitted the following resolution of
acceptance:
Resolved, That the city of Marysville
accept said deed and the property conveyed on the conditions and trusts named in
the deed, and agrees to perpetually maintain and use said building when erected
for a library building, and for the uses and purposes specified in the deed.
Councilman J. W. Steward seconded the resolution, which was
adopted by an unanimous vote.
The following preamble and resolution was submitted by
Councilman Steward and was unanimously adopted:
Whereas, John Q. Packard, Esq. has
just donated to the city of Marysville a site for a city library building on
which he proposes to erect at his own cost, within five years from this date, a
library building complete; and,
Whereas, The library and reading room
will prove of inestimable benefit intellectually and morally, to our citizens
now, and for generations to come, and the building will prove an ornament to the
city of considerable architectural and material benefit; and,
Whereas, This gift is a distinct
public benefaction and an enduring testimonial to Mr. Packard's public spirit;
now, therefore, be it,
Resolved, That as representatives of
the citizens of Marysville, and on their behalf, we tender to Mr. Packard our
sincere thanks and the thanks of the community for his prominent gift.
Resolved, That this resolution be
spread upon a page of the minutes of this Council, set apart for the purpose,
and that a copy thereof be presented to Mr. Packard.
Marysville Daily Appeal - October 10, 1900, page 2
MR. PACKARD'S GIFT
In the magnificent gift which Mr. John Q.
Packard yesterday conveyed to the municipality, which for many years off and on
he has made his home, was bestowed a benefaction at once munificent on the part
of the donor and one that will be thoroughly appreciated by the recipients, his
towns-people.
In all of the history of the old city of Marysville, this is,
we believe, the first instance in which a citizen of wealth has seen fit to make
a bequest to the community of magnitude sufficient commensurate with their
circumstances to be particularly noteworthy.
In the receipt of his gift the people of Marysville
congratulate themselves in the possession of a citizen whom passing years have
served but to broaden and in whom the light of a kindly understanding shines
forth in shining contrast to the sordidness all too prevalent in the world
nowadays.
Here's to John Q. Packard.
May he ever grow younger.
Marysville Daily Democrat - Sat August 27, 1927, page 4
H. B. P. CARDEN, MRS. HATCH GIVE HISTORY OF LIBRARY
Interesting facts concerning the Marysville
public library were related by H. B. P. Carden, a director, and Mrs. Mary Rolls
Hatch, the librarian, in their talks yesterday before the Exchange club.
Carden related facts from the minutes of the library board,
started in 1855 and continued in the same book by numerous secretaries down to
the present day. Judge Fields, afterward chief justice of the United States,
then a prominent member of the bar here, was an early director. The first
librarian volunteered his services free. The first books were donated, and later
a citizen who was going to New York was delegated to select books there to a
value of $1000.
In 1858 the library was deeded to the city with the
requirement that it be continued as a free institution, with a paid librarian.
John Q. Packard, an early day merchant, in 1906 provided the
money, $75,000 for the beautiful stone building in which the library since has
been housed. He required only that his name be not placed upon it and that a
room be always maintained when men may smoke.
The library has been the recipient of many small bequests
that now total $10,000, Carden said. These funds are invested and the interest,
about $650 a year, is used to purchase new books.
Mrs. Hatch stated there has been a steady increase in the
patronage of the library since she came here, and that an average of 3000 books
a month have been taken out during the past six months. The library has been
closed all this month for complete renovation and has been entirely rearranged.
Every book has been cleansed and re-catalogued and placed in
a section of its class. Many old volumes that had been hidden away in the
basement for years were found to be priceless treasures and they have been
repaired and put back where the student or leisure hour reader may find them.
Some are rare works and some are quite old, one in particularly having been
written more than two centuries ago.
Whereas the records show that 14,500 volumes have been
received by the library in its years of service, the number now actually on hand
is found to be only about 10,000, Mrs. Hatch said.
Two Marysville authors are among those listed in the library.
There are a number of books by Henry Milner Rideout and a few by Vingey Rowe.
The new system being completed in the building provides a
fiction department, and federal, state and city departments, in which works
coming under any of those heads are filed.
The California department contains a large amount of highly
interesting historical matter, some of which is quite rare now.
Mrs. Hatch stated that she is personally very proud of
Marysville's library and is striving to put its treasures more easily within the
reach of the public. She will announce the reopening date in the near future.
She gives to Councilman Walter Kynoch, who is the member in charge of the
library, credit for the great improvement that is now being made in the
institution.
Copyright ©2007 Kathy Sedler ALL RIGHTS RESERVED