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Major General Albert Maver Winn July 11
July 11th : Burton Winn's Memorialization of his Great-Great-Grandfather Major General Albert Maver Winn, Founder of The Native Sons of The Golden West
We have come here today to celebrate and memorialize the birthday of the founder of the Native Sons of the Golden West, my Great-Great Grandfather General Albert Maver Winn. I have been here with my parents many times over the years, and I wanted to share this experience with you. Albert Winn was born on April 27, 1810, some 214 years ago, in Loudoun County, Virginia. After moving to Zanesville, Ohio, at age 16 he became a carpenter’s apprentice. He married Catherine Gaffney in 1829, and they moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1832. Conscription (the “draft”) was mandatory in Mississippi at that time, so Winn attended military training. A Southerner, Winn was made a Colonel in 1845 in the Mississippi Militia which became the Mississippi Rifles. He was on an election board that elected Jefferson Davis to Colonel of the First Mississippi Regiment of Volunteers and later served under Davis in the Mexican War. Politically, he was a Jacksonian Democrat. During that time Winn also became President of the Master Carpenters and Joiners Society of Vicksburg, where his skills as an organizer led him to be ordered to bring his talents to settlements out west as part of the policy of Manifest Destiny. Traveling by steamboat to New Orleans, then overland through what is now Northern Mexico to Durango, Winn continued to Mazatlan and took a boat north to San Francisco arriving on May 28, 1849, after waiting some two weeks for the fog to lift to find the Golden Gate. The Gold Rush had started. He sailed to Sacramento and arrived at Sutters Fort on June 15, 1849. My late half sister Beverly told me that during the Cholera epidemic of 1850 Winn built coffins for the deceased using wood from the abandoned boats in San Francisco harbor. These boats were quickly abandoned and left when their passengers dashed off to the gold fields. Winn was an organizer and a joiner. He organized the; Independent Order of Longfellows in 1850, helped establish the Grace Episcopal Church in Sacramento in 1849, the Freemason’s Tahama Lodge, and helped found the first hospital in California, at Sutter’s Fort in 1850. He was a Mason. To quote his granddaughter, “We are told that the general belonged to every fraternal society in Sacramento in the early days and it is quite probable that this is true.” He was also elected as a member of the Sacramento City Council and was chosen as its President on August 25,1849, becoming Sacramento’s first mayor. As a carpenter, Winn took the lead in the Carpenter's Union's effort to enact legislation for an eight-hour workday in 1867. The Mechanics State Council was formed in 1867 at Winn's suggestion. He drafted their constitution and bylaws and served as their first President. Finally, he was instrumental in forming the Building and Trades Council of San Francisco which later went on to be a founding organization of the American Federation of Labor. In 1869, Winn traveled to the eastern states where he spent several months pressing for federal legislation for an eight hour workday, worker safety rules in interstate commerce and a restriction on holding office to native born. In keeping with his long-held belief in 100% Americanism and fostering a lasting national identity on its native culture, in 1869, Winn attempted to organize a society to promote the culture and lineage of the founding fathers of American California based upon apprentices in the artisan and craftsmen trades. This initial society failed because it faced a combination of hostility from big business and criminal discrimination from foreign ethnic political machines. So instead, Winn cultivated the members and in 1875 successfully rallied master craftsmen and small farmers in perfecting and establishing the organization which later became known as the Native Sons of the Golden West on July 11, 1875. Speaking of his object in organizing the Order General Winn said "For twenty years my mind had been running on some lasting style of monument to mark and perpetuate the discovery of gold. I could not think of anything that would not perish in course of time. At last, it came to my mind that an Order composed of native sons would affect the object and be sustained by pride of parentage and place of nativity, while it would be an imperishable memento, an institution that would last through all time." The following year, in honor of the centennial, he organized the descendants of the Revolutionary War to march in the Independence Day Parade at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1876. After the march, he organized the body which went on to become the Sons of the American Revolution. This organization elected Winn as their first President, an office he held for five years. He died in Sonoma on August 26, 1883 As I have described, Winn left a legacy: He helped build the current, modern, great state called California, a land of sunshine, gold, and vast opportunities in agriculture, fishing, mining, the arts and sciences. Now the worlds fifth biggest economy, right behind Japan if she were a separate country, California is a leader in industry and technology including Artificial Intelligence, Computer science and Digital media. This includes movies, TV, the Internet, and social media. California has two vast water projects, the Federal, and State Water Projects, plus the access to the Colorado River, that supply and move water throughout the state to augment the myriad smaller, local water systems for both agriculture and urban use. As a result, California has the fifth largest output of world food production as well. California is America’s gateway to Asia and the Pacific Rim and is a world financial and manufacturing center. The most populous state in the union, and third largest by area, California also leads in Higher Education, and is one of the favorite destinations for both world and domestic travelers. Many of the social, artistic, lifestyle, and political movements we enjoy today (or abhor)! started here. There is a lot to see in California, from Disneyland to the Mojave Desert to the Redwood Empire; from rugged mountain wilderness’ to the seeming infinity of the Pacific Ocean beaches and the Pacific Ocean itself. So, as we currently enjoy this legacy endowed upon us by our founders, Winn and others, we must keep one eye on this legacy, and preserve and enhance it. But with our other eye we must look to our future, a future that is so far unwritten and that we will create ourselves. The Native Sons is now 149 years old. To preserve Winn’s dream of an “institution that would last through all time,” we should learn to accept and embrace the changes that are surely coming, just as they have come to us in the past. Change and growth are among the constants of living here. California is a state, and the California Dream, a state of mind. California is an open place that welcomes the future, that defines the future, and embraces the future, and creates the future for that is our destiny. So, with acceptance and openness we here today stand fast in the principles of Friendship, Loyalty, and Charity, to further the work Winn started in pursuing the California Dream and the dream of The Native Sons of The Golden West. Thank You and Happy Birthday to Albert Maver Winn Now I’d like to present the Wreath which represents the Heritage of California. It's made of California Bay Leaf, and decorated with California Poppies, the American and California Flags and the Emblem of the Native Sons of the Golden West. Footnote: I’d like to thank Wikipedia for the historical references, and The University of Bancroft Library for the story of Winn’s travels to California, and my late relatives for the personal stories
In Celebration of the Life of Jean Frank Lestanguet
Obituary from San Rafael Independent Journal
Jean Frank Lestanguet Jean Frank Lestanguet was born to Jean and Anna Lestanguet November 27, 1926 in Ross, CA. He passed away December 8, 2020 in Newcastle, CA. Jean grew up in Fairfax, CA where he lived most of his life. He started working at the local grocery store, his parent’s cleaners, and then to Mare Island to start his machinist apprenticeship. He left Mare Island to serve in the U.S. Navy. When he returned, he went back to finish his apprenticeship while volunteering at the Fairfax Fire Department, where he accepted a full-time position and worked until his retirement as Fire Captain with the Ross Valley Fire Dept. He liked to cook and entertain. A favorite for all was Jean’s barbecue chicken, and you would never have to worry about your glass being empty. He loved camping with Fran and more recently, he and Chris traveled in their motorhome with their RV friends. Jean was a member of many organizations: American Legion, Native Sons, Fairfax Fire Wardens, CSFA, S.F. Tyee Club, Trout Unlimited, San Rafael and Sonora Elks, Ebbetts Pass Moose Lodge, Vamoose Vagabonds and Sierra Rovers. Jean was preceded in death by his first wife, Frances. He leaves behind his wife, Chris; and his sister Jeannette Turrini; children Dennis (Patricia dec., Pam), Helen Fahy (James) and Joanne Cooter (Geoffrey); grandchildren Jean, Jennifer, Jeanine, JP, Joe, Tony and Becky; great-grandchildren Serene, William, Juliet, and MacKenzie and many relatives and friends. The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to Sutter Hospice. A special thanks to Julie and Colin for all their help and care for his short stay in Newcastle. A celebration of Jean’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your favorite charity.
Published in:Marin Independent Journalfrom December 18, 2020 to December 20, 2020