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Register of the Madera County (Calif.) Sheriff's Wanted Notices Scrapbook, 1895-1911
Mss127
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Title: Madera County (Calif.) Sheriff's Wanted Notices Scrapbook,
Date (inclusive): 1895-1911
Collection number: Mss127
Creator:
Michael J. Canlis
Extent: 1.75 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Madera County (Calif.) Sheriff's Wanted Notices Scrapbook,
Mss127, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific
Library
Madera, was a lumber town that had been created when the California Lumber Company built
a flume from their timber properties to the railroad (1876). For this reason, "Madera,"
the Spanish word for lumber, was chosen as the town's name. On March 11, 1893, that part
of Fresno County north and west of the San Joaquin River was organized as a new county
and named after the town. The granite city jail was built in 1876 and was the one of the
oldest jails in California when torn down (ca. 1990). During the time in which these
records were kept, S. W. Westfall, C.A.H. Warfield and S. C. Cornell were sheriffs in
Madera County, while Frank B. Braire, was Madera city Chief of Police.
The Madera County, California Sheriff's office used this wanted and reward circular
scrapbook from 1895-1911. The scrapbook of 246 pages is comprised of reward and wanted
notices from counties all over California and from other states as far away as Illinois
and New York. Notices are in the form of postcards, printed flyers, and written letters.
Many notices include photographs of the criminals or missing persons. There are detailed
descriptions of stolen property and the suspected individuals. Many of the descriptions
include Bertillon measurements. Crimes run the gamut from bigamy to theft. There are a
number of circulars from detective agencies and from state prisons at Folsom, San Quentin
and the Preston School of Industry, Ione. The scrapbook provides a review of criminals in
California and the names of law officers in the state for the years covered.