The Nevada Democrat. [volume] (Nevada, Calif.) 1854-1863, 1857-03-18
,,.-.4.,..,ou OF the Berreyessa Family.


The 4. F. Herald publishes the following
EASEMENT of J. Santos Berreyessa, detailing the
.,orsocutions to which the family, of which he lie
= member, has been subjected. 1t is sad tale:
ain July, 1854, the corpse of an American
..... found on the ranch of San Vicente, at that
time the residence Of six of my brothers. Each
nod a separate portion of the land, and lived
there with their respective families. The find
inc of this corpse was made the occasion OF
suspcion against my brother, the nearest to
rhose house the body was found, although it
,ses n league distant from it, but soon this cir
cnmstance excited general persecution against
ali An organization was formed in Santa Cla-
"a and they attacked at night the houses of my
brothers, and seizing them made them undergo
the most inhuman treatment. yith view of
discovering who was the assassin Of the person
whose remains had been found, Encarnacion
Rerrevessa was taken from his house at night,
from the side of his wife and children-was sus-
nended by the neck to a tree, and then repeat
edly lowered aud raised, to see if he could dis
close the name OF the assassin. Tired of their
efforts to produce a confession upon matter of
which he knew nothing, they left him nearly
dead The rest of my brothers were in their
houses, with the exception of the one they most
particularly sought, who, learning the brutal
treatment inflicted upon his brother, fearing to
fall into their hands fed.
Shortly after this, at night, the company of
Vigilants, disappointed in their previous efforts
went to the house of NemisO Berreyessa, and on
demanding and gaining admittance, seized him,
and although his wife and four children chung
around him, he was forced from their arms 10y a
band of some fourteen men, disguised and mask
cd. AS soon as the news spread. the mother,
accompanied by her children went to San Jose,
to invoke the protection of the laws, and to in
sist upon the examination of the charges, if any
existed, against her sons. Although the Sheriff,
his posse and the friends of the family. made
every effort, the whereabouts of the kidnapped
man could not be found. On the following day
the 22d of July, the body of Nemiso was found,
his hands and feet tied, suspended by the neck
from a tree, and life extinct. The Coroner's
Jury which sat upon the body in the city of San
Jose, made a very unsatisfactory finding Ne
miso the victim of this outrage, was declared
by nearly all who at the time heard of the as
sassinaton of the American, to have been
above any suspicion of having perpe.rated it,
or of being i'm any way cognizant of it, and at
this time not one can be found who would ac-
cuse him of 1t.
These Outrages inflicted upon my two broth
ers. Obliged the others to leave their houses and
families until the desire of vengeance against
them might pass away. Some went to the
Southern portion of the State, and one to Mexi-
co. Encarnacion, the one recently assassinated
in San Buenaventura, by the company of Vigil
lants was the one who had been suspended I'M
til life was nearly extinct by the Vigilants of
Santa Clara. Terrified by the manner in which
he had been treated by the latter, with the death
of brother TO deplore, and seeing his other
brothers scattered, his mind became affected, and
he abandoned his farm and went to reside in
Martinez, where with his family he lived eight
months. f .....,
At the instance of his wife. and accompanied
by her he went to San BuenaventIlra, where her
parents reside. He fed from no fear of punish
ment, for there never had been any accusation
against him. And the Viglants who seized him
on the night of July, 1854, having nearly chok-
cd him to DEATH on suspicion, left him nearly
dead convinced of his innocence. In San Bue-
naventura he lived, surrounded by his family,
well known to all, for more than year.
The orgunizgtion of Committee to punish
the band of robbers who had infested Los An
gcles, CEASED immense excitement in the county
OF Santa Barbara. A portion of the Committee
arriving at San Buenavcntura, aware of the
event which occurred at Santa Clara, in 1854.
for which the family of Berreyessa had been
long prosecuted, seized Encarnacion, and with
out any proof of his participation in the affair,
hanged him. The Committee, not satisfied with
this act of violence, sought to justify their con-
duct by attriluting to their victim participation
in another murder. But they did not state the
name of the murdered party-thc time nor place
Of its pcrpctratiOn-nOr were any witnesses CT
ted TO prove the commission of the aledged
crime
Caifornans, reflect upon the misfortuncs
which have betallen my family. Many of them
have persisted by deeds of violence, not one of
whom had excited by any misconduct the cruel
ty inflicted by their prosecutors. Their names
are Jose r. Berreyessa, Francisco De Haro,
Ramon De Haro, Nemisio Berreycssa, Jose Su-
mol, Jose Gallindo, Juan Berreyessa, and lastly
Encarnacion Berreyessa.
Fathers-Br others-Cousins- victims of
vioience-hurried without moments notice
to appear before the tribunal of their Creator
in violation of the laws of the land. The family
had yet to drink the cup of bitterness to the
dregs. The company of Vigilants who wreaked
their vengeance on Encarnacion at San Buena-
ventura, not satisfied with forcbly depriving
him of life. have insulted his memory and the
name of his family, by placing his name as one
of the members of the banditti of Los Angeles,
a hord with which he had no connection.
J. SANTOS BERREYEssA.