John C. Catlin
John Conyngham Catlin (March 12, 1871 – July 9, 1951) was an American lawyer and politician. He practiced law for more than thirty years, in Sacramento, San Francisco, and for a short time in Alaska. He was a former mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1932-1934, and served on the city council in 1934. Early life. Catlin was born in Sacramento, California, to California State Legislature Amos P. Catlin (1823-1900) and Ruth Anne Coningham Donaldson (1838-1878), pioneers of the California Gold Rush. His father started a law firm in Sacramento, California in 1850 . As a young boy, he knew John Sutter Sacramento's founder; James W. Marshall discoverer of gold; Edwin B. Crocker and Leland Stanford, who pioneered the western portion of the First transcontinental railroad; and John Bidwell, founder the city of Chico, California. He attended University of California, Berkeley in the late 1880s. He married Lucy DeBaugh Routier (1878-1906) on March 15, 1895, in Sacramento, and had a daughter. His wife died in 1906. Career. Law practice. In July 1892, Catlin was admitted to the bar of San Francisco and established a law practice in Sacramento until 1899. He worked  at different law firms, including for a short time in Alaska in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. By 1906, he became a senior member of the firm of "Catlin & Catlin" at 628 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, with his brother Hairy C. Catlin. Catlin became the first president of the Mountain Play Association and financed its first play in the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre in Marin County, California in 1913. He knew American writer and actor Perry Newberry in San Francisco in 1915, when they were on the board of the Children's Theater. Catlin's daughter, Lucy R. Catlin (1895 -1949) was the theater's secretary. Move to Carmel-by-the-Sea. At age 56, Catlin retired as a lawyer in 1922, and moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He was an expert horseman, and to earn extra money he worked as the riding master at the Carmel School of Riding and Saddle Livery on Ocean Avenue and Junipero Street. In 1925, Catlin assisted Herbert Heron at the Forest Theater. Catlin, Una Jeffers, and others created sets for the Forest Theater's production of "Hamlet" in 1926. Catlin bought a home at 6th Avenue and Junipero Street with a  small blacksmith shop in the garage in 1926. He became a blacksmith at his own forge, which he called "Forge in the Forest." He made original wrought iron designs. He was friends with Francis Whitaker, who was also a blacksmith. The name "Forge in the Forest," is now home to the restaurant Forge in the Forest on 5th Avenue and Junipero Street. Catlin was a candidate for city councilman in 1928 and 1930. He became mayor of Carmel from 1932-1934 and succeeded poet mayor Herbert Heron. His election as mayor was during the Great Depression and the Prohibition. Catlin  was successful to overturn a law enforced by the Carmel Development Company that profited alcholhol consuption for property owners. He served on Carmel's city council in 1934. Death. Catlin died on July 9, 1951, at age 81, in Carmel-by-the-Sea after a brief illness. Funeral services were private at the Dorney and Farlinger mortuary in Monterey.