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Did You Know?

Signers of the Original California Constitution

The signers of the original California Constitution were the 48 delegates to the constitutional convention. The convention met from September to November 1849 at Colton Hall in Monterey, California. The Constitution was written in both English and Spanish and provided that all major legislation was to be written in both languages. This requirement was dropped when a new constitution was formulated in 1878--1879.

Name	Nativity	Residence	Age
John A. Sutter	Switzerland	--	47
H.W. Halleck	New York	Monterey	32
William M. Gwin	Tennessee	San Francisco	44
William M. Steuart	Maryland	San Francisco	49
Joseph Hobson	Maryland	San Francisco	39
Thomas L. Vermeule	New Jersey	--	35
O.M. Wozencraft	Ohio	San Joaquin	34
B.F. Moore	Florida	San Joaquin	29
William E. Shannon	New York	Sacramento	27
Winfield S. Sherwood	New York	Sacramento	32
Elam Brown	New York	San Jose	52
Joseph Aram	New York	San Jose	39
J.D. Hoppe	Maryland	San Jose	35
John McDougal	Ohio	Sutter	32
Elisha O. Crosby	New York	Vernon	34
H.K. Dimmick	New York	San Jose	34
Julian Hanks	Connecticut	San Jose	39
M.M. Carver	Kentucky	Sacramento	42
Francis J. Lippitt	Rhode Island	San Francisco	37
Rodman M. Price	Massachusetts	Monterey	47
Thomas O. Larkin	New York	San Francisco	36
Louis Dent	Missouri	Monterey	26
Henry Hill	Virginia	Monterey	33
Charles T. Betts	Virginia	Monterey	40
Myron Norton	Vermont	San Francisco	27
James M. Jones	Kentucky	San Joaquin	25
Pedro Sainsevain	Bordeaux	San Jose	26
José M. Covarrubias	France	Santa Barbara	41
Antonio M. Pico	California	San Jose	40
Jacinto Rodriquez	California	Monterey	36
Stephen G. Foster	Maine	Los Angeles	28
Henry A. Tefft	New York	San Luis Obispo	26
J.M.H. Hollingsworth	Maryland	San Joaquin	25
Abel Stearns	Massachusetts	Los Angeles	51
Hugh Reid	Scotland	San Gabriel	38
Benjamin S. Lippincott	New York	San Joaquin	34
Joel P. Walker	Virginia	Sonoma	52
Jacob R. Snyder	Pennsylvania	Sacramento	34
Lansford W. Hastings	Ohio	Sacramento	30
Pablo de la Guerra	California	Santa Barbara	30
M.G. Vallejo	California	Sonoma	42
José Antonio Carrillo	California	Los Angeles	53
Manuel Dominquez	California	Los Angeles	46
Robert Semple	Kentucky	Benicia	42
Pacificus Ord	Maryland	Monterey	33
Edward Gilbert	New York	San Francisco	27
A.J. Ellis	New York	San Francisco	33
Miguel de Pedrorena	Spain	San Diego	41

View similarly tagged entries:

California, government, laws, people

Sources:

Books

History of California
By Hubert Howe Bancroft. San Francisco, A.L. Bancroft, 1884-90. Volume VI, p. 288.
A Companion to California
Newly revised and expanded with illustrations. By James D. Hart. University of California Press, 1987.

Related Information:

Websites

California State Archives
Includes images of the title page and the signature pages, as well as the text of the original Constitution.

Last updated by teeterj on Jan. 19, 2011

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While the Library has verified the information presented in these files in what it considers to be reliable and authoritative sources, it cannot take responsibility for nor guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.

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