NEW BOOK: Freedom by State Senator Nelson S. Dilworth

Freedom by Nelson S. Dilworth
Freedom by Nelson S. Dilworth

New available on Amazon.com is Freedom: Reflections on What Makes America Great from a Veteran of World War I by State Senator Nelson S. Dilworth.

Dilworth had a varied career, including time as a rancher, a newspaper publisher, and lawmaker. After serving as the publisher of the Coachella Valley News, Dilworth enlisted in the U.S. Army and deployed to France during World War I where he “learned again how much I love my native land.”

In a political career that would span nearly a quarter century, he delivered powerful speeches on the unique freedoms granted to Americans by the Constitution and the opportunities and high standard of living given American citizens by the free market.

In themes echoed by Ronald Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech more than a decade later, Dilworth also repeatedly discussed the important concept that this unique freedom is both precious and fragile, and must be preserved and valued by each generation in order to be passed to the next.

“I feel safe in asserting that it is both obvious and apparent that we, today, are the beneficiaries of the courageous past achievements of our forefathers in political liberty and political institutions… In our hands rests all that is precious in America… We are, you see, the trustees of the future. It is your high privilege to preserve the best in America, to improve it, and pass it on to posterity, your children and mine. We can, in honor and integrity, do no less.” – Nelson S. Dilworth

A Tale of Two Tibbits

The List of Assemblymembers lists a J. H. Tibbits who represented Shasta, Modoc, and Lassen counties in 1911, and a separate James H. Tibbits who represented Amador County in 1895.

In the “Great Register of Amador County for 1894,” we learn on line 2686 (on page 36) that James H. Tibbits was a 36 years old in 1894 and born in California (as well as a miner, 5′ 11″ with a dark complexion, black hair and black eyes). This puts his approximate date of birth at 1858. However, the 1892 “Great Register of Amador County” also puts his age at 36, with the same description, which would set his birthyear around 1856.

The other Tibbits, J. H. Tibbits, who served in the legislature in 1911, completed a Biographical Index Card for the California State Library, and we learn that his full name was James Halar Tibbits and that he was born at Amador Co. on October 27, 1854. As of 1911, he was living in Redding.

At this point, it looks like the two James H. Tibbits could be related (because of their close birthyears and strong connections to Amador County). However, they could also be two separate people.

Ongoing Research and Corrections

As mentioned in a previous post, our list of California state legislators dates back more than a century to. The information collected is generally all that we know about most legislators; Name, Party, Counties Represented, and Session (year) served. Since February, I’ve been working on filling in gaps, making corrections, and tracking down additional information about our early legislators (you can see here how I’m doing).

One recent interesting correction I found recently was the misspelling of the name of Assemblyman Frank Eugene Hunewill. Hunewill served in the 1891 Session, representing Alpine, Inyo and Mono counties. In the Assembly Journal of that session, his name was spelled “F. E. Hunewill”. This is confirmed by the election registration lists for 1891 which shows only three people with the surname of Hunewell or Hunewill in California; L. R. Hunewell of Los Angeles County, and Frank Eugene Hunewill and Napeleon Bonaparte Hunewill of Mono County.

In the 1899 California Blue Book, which included the comprehensive list of legislators by Winfield J. Davis, included F. E. Hunewill, but the name was misspelled “Hunewell” by the time the 1924 Blue Book was printed.

For more information about Assemblyman Hunewill, including information about his family, check his page on Geni.com