George Parrish Tebbetts (1828 – January 9, 1909) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Tebbetts was born in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

and graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1848, where he studied medicine. With the

California gold rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

he sailed to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. While crossing the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

, he cared for people suffering from

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

. He prospected with a Chinese boy on the

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

near

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and they extracted $70,000 in gold. The San Diego History Center describes what followed: They returned to San Francisco. "There the boy expressed a wish to return to China, and Tebbetts settled with him for $3,000. The boy returned to China, and as the years rolled by, nothing was heard from him. Forty-five years later he walked into Tebbett's office in Santa Barbara and introduced himself. The surprise meeting after so many years was an enjoyable occasion, with much reminiscing by the two lucky gold seekers." Tebbetts arrived in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

around 1850 and was co-proprietor of the Exchange Hotel. He was elected Councilman for 1851–1852. In 1852 he became the third

mayor of San Diego The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego, California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council, the legislative branch. ...

under U.S. rule. While mayor, a series of murders, horse thievery, and lawlessness caused locals to organize The Vigilantes to keep the peace. When Tebbetts' horse was stolen, the thieves were caught, paraded around town with nooses around their necks, and lynched. Federal officials investigated, but gave up when Tebbetts told them the entire town was involved. In 1852 the city was

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

. The city charter was abolished and city administration was performed by a board of trustees with no mayor, operated by the state. Tebbetts later was member of the

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

Board of Supervisors during 1854–1864. During an Indian war at Warner Springs in the early 1850s, Tebbetts served as ensign with Fitzgerald's Volunteers. The uprising was caused by an 1844 Mexican land grant that included Cupa, the village of the Cupeňo people, and surrounding homelands. During the war Tebbetts participated in a "Dual" with

Joshua Bean Joshua H. Bean (c. 1818 – November 7, 1852) was an American political figure. Joshua Bean was born c. 1818 in Mason County, Kentucky to Phantly Roy Bean (November 21, 1804 – June 13, 1844) and his wife Anna Gore. His paternal grandparents ...

as a practical joke. Tebbets ran the Exchange Hotel, with a partner Philip Hooff, from 1850 or 1851. The hotel was owned by his father-in-law Juan Rodríguez and sold in 1858.

George Derby George Horatio Derby (April 3, 1823 – May 15, 1861) was an early California humorist. He attended West Point with Ulysses S. Grant. Derby used the pseudonym "John P. Squibob" and its variants "John Phoenix" and "Squibob." Derby served as a l ...

immortalized them in his satirical book ''Phoenixiana'' referring to Tebbetts and Hoof as "Two bitts" (because of his small size) and "Cloven Hooff". Tebbetts bought the San Luis Rey Ranch in the late 1850s. In the late 1860s he moved to Santa Barbara where he bought the San Roque Ranch, was appointed

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

, and started the Santa Barbara ''Press'', ''Daily Independent'', and ''Daily News''. Tebbetts married twice, with four children (Horace, Stella, John, and Maria Virginia De Los Reyes) from his first marriage with Delorez Rodríguez (Maria Delos Reyes Osuna Y Rodriguez), daughter of Juan Rodríguez, and three children from his second marriage to Mary Jones. Maria Tebbetts (Maria Virginia De Los Reyes Tebbetts) married Brigadier-General Frank Clarke Prescott N.G.C. Later, he moved in with his son Nathan in San Francisco where he died 1909.

See also